For those of you wondering why there are only two band names in the headline from a rock concert where eight other bands also performed, some of them fabulously I should add, well that is because this isn’t a comprehensive ‘review’ of Rock Melo: Uniting Music & Energy at Aloki on 21 July.
This is more of an overview of the musical experience of arguably the two best ensembles in contemporary Bangladeshi rock music. We decided to focus on the performances of Meghdol and Karnival – how they performed a 45-minute set.
It was around 8 pm when Karnival took to the stage. The Highway had just concluded their set and left the crowd energised for the ‘bigger’ boys to entertain the audience
The stage was aesthetically set with fluorescent ‘disco’ and stage lights for Karnival. Most numbers of their setlist these days are from their ‘Mohomukti’ album. Visuals that synchronise with the tune and music being played actually go a long way during live shows.
Karnival kicked off with ‘Control Room,’ with hues of deep red stage lights flickering over the audience, setting up a vibe that complimented the music.
‘Control Room’ is a song where vocalist Tinu Rashid can flaunt different ranges of his vocal prowess. What struck me by surprise was how flawlessly he nailed all the falsettos in the song. It is not easy for any vocalist to get adventurous with their voice on the first track of the set without any prior sound check. However, for the seasoned campaigner Tinu, nailing his false notes (also known as dead notes) was just another day at the office.
“You know there are times I don’t even hear myself on stage! On some days it’s just about adjusting the sound levels and taking a gamble. We do this regularly and on days where I don’t get any unwanted residual feedback from my sound, the falsettos come out clean,” responded Tinu when I asked how he makes his ‘live’ voice sound so eerily similar to his ‘studio’ voice.
With the recent ban on concerts at ICCB halls at Bashundhara for an indefinite period, Aloki could very well be the next go-to venue for concerts in the city. For Karnival, it was their first time performing at the venue and they were not disappointed with the facilities.
“The sound isn’t all that bad. It’s just that the stage is not that spacious,” said Tinu.
In a 45-minute setlist, where fans usually expect the biggest hits, there is hardly any wiggle room to tweak with the regular setlist. However, sometimes it does get mundane when hearing a band play the same songs day in and day out. However, Karnival is open to change.
“We actually wanted to play different songs tonight! We could not spare time this time around to jam together and hence we stuck to the regular numbers. One other thing is that this venue is not suitable for some of the songs that we wanted to perform.”
Tinu further added, “For example, ‘Mohomukti’ is a song with a clean tone where you can really hear every single note. When you use distortion, the sound kind of spreads in a venue such as this. It’s a hollow venue and sometimes due to the surrounding walls, all we hear is white noise. So this is not the most ideal venue for trying different types of songs. We struggled a bit tonight with ‘Otopor’ and ‘Mohomukti’.”
Well, Tinu may have faced a bit of trouble here and there but the audience certainly did half of his job because they knew every lyric to every song that was being played.
Tinu commented on this thrilling feeling, “A lot of other frontmen going around the circuit get the crowd really excited and energised after stepping up on stage. For me, it’s quite the opposite. It’s actually the audience that helps me get in the groove, sometimes they even help with calming my nerves.”
Apart from ‘Otopor,’ ‘Control Room’ and ‘Mohomukti’, Karnival performed a shortened, soft and melodic version of ‘Amar Shotto’ before concluding the set with ‘Bhrom.’
Photo: Saqlain Rizve
Photo: Saqlain Rizve
Meghdol came in last as the headliners and deservedly so. The band’s grip over Bangladeshi music fans is unmatched.
When their vocalist Shibu Kumer Shil addresses the crowd, without any buildup, without engaging in any cheesy wordplay, the crowd listens – awestruck by the aura of Shibu’s deep voice.
They started off with ‘Esho Amar Shohore,’ based on the C Major key, immediately capturing the audience’s attention.
Now, one thing that has always struck me is the backing vocals of guitarist Rasheed Sharif Shoaib. You have to possess a certain mettle to even have a similar impact as Shibu’s voice and Shoaib certainly has that in his locker.
It’s the vigour in his vocal harmonies that’s the icing on the cake and perfectly complements Shibu’s voice. To me, Shoaib’s backing vocals remind me of Metallica’s Jason Newsted days where the bassist used to own the stage by virtue of his background vocals.
“I have been in charge of vocal harmonies or choirs or anything voice related since the second album ‘Shohorbondi.’ I personally enjoy working on anything related to the vocals. It’s not that I try to execute something different or something out of the box or attempt anything extraordinary. I think it happens quite naturally,” said Shoaib.
Meghdol thereafter performed ‘Bonobibi’ – their latest release, which was also one of the tracks on Coke Studio Bangla’s second season. Before singing the opening lines of the song, Shibu addressed the crowd and said, “We want to speak about a history that stays in the background, in the corners and never gets the limelight. This is a song about the women of Bengal, about the equalities and inequalities.”
As the clock reached around 10.30 pm, Meghdol announced they had time for just a few more songs. Of course, everyone in the audience knew what their showstopper was going to be.
Now here’s the catch, when you can boast a vast discography like Meghdol, you can do better than not calling the curtain on every single show with ‘Hawa.’ Whereas one portion of the crowd only shows up to Meghdol shows for that one song, there are hundreds of others who have had enough of the track.
However, Shoaib had something interesting to say about this as he believes that Meghdol by no means, has overplayed the song.
“It’s barely been a year since ‘Hawa’ was released. It’s not as if it’s a very old song and we certainly haven’t been going for years with the same old setlist. Popularity brings along its own pressure. We do have to think about the audience’s satisfaction,” said Shoaib.
Moreover, Shoaib also had something to say to the Meghdol fans of the yesteryears, the pre-Hawa fan base as I call them.
He reiterated that their upcoming track will be released in the month of August along with a music video which was directed by the vocalist Shibu himself.
“‘Aluminium er Dana’ comes out next month, hopefully. It’s the title track of the album and the song has been in the works for 19 long years. Since it was a courageous attempt to release a song that’s almost two decades old, I believe that through its release, Meghdol fans of the old days will be reassured that Meghdol still sounds like the Meghdol of earlier days,” concluded Shoaib. May that be true.
