Easy on the ears

A pre-pandemic gig at The Boho Pad

Let's just come out and say this. For the global city that it is, Mumbai has a woefully inadequate number of venues where bands can play live music; the number dwindling even further after the pandemic shuttered some places. You can now literally count them on your fingers, starting from NCPA in SoBo to The Stables in Andheri East. Let's not dwell on why this problem exists, though. Let's focus on solutions, one of which is for alternative venues to double up as intimate gig spaces, as will happen at The Boho House in Santacruz West next week.

It's essentially a large flat in an old building that functions primarily as a co-working space and production house office. But there is a terrace at the far end of the property that used to host live concerts on and off before the pandemic, and is now making a comeback after 2020. An events firm called Hivepad and an online community called Edge Network approached the folks at The Boho House with the idea for this concert. It will feature The Kanishk Seth Trio, and a duo called Zoe and Urgen. The former act plays Sufi-inflected down-tempo electronic music complemented with a classical vocalist. The latter, Hivepad co-founder Rishi Shah tells us, has a more folksy sound with influences of Amy Winehouse and Arianna Grande. Neither classifies as hectic music, something that you might find on any given night at AntiSocial in Lower Parel when a producer is banging out techno beats. This is easy listening that's more like sipping on chicken soup for the soul than biting into a fiery chilli.

Kanishk Seth

Shah tells us that such gigs have the advantage of focusing squarely on the music. "Concerts at larger venues often have commercial interests involved and they tie up with sponsors like alcohol brands, so it's also about the food and drinks. Music then becomes just one part of the overall experience. But in these intimate spaces, the main focus is on the artiste since there is no other distraction," he says, while Shaun D'Souza, his partner, adds that musicians often get so comfortable in such settings that they open up about the stories behind their songs, giving their listeners a better understanding of their music.

At the end of the day, though, both mainstream and alternative venues serve the same purpose - giving India's growing indie-listening audience an outlet for their entertainment. But like we said, Mumbai needs more of both, and now that things seem to be opening up in full force once again, let's just hope that there is an upsurge in the dwindling number of venues in the city.

On: December 18, 7.30 pm
At: The Boho Pad, Krishna Bhawan, Santacruz West.
Log on to: insider.in
Call: 9930086252
Cost: Rs 500