An evening being Madly Bangalee @ SPE

Last evening I decided to head out to Some Place Else after what seemed like forever. I had heard that Anjan Datta was playing there. So after a quick dinner at Domino’s Pizza on Russell Street, we headed to the Mecca of live bands, Some Place Else. We got there hung out for a while and then realised that Anjan Datta was promoting the music of his soon to be released film “Madly Bangalee”. The four boys who act in the film about a rock band put up a great gig to start with. They were actors who had actually learnt how to play the set of songs they performed only for this gig and by George they put up a splendid performance. Anjan Datta followed soon and with his golden voice entertained the crowd for a while.

While I was there I was surprised to see two ex-colleagues of mine from radio City hanging out and enjoying the music. Pankaj & Sudarshan were completely taken up with the concept of the live band culture that this place had. Another power-packed song from the film sung by a talented lad “Arka” was the pinnacle of their performance for the evening, before Anjan Datta wrapped it up with another song from the movie.

We decided to wait a while longer, while most of the crowd including my two friends from Delhi departed. They were talking about a song called “I wish I was Single Again” and asked me if I could help them getting it. They said they had heard it at SPE on their last visit and were floored by the explicit lyrics of the song. So I said it was a popular song with Anglo-Indians from way back. Anyway as we sipped beer, Span took stage.

They belted out some really nice numbers and engaged in some histrionics with a couple of tipplers. Suddenly I heard it, so I whipped out my phone and decided to record “I wish I was Single Again” and to my delight, it was the longest and funniest ever rendition of the song I had heard, complete with audience participation and all. Neel Adhikari, Stewie and the lead guitarist were having a ball. All I have to say is that Span was good. Period.

The Band: Span
Neel Adhikari: Guitar and vocals
Stuart Munro: Bass and vocals
Raja Narayan Deb: Keyboards
Arka Das: Drums

We finally left the place at about 1.30am and reminisced about the days we would be there till the wee hours on our drive back home.