This could be seen recently when the international band Jalabee Cartel came to the City for a performance. Be it in any form or genre, music unites everyone and Bangalore experienced it when the band performed and had people from all over the City gathering to make it a night to be remembered.
The evening started a little late but no one was complaining with the people high on energy and anticipation. It was a treat to see everyone jive to the music even while the band members were doing a sound check in the backstage area. Jalabee Cartel, who have been very popular on collective live gigs circuit, were full of energy themselves and looking forward to giving their best to the audience.
The night was beautiful with the weather god being in its favour. The light breeze combined with the fabulous music churned out by the band made for one rocking night. The live act featured Jalabee’s own compositions, which were broken up, twisted and served fresh with ethnic sounds thrown in for good measure. But it was still funky with an international sound that’s unlikely to be recognised as typically ‘Indian’. While Arjun was high on music itself, Ash kept everyone on their toes with the mesmerising play of the percussion.
The live element gave an extra edge to the performance — one that was constantly changing and evolving with the four members adding their own zing to the music. The result was a potent, energetic livewire of influences from progressive to techno to electronic, overlaid with live vocal harmonies, percussion, drums and tablas.
The performance, unlike ordinary DJing, wasn’t just about a neat packaging of sound but also about fusing genres to create a raw, electric style of urban dance music. While the crowd danced to the tunes, it was clear that ‘Cartel’ knew what they were doing. The crowd mostly comprised youngsters who kept the tempo of the event up about and buzzing. Energetic and full of life, they danced to the music for hours on end.
The night was part of ‘Kingfisher Ultra Soul Flyp Nites’ which was held recently featuring some of the best DJs present in the country with Jalabee Cartel’s concert being the concluding performance of the event in Bangalore.
The evening came to an end with Jalabee announcing DJ Ram as the winner of the competition, who was overwhelmed at the opportunity of opening for renowned international artist Chris
Ortega.
DHNS