February 01, 2010

Oh my peter!* I'm feeling pretty banged up this morning. I'll blame the late nights and interrupted sleep. I do apologize for the lack of posts during this past week. I really must apologize. But I’m back. As always I thank everyone who stops by on a regular basis and those who de-lurked to leave a comment last week.

This past weekend, on a delightful Saturday night, Pete and I went to E-Zone, a club in Marathalli, to catch a bit of music. Fortunately for me my friend is an avid listener of everything great and he had stumbled upon this band named ‘Something Relevant’ from Mumbai.
On this night the cover was 150 rupees, the beers were 200, and the music was more than worth the long ride back and forth on the frozen evening. Fortunately their performance was quite honestly brilliant. It’s the type of brilliant that lets you know that these boys, will, in fact be on the top ten lists of Indian bands at the end of the year. It’s the type of brilliant that blacks out all other bands for a solid amount of time while you attempt to sate your addiction on whatever songs you can get your hands on. ‘Something Relevant’, lived up to their billing as they played through a set of funk infused jazz with a cover of Smooth Criminal, and quite possibly the best live version of anything I have ever heard since Soulmate. And the fact that they managed to cram all of this fun onto a tiny little stage in one corner of this ground just added to the night.
This band was quite dazzling in a live setting, easily surpassing studio recordings. Might I add that the saxophonist, the trombone player and the vocalist are quite possibly the best I’ve ever heard. If I’m a sucker for anything it’s a good saxophonist, especially one that looks similar to Eric Marienthal. You got me good ‘Something Relevant’ (wonderful band name by the way), you got me good. Get the album ‘Feels Good to Be Live’, thank me later.

The playful nature of the vocalist, Aazin Printer, also presents itself very well in a live setting and I strongly encourage anyone with a chance to catch them live to get out and see a set. It’ll be a fun evening.

* an expression Elvis frequently used to express surprise.