Curated and Served

Much like BOMB Thursdays,there are a number of other curated or theme nights that have started in various parts of the city. On March 8,for instance,Smaaash,a gaming centre in Lower Parel hosted the first Smash Up night,curated by Delhi-based electronica act,Dualist Inquiry. It featured Ez Riser,DJ Amul and AlgoRhythm. Last Wednesday,Yellow Tree Cafe in Bandra hosted its first District Fifty night,put together by a group of musicians,promoters and writers.

Later this month,another such theme night will be added to the list,called The Scene. This will be a monthly event,organised collectively by NH7 and Blue Frog,and will be held at the latter in Lower Parel.

What most of these nights have in common is that their line-ups feature at least one or two new artistes. For them playing alongside comparatively established acts will help them reach out to a larger audience. For instance,when The Scene launches,it will present Mumbai punk act The Lightyears Explode,who will launch their debut album,The Revenge of Kalicharan,at the gig,Chennai alt-rockers Skrat and Pune electronica producer Rohan Hastak,aka Big City Harmonics. “In Mumbai,people don’t make the effort to watch too many new acts,” says Nikhil Udupa of Only Much Louder,who also helped put this night together. “So we’ll have one act from the city,one from some another city and one strictly upcoming electronica musician.”

It also helps that these nights are pocket-friendly. District Fifty and The Scene have no entry charges,Smash Up has a cover charge of Rs 500 which includes two drinks and one starter,and BOMB Thursdays has an entry charge of Rs 200. Although done at a huge cost to the organisers and the musicians,this is absolutely critical and serves to draw more people to the event too. Udupa agrees,“The Scene is pocket-friendly to make it accessible to people,especially college students who can’t always pay Rs 500 to enter gigs.”

Besides,the platform brings people from the indie scene together and promotes networking. “Somewhere along the line,those from the scene stopped hanging out together,so we’re also trying to bring them back together,” says Udupa.