Secret gigs in secret spaces

CHENNAI : In the beginning, all you get is a date. The mission, should you be destined to get chosen for it, is to show up at a rather unconventional venue and do your best to enjoy what three carefully curated bands and artistes have to offer. If my recent mission at a basketball court is anything to go by, you would not have much trouble completing yours. Unlike the IMF (Impossible Missions Forces), there is no threat of disavowal. Sofar Sounds would keep welcoming you with more and more missions, one date at a time.

This is the phenomenon that has been quietly revolutionising the music concert scene in Chennai, besides the world. For three years now, Sofar Sounds Chennai has been organising ‘secret gigs and intimate concerts’ across the city. From rooftops of a fan’s house to a corner bookstore — they have managed to take music to hitherto untouched spaces. All in an effort to allow for the artist — emerging or established — and audience to connect, for an indulgence in music without the paraphernalia that has become synonymous with conventional concerts. 

With this philosophy driving the concept, Sofar relies on like-minded volunteers to get the show on the road. You can volunteer your time, talents or space. If you’re applying to watch a show, it is just a matter of putting in a word and hoping for the best. For the artistes, it takes more than just chance and probability. Samples are vetted by the local team to check if you fit the bill. If you’re offering your space for the show, be prepared for a reconnaissance. 

Such a system is the reason Sofar has always managed to surprise you with its performers and venues. How often do you have a Chennai-based jazz quartet and an indie rock star performing one after the other inside a swimming pool!

Last weekend’s concert was over a year after my first with Sofar. While the first one had been in the lawn behind a cafe, this one was at a basketball court behind a sports bar. Seated on the artificial turf, the audience ranged from the five-year-old kid of one of the volunteers to a rock star’s mom who faithfully accompanies him to every gig, from many newcomers to a few faithfuls. The three bands notwithstanding, this concert had free popsicles on offer too! 

When the first act by Anand Bhaskar Collective began the evening’s festivities with a rousing rendition of barso megha and the 60-odd people sang along, the heavens did not open up in answer but the nearly full moon joined the ranks of the spotlights set up for the night. 

Dave Grohl is believed to have once said “You can sing a song to 85,000 people and they’ll sing it back for 85,000 different reasons.” Anand has one reason for insisting that his audience join him in merry-making. “They make it their own, about their life.” He talked about one particular performance at a college. The students loved Fanaa, one of his hits; the reason he was invited to the college festival at all. When the band performed it on stage, the entire audience sang along. And Anand was moved to tears. Hence, this is a ritual his band keeps up at every performance. The night with Sofar too had the small crowd timidly joining them with main hoon fanaa. Tere binaa. Tere binaa, main hoon fanaa.

By the time Grape Guitar Box — Teenasai Balamu’s one-woman music act — got to her acoustic version of Uptown Funk, there was no hesitation in properly punctuating the song with ‘hot damn’s and hoots’. The rest of her performance too was filled with interactive tidbits, if only in the form of quirky anecdotes. 
This is why Sofar keeps getting mission-hungry music enthusiasts. For at these concerts, you’re not just lost in a sea of adrenaline and excitement. You belong in the performance, right beside the artist. I was alone for the most part of the concert (my plus one being called back to journalism duty). But at Sofar, it was the best kind of alone one can be.