Indian Ocean

Okay, looks like everyone is going to be "treated" to all the happening events of my weekend ;-)! So after yesterday's momentous meeting, today was concert time.

About three weeks ago, I came to know through one of my friends that the Indian band "Indian Ocean" was coming to town. I have heard of Indian Ocean before because one of my friends, V, is a very big fan and had once asked me to get a CD of the band when I went to India. So I promptly told V about the concert and he was very excited and all set to go. He asked if I was going to go and I was like "Hmmmm... let me see". Then, another friend S also heard about the upcoming concert and was all praise for the band. S looked incredulous when I told him that I was still wondering whether to go - what was there to think about!?!

Oh well, I have always enjoyed the concerts that I have been to and all the sample bits of music of IO I had heard so far were pretty decent. So I decided to go. Then, me being a very generous and altruistic person ("the whole world should get whatever happiness I get" is my motto ;-)), started spreading word around about the concert. Finally, eight of us were all set to go.

Today dawned bright and sunny. Ooops - make that cloudy and rainy. Nevertheless I landed up at the concert hall about the time they were beginning to let people in. The show was sold out. Of the eight people who were supposed to turn up, I could see only yours truly. I anyways went inside the concert hall, and in true Indian tradition, put my sweater on one end, the program on the other and then sat in between those eight seats I had "blocked", waiting for the others to show up.

Two more showed up but of the rest five there was no sign. They called and said they were on the way. Grrr - I just hate it when people maintain Indian Standard Time. Anyways, the show started. The music was simply awesome. Especially listening in a concert gives music a "feel" which is out of this world. I was thoroughly enjoying myself. Unfortunately, my enjoyment was marred somewhat by the fact that every 2 minutes one of the organizers would come and ask us whether the 5 empty seats were taken. And we would be like "Yeah, those people are on their way". After some ten times of this, it was hard to decide whether I was more annoyed with the organizers or with my unpunctual friends. Nevertheless, I made a mental note to kick V hard when he and his friends did show up.

Thankfully, the rest of them all showed up some 30 minutes after the show started. The performance continued for a while after that and there was a break. During the break I bumped into some friends from grad school and some friends from my undergrad. There were tons and tons of desis there and so I guess my usually low rate of accidentally bumping into people I know got a big boost :-)!

Well, back to the performance. The second half was even more awesome than the first half. Their kind of fusion music is energetic and lively. I was tapping my foot and enjoying myself very thoroughly. I like their "Bandhe" (you can listen to it on Raaga from the Hindi movie Black Friday) and "Kandisa" renditions the best. It was mesmerizing.

All too soon the show came to an end. And it was time to leave. Which brings me to why I am putting this post up today. Apparently, Indian ocean is playing in Washington DC and Morrisville (North Carolina) soon. If you live in nearby areas and get the chance, do go and check them out! All the four players are immensely talented and the show will be worth your while. You can get more details on the Indian Ocean website.

Anyways, after the show, I bought a CD of one of the Indian Ocean albums (am listenting to it right now :-)). Post-concert, all eight of us decided to have dinner together. We managed to congregate at the correct meeting point and had a good dinner at a Thai restaurant. Perfect ending to a nice day :-). Now, if only tomorrow was Sunday instead of Monday ....