Birodh Days…..

dhrubo — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 07:53:49 +0000

The band I used to play in was called Birodh. We started our journey in 2001 and called it off in 2006 because 4 of our members had to leave the country for higher studies. We released one of our songs in a mixed album called ‘Live Now’. Our band was not about earning money or getting famous (I didn’t mind getting those because of the band!!)….We did music because we loved performing and we enjoyed every second of it. These are some pictures from different shows during our 6 year journey.

Show at National Museum Auditorium

This was at National Museum Auditorium. We had a great response from the crowd. This picture was taken when we were covering Fear of The Dark by Iron Maiden. I clearly remember the crowd going crazy when we started the song. They sang along with us throughout the song.

Lead guitarist Adnan

This is one of my favorite pictures. A friend called Tausif took this. This was in Russian Cultural Center.

Show at STM HALL

A friend of mine called Tanveer took this picture. This was one of my favorite shows. The atmosphere, crowd, stage setup and the sound everything about the show was perfect. We had a great response from the crowd.

Crowd surfing during a show

So this is when I lost my shoes. This was in Shilpokola Academy. I jumped on the crowd during the show and by the time I got back on the stage I didn’t have my shoes ! It was a lot of fun though….

Concert Cribs

dhrubo — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 19:23:46 +0000

I was talking about the difficulties behind finding good venues when my friend Sabrina posed a question about the pros of local venues, which got me thinking. I did perform in almost all the venues we mentioned (except the Engineering Institute and Sheraton Hotel’s Winter garden). One of the most memorable shows for me would be the open air concert in Old DOHS. This concert is really special for me because it was one of the best concerts I have organized and my band Birodh got its big break through this show. Not too many people are lucky enough to be able to play in Old DOHS ground but I am sure those who have performed there knows how much fun it is to play there.

STM hall is also one of my favorite venues. Even though it doesn’t have the best acoustics, the great crowd and the setup cover up for that problem. Every time we performed there we had a great response. It is one of those feelings that you can’t explain through words. The audience made us feel like rockstars. It was always great performing at STM hall.

ISD was fun too, but I don’t have the best experience there!! All ISD concerts had a great crowd and the setup and environment were always good. Sounds great right? You must be wondering how I couldn’t enjoy it. Well I did enjoy it but in one of the shows I lost my favorite shoe!!(I jumped into the audience while playing and my shoe fell off and I never found it)… And in another show I almost got electrocuted because there was something wrong with the wiring (yes..I know it’s funny!)…

It is always great to play in RCC. I mean this place is the home ground of underground concerts!..I saw my first underground show at RCC (97/98). RCC always gave a very homely vibe, as if I was playing in front of all my friends in a get together. DBC, ACC and National Museum Auditorium were fun to play in too. I never liked playing in Nazrul Institute though. Even though it’s a decent venue, I always thought it was dirty, didn’t have the best crowds (maybe the organizers fault) and the energy level was really low.

If I have to make a list of my favorite venues in order of preference, it will be –

1. Old DOHS field

2. STM hall

3. RCC

4. ISD basket ball court

5. ACC

Short of Venues ?!

dhrubo — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:13:25 +0000

Amer (organizer one): So where should we organize the concert??

Ravi (organizer two): What about Russian Culture Center (RCC)?

Amer: Nah!…too typical…over a thousand shows have been organized there…

Ravi: mm O!!…Then what about Decagon?

Amer: If you want to organize just another everyday show, then yes…I mean there’s practically a concert there every other day!…And it’s small and gets congested !

Ravi: Then how about Kozmo?…or Nazrul Institute?

Amer: Kozmo is way too small for a proper underground show…and Nazrul Institute has the same problem as RCC.

Ravi: Hmmm…..So Dhanmondi is out of options!…what about Gulshan?…ll Community Club (ACC), Spectra Convention Center or DBC??…

Amer : I wish! One of them doesn’t allow concerts anymore…and even if we get the permission, ACC has horrible acoustics, so does Spectra and to top it, it’s VERY expensive and DBC does not have that free space anymore.

Ravi: Damn..What about STM hall ?…or Gulshan Youth Club field ?….or Radisson/Westin ?

Amer: Gulshan Youth Club is available, but we want an indoor venue remember ?…and Radisson and Westin costs around 2 lakh, so we can’t effort it.

Ravi: GREAT !! (In a sarcastic tone)…so we don’t have a proper venue…either it’s the usual venue with bad acoustics or there is no show !!

Being an organizer, I face this problem every time I plan a show. Here in Dhaka we don’t have a proper venue which has good acoustics, a decent crowd capacity and of course, affordable. There are great auditoriums like Shishu Academy, National Museum Auditorium, Buet Auditorium, Engineering Institute auditorium; but none of these auditoriums are available for concerts because of security reasons. So it is very frustrating for an underground concert organizer to have so few options when it comes to picking a venue for a good show.

Tribute Show

dhrubo — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:01:18 +0000

I usually don’t go to concerts anymore and even if I go to one, I find a lot of bad things about the concert and complain about it. I also compare the concerts with the old ones and point out how good they used to be. On 18^th August I went to this ‘tribute concert’ in Sheraton organized by Asiatic and sponsored by BATB. I didn’t really want to go there, but since all my friends where going, I tagged along. It was a tribute show for U2, Guns N Roses and BonJovi. I went there around 5 30 (the show was suppose to start at 6) and as I entered the venue (Winter garden) I was absolutely shocked and speechless!! I have never seen such a nice and well decorated venue in Bangladesh. I was completely blown away by the setup!!(Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures to share).

The stage was huge with two big screens on the side, black background with small lights on it. The whole venue was surrounded with neon lighting and LCD screens. There were three huge guitars hanging from the ceiling and the sitting arrangement was in the middle with bar like tables and high chairs!

Nemesis was up first and their tribute was to U2. As usual they were great and stole the show immediately. They covered one, with or without you, Sunday bloody Sunday, where the streets have no name, discotheque, hold me thrill me kiss me kill me, desire and stuck in a moment. Every song was covered perfectly and I enjoyed every single second of it.

Then came on Radio Active and they gave tribute to Guns N Roses. Their performance was great too, and they had high energy level on the stage. They covered Welcome to the jungle, Patience, November rain, Don’t cry, Sweet Child O Mine and few other famous GNR songs. Their covers where great too as they jumped around the stage and kept the audience on their tows!

The last band was Black, who gave tribute to Bonjovi. They started the show with ‘You gave love a bad name’. Unfortunately I had to leave early so I missed their performance but I heard that their covers where great too.

After watching this concert, I didn’t have a single complain about it and I was convinced that this was one of the best show I have ever been to. This was a proper concert, it had a proper setup and this show had the perfect ambience for great music.

Quality vs Quantity

dhrubo — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:09:00 +0000

Over the past decade, the underground music scene of Bangladesh has experienced rapid growth. Even in 2001/2002 there were only a handful of bands and a record deal was very hard to get. The competition was fierce, and only the ablest bands survived, while many of the old bands called it off, being unable to support their music.

Today, we are experiencing a rapid growth in the scene. There are more bands, greater availability of equipment, and more people willing to invest in young talent. Musicians are getting more opportunities to express their music and the whole scene is more recognized. Unfortunately the quality of music has deteriorated. Since anyone who can afford an instrument can form a band, regardless of actual talent, there is less pressure to perform well, and the quality of the music suffers.

There are almost 2/3 concerts every week, at the SAME venue, with the SAME band lineup ! Concerts are now more about making money and socializing than actual music. The songs that the new bands cover are actually horrifying in a sense that they sound nothing like the original. The quality that bands like Fulbanu’s Revenge, Migraine, Part of the Scenery, Neurosis, The Attempted Band, etc once had are far better than the quality these bands have now. However, some bands from that time (eg – Nemesis, Breach, Vibe) are still holding on to the solid and great quality they had.

Well this is just what I think. I’m sure people have different views about the current situation. But there should be some quality control system or some weird system that would bring back the great quality the underground scene once had.