Motherjane Live at Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai – 05.11.09

Who : Motherjane

Where : Hard Rock Café, Worli, Mumbai

When : 05 November 2009, 10:00 PM – 12:00 PM

There are certain times you can sense things are going to be electric. There’s no explicit sign, there’s nothing beyond the usual marketing pfaff on the posters, there’s no warning. But you can feel it, something in the air tells you it’s going to be a night you’ll never forget.

05 November 2009, running out of the taxi, zooming into Hard Rock Café, I was feeling that way. I left office at 8 PM, hoping to catch Mallu rock superstars Motherjane from 09:45 PM onwards. That’s the standard time after all, for an 08:00 PM show, after the YMCA thing and all. When I left, Sachin Tendulkar was on 97. When I came in, the match was still on, and was being projected on the HRC screens, something I never expected. Ok, before I turn this into a cricket review, let me just say that a brilliant game of cricket and a magnificent innings by God himself got the crowd charged. We didn’t care that the YMCA was being performed (the fact that it was delayed itself showed how much importance Indians place on cricket, no matter how pseudo anti-cricket we pretend to be), we didn’t give a finger about Bon Jovi’s newest album (which in all fairness, sounded good) which was being ‘premiered’ at all HRCs around the world at this time (which is weird considering HRC California would be having it at 9 AM. Whatever).

Bombay has already seen quite a bit of Motherjane of late - this year they’ve already played at the Myspace Secret Show, I-Rock and at Firangi Paani when yours truly managed to get this out of the band!

So it was with a fair bit of Motherjane fatigue that this concert was expected to be approached (reminiscent of Iron Maiden touring thrice in three years, spawning off jokes like ”Ah missed them but it’s ok, they’ll come again for our college show”). To Motherjane’s credit, they kept things alive, fresh and even though we’ve heard them four times already this year, wouldn’t mind them coming back again.

With most bands, a fixed setlist is a recipe for disaster, but Motherjane seems to have turned predictability into a massive strength. So you know when Suraj’s going to say things like being strong in the head, they’re going to explode with Mindstreet. Or if he hints that the following song is going to be hard to sing along to, the audience can expect the thaka-thaka-thakita of Fields of Sound. The band’s popularity just increases gig by gig and this can be testified by the fact that more people are mouthing the lyrics, and even subtle things like automatically looking at Clyde when Suraj announces Blood in the Apple.

Ok, the songs now. The regulars - Disillusioned, Questions, Mindstreet, Broken - were played through the first half, before the band took a break. After the break though, Suraj teased us with ‘some Bollywood’ as he put it, with Baiju playing a cheeky version of Aap Jaisa Koi which we actually looked forward to. But before you knew it, these ‘predictable’ guys shocked everyone by doing something they haven’t done for years - playing an Iron Maiden cover - Hallowed be Thy Name at that! And as they performed a perfect, note-for-note, you couldn’t help wishing that they either Carnatacise the solos, or play a gig of just covers!

But Motherjane’s strength has always been originals, and they continued to impress. Baiju’s powerful rendition of Vande Mataram, so reminscent of Jimi Hendrix’s Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock ‘69, must rank as one of the finest guitaring performances by an Indian, and it’s hard to see anyone who would not be impressed by this, or tire of it. Fields of Sound, Walk On, Karmic Steps ended the night (only to give way to Fear of the Dark on the PA!).

Musically, they were as tight as ever, and they experimented a lot today. Shhh… Listen had some jazzy guitar bits thrown in, Disillusioned had more Carnatico, etc.

Band members. Suraj Mani has reached the polite air of a humble man who knows he has reached a pinnacle in Indian rock music. He is increasingly comfortable with joking with the audience, and asking them to sing along. And yes, he’s even okay speaking in Malayalam to certain sections of the audience. Baiju has been described in the Motherjane rockumentary as a shy person who transforms when on stage (the same was said of a certain other Malayalee, thankfully results are not the same). He is given God-like status and for good reason, and his increasinging willingness to experiment - throw in a sweep pick here, a few extra taps there - are becoming part of his show now. His Carnatic style of guitar playing can make jaws literally drop (kind of like an internet joke that actually makes you laugh instead of just typing out LOL). There is no doubt that he is a highly original guitarist and can stun world audiences with his brilliance.

Clyde Rozario also has realised the crowd know he’s a pretty good bassist and is receptive to the audience. The ‘Buddha on Bass’ is one of my favourites - he’s like a cult but shy cricketer who smiles after playing a cheeky shot, and the audience love him. Listen to his work on Broken - so smooth and beautiful. And in Disillusioned, he dances all over the verses. Superb. Deepu, who allegedly (italised in true ToI style!) spent 3 years walking 15 km to a hotel to play, and save up for a guitar unit. He did not let that go to waste, he has some exquisite tones and is as important to the Motherjane sound as Baiju is. Be it the riffage on Dissillusioned, or the choral arrpegios on Shh… Listen. John Thomas, already a celebrated drummer, has recently added the chenda to his arsenal for an extra South Indian flavour. I think it’s just a matter of time before a mridangam joins the kit.

So, where are Motherjane right now? One of India’s biggest live acts. One of the few bands to draw a salary from their record company. A new album next year. But are they really the voice of Indian rock? That might probably go to a more truly authentic group from the same state, Avial.

But there’s no denying Motherjane is truly huge, and deserve to make it big outside the country as well. But yes, there’s a fair amount of familiarity now, and the crowd (Bombay, atleast) needs something new. And Motherjane are a better band than to get back to doing covers. Motherjane’s fan base has picked up so much from the time I first saw them, and they’re a humble, friendly bunch too. They need to keep building on their strength - sounding Indian and adding elements. They probably don’t want to bloat and add a violinist or a keyboardist, but that’d be an interesting experiment.

All in all, a fantastic night. One that started with one God and ended with another.

Added bonus link: Check out this superb piece of guitaring by Baiju, but the true star of that was Jossy, the bassist!

Deepak Gopalakrishnan aka Chuck is a social media professional who gorges on PG Wodehouse, jigsaw puzzles, Iron Maiden, Oasis and cricket.  He tries to draws incessant observations on everything in life from auto drivers to bartenders. Atleast he tries to. He blogs at www.chroniclesofdementia.blogspot.com and tweets (like a maniac) at www.twitter.com/chuck_gopal