It’s official. Blue Frog waiters are by far the most annoying amongst any waiters in the Lower Parel area, possibly even upto Mahim.
Pop quiz. Apart from pick-n-pay joints, which restaurant gives you your bill before you’ve consumed your order? Yup, you guessed right, The Blue Frog. Also, don’t lets all try the Cafe Latte.
Oh yeah, full review of Ashutosh Phatak’s gig, lots of pics and the surprise Indiecision after the break.
Ashutosh Phatak is co-owner of the Blue Frog. And if Wednesday is to be believed, is also pretty fidgety before gigs. But this night wasn’t going well right from the start. From 9pm itself Phatak was spotted hastily walking to and fro the dressing room. Accompanying guitar player Sanjay Divecha only arrived at around 9:30. As usual the 9:30pm start time for the gig was a lie. In fact, at around 10 it was announced that the gig would only start at 10:30 because “Ashu is going to play one long set and it’s better heard late.” Sure, and we’re morons who can’t see the performer scampering from guest to guest making sure everyone who was probably invited was in the venue.
The gig eventually started at around 10:45. The opener had a melody that sounded suspiciously similar to this Titan Xylys commercial. It set the tone for the gig; more pop quizzy goodness, a whole bunch of “where have I heard that melody before?”
It has come repeatedly to my notice that Indian musicians, present performer included, seem to bear a heavy burden. But more on that later. It’s safe to say that Phatak’s coming album is going to be about love and oppression and breaking free from the many shackles that our community faces. Thematically therefore, this wasn’t one a gig to remember.
The few things that did help though were the individual bits of skill displayed by Sanjay Divecha on guitar, Lindsay D’Mell0 (yeah, same Shaa’ir + Func guy) on drums and the backing singers. One particular song, part of Phatak’s forthcoming ‘rock opera’, did stand out, musically. But by then the damage had been done.
Indiecision: B-
6 Trackbacks
[...] the Blue Frog lineup doesn’t really excite, save for Shaa’ir + Func. Ashutosh Phatak’s music is overthought and Smoke fail to impress on record. Hopefully, Full Circle can save some [...]
[...] the gig kicked off at 10:33pm, an acceptable three minute delay compared to the usual lateness of Blue Frog gigs. The punctuality set the tone for an efficient gig by perhaps India’s best live alternative [...]
[...] is correct, as proved by Ashu’s gig at the Blue Frog earlier this year. The album will be released at a free gig at the Frog on Thursday which will [...]
[...] Phatak’s gig at the Frog earlier this year wasn’t much to write home about (though Indiecision did), but his press release promises that Ashu’s on-stage energy and theatrics during live [...]
[...] is not the right financial plan. The previous gate charge plan was simple – gigs start at 9:30pm (not) so get to the venue by 9pm or earlier to avoid a Rs 300 entry charge. They then changed this to a [...]
[...] up at 8:59pm to beat the Rs 300 gate charge that kicked in at 9pm, only for Ashutosh Phatak to take the stage at 10:45pm. Still, it’s a start. Perhaps they don’t want to let us down in 2009. Blog, Bookmark, [...]