DH Web Desk, JUN 15 2022, 22:28 IST|UPDATED: JUN 15 2022, 22:28 IST
Representative image. Credit: PTI photo
The group, which began with seven people on June 25 in 2016, currently has 48 participating members. “The idea behind the group was to promote short stories. I wanted to hold a meetup of sorts and do a workshop. But since I had just moved out of Bengaluru, I decided a WhatsApp group would be the perfect avenue,” says Gopalakrishna Kuntini, the group’s admin. The group has no age or location limit.
The closure of music spaces in 2018-19 was disastrous for musicians, he recalls. “During the pandemic, some musicians were able to master the art of live streaming with the right equipment and software. We tried it but it didn’t work out, so we focused on recording music and working on projects we had kept on hold,” he says.
Khalid Ahamed, vocalist-guitarist with 12-year-old contemporary Indian music band Parvaaz, says the journey has been difficult these past two years for independent artistes, especially newer bands.
“However, since the last Covid wave receded, people have been attending live shows. The attendance is higher as most people have been indoors for long and are now looking for reasons to step out,” he says. The band did a six-city tour in the second half of 2021 and has been performing at music and college festivals.
Debjeet Basu, the guitarist with rock band Perfect Strangers India, says the opening of new venues is adding to the interest. “We have had two gigs a month since February,” he says.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.64 per cent to 104.84.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 1.07 per cent to $119.87 per barrel.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 152.18 points or 0.29 per cent lower at 52,541.39, while the broader NSE Nifty shed 39.95 points or 0.25 per cent to 15,692.15.
Fandom at Gilly’s Redefined, Koramangala, which opened in 2018 and regularly hosted gigs, returned to live music in February. “We have close to 20 gigs every month now. Lots of people are listening to new music,” says Suhas V K, programming head. About 90% of pre-pandemic audiences are back. Foxtrot, Marathahalli, says it is getting 95% of its earlier customers. Rahul Khanna, director and co-founder of Azure Hospitality, the company that runs the gastropub, says the music scene is “as vibrant as before”. “We have been hosting eight to 10 live gigs a month now,” he says. Bira 91 Taproom, Koramangala, which opened in March 2020, is also witnessing big crowds. “People are actively enquiring about live gigs,” says Nayanabhiram Deekonda, VP (restaurants).
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