Having completed the business end of proceedings, it was now time to return to the focus of our trip to India: The Aussie BBQs. Having had all five bands play at the NH7 Weekender in Pune, our travelling circus was now in Mumbai, where the first of three Aussie BBQs was taking place following the second day of events at the Nokia Music Matters conference, at the city’s Hard Rock Café.
Like most Hard Rock Cafés around the world, the setup here was an interesting one – a stage towered above a dance floor, situated in front of booths for table service. There was a second level where most of the Australian contingency was positioned, and after spending the day setting up, it wasn’t long before the crowd started arriving, a mix of Karnivool fans – the event headliners – and conference attendees (the event was set up as an official afterparty for those proceedings).
What transpired was a phenomenal night of Australian music, which saw people like Steve Lillywhite rocking out to Karnivool, Simon Crean getting a taste of the Australian music scene first hand, hundreds of sweaty locals screaming every word to every Karnivool song and, especially considering how different every band was, a great level of support given to each and every artist on display. With this being Karnivool’s final date on their Indian tour, it was also a premature goodbye for quite a few who we’d been enjoying travelling with for a week on the road. But they certainly went out on a great note.
On the differing natures of all the bands: First up you had Big Scary, the rock and roll two piece from Melbourne; arguably the closest thing musically to Karnivool on the night. The band rocked and thrashed and impressed as they always do. Sheppard were next (pictured in header), who I expected to have a tough crowd given the amount of black shirts in the crowd contradicting their colourful pop rock. Impressively enough, they got the crowd dancing and singing along; very much a testament to their skill on the stage.
By the time Jinja Safari arrived (pictured above), the venue was well and truly packed, and their jungle party vibes, though a considerable distance away musically from Karnivool, sat easily with the crowd, who danced and sung along from start to finish. Once again, Pepa’s Sitar was given a good deal of support from the crowd, much to his continued surprise.
But it was very much Karnivool’s night (pictured below) – the locals were here to see them, and some had travelled a considerable distance for the privilege. Suffice it to say, the band did not disappoint. To call them a well oiled, well rehearsed, tight and impressive live band is perhaps an understatement. This is a band who are playing a constant balancing act with Ian Kenny’s other project, Birds of Tokyo. The former has had great success at home, while The ‘Vool have had considerable success overseas. What this means, however, is that this is a band who are only really together six months of the year. As we speak, Kenny has been putting the finishing touches on the new BOT record, all the while a few shows are about to be put on in Australia over the New Year. I honestly don’t know how he does it, but he certainly makes it look easy, and this show in Mumbai was no exception.
Closing the night were The Aston Shuffle, who were given a hard gig tonight with most of the crowd leaving before they hit the stage. Nonetheless, those that stuck around for a dance were given a fantastic show – from the music itself all the way to the light show that accompanied it – and I couldn’t have hoped for a better way to end the first of three Aussie BBQ events around India.
One thing was for certain – just because we were in India didn’t mean that these bands weren’t going to give it their all. Some battling Delhi Belly, others an infected foot and/or just general exhaustion, you’d never have known it when they hit the stage. How great it is to be able to share such music with the rest of the world!
READ THE OTHER NINE PARTS OF THIS SERIES HERE.
