The Indian Ocean topped with Saturday Night Blues

On Saturday night I had a reception to attend and after making a brief appearance there, we headed out to Some Place Else. Second night in a row, but for a good reason though; Indian Ocean was playing. I had missed them the last time and got the feeling that I would miss their performance this time around. But as luck would have it we made it just in time. They were supposed to start at 9pm or so the poster said, but only stuck their first note at about 11 pm. Thank you for maintaining Indian Standard Time. At the entrance I was stopped and asked to a pay a cover. The joys of power dressing, people think you’re loaded and can extract money. I refused and then the manager had to come and let me in.

So we pushed and shoved our way in and hooked up with some friends near the bar. Indian Ocean was now into their second number and the rest of the night was a musical treat. They belted out Jhini, Maa Rewa, Hille Re and Bandeh among others and had the crowd singing along. At one point, while taking a break, the crowd burst out and sang Bandeh as a fillip. The crowd wanted them to play Bandeh once more and so as their grand finale, they performed it with the crowd participating in full. Once they had finished I met with Amit Kilam and made a faux pas confusing Sushmit for Asheem and engaging in a long conversation with him.

Indian Ocean
Susmit Sen - Guitar, Vocals
Asheem Chakravarty - Tabla, Tarang, Other Percussion and Vocals
Rahul Ram - Bass Guitar, Vocals
Amit Kilam - Drums, Gabgubi, Recorder, Other Percussion

After that we dropped into Roxy for a bit. Shook a leg and headed right back to listen to Saturday Night Blues Band. They’re one of my favourite bands.