BLR Echoes - February ' 25
What we talk about when we talk about Bengaluru.
The month in minutes: A recap of the last 30 days @ UnboxingBLR
UnboxingBLR at Namma Raste:
At Namma Raste, a two-day exhibition on Mobility Solutions for a Culturally Immersive, Inclusive, and Future Ready Bengaluru, our CEO, Malini Goyal, spoke at a panel that discussed "How Tech Innovations Are Changing the Way Bengaluru Moves."
She highlighted how mobility can make Bengaluru’s arts, heritage, and experiences more accessible. Malini also introduced OneTAC, an open, decentralized platform co-developed by Beckn Protocol, EkStep, UnboxingBLR, FIDE, and CulKey Foundation, designed to transform Tourism, Arts, and Culture (TAC)
With Bengaluru as the pilot city, OneTAC is set to reshape the landscape of travel, arts, and tourism, making cultural exploration more accessible, immersive, and community-driven. Watch out for more on OneTAC on our social media!
From Code to Culture’s back from a looong break:
Good news! We’ve been behind the mic (and the camera) recording new episodes for our podcast, From Code to Culture 💃🏽 Get ready because fresh video content drops soon and we can’t wait to share it with you 👀
Take a guess in the comments if you know who’s coming on FCTC next:
Bengaluru’s Love Affair with Rock ‘n’ Roll
This is the first part of our three-part series exploring Bengaluru’s rock music journey through the decades. In this piece, we dive into the history of rock music and the city’s live music scene. The next part will focus on music festivals, iconic event venues, and what the future holds for young musicians breaking into the scene.
Is Rock ‘n’ Roll in Bengaluru … dead? (gasp)
Redditors, much like the age-old critics of the genre, have been quick to declare that the golden days of rock music in the city are long gone. A quick scroll through posts lamenting the city’s current music scene reveals a common villain — Bollywood music. Some people are particularly cheesed with how their local haunts have succumbed to playing EDM over Eye of the Tiger.
Now let me take a step back before we dive deeper into this piece.
I moved to Bengaluru in 2016 and while I’ve always enjoyed music, 'the scene' was something I couldn’t quite wrap my head around. For starters, I had no reference of this ‘scene’ in comparison to other Indian cities. Second, I didn’t have too many peers who were musicians, attended live concerts or seemed interested in ‘reviving’ rock.
Sure, parts of it existed in green rooms after classes were done for the day, in rehearsals for ‘Battle of the Bands’ when college fests were announced, or in sound-proofed jam rooms that had odd names and were tucked away in corners of the city, but even conservatively, I could say that when I set foot in the city, ‘the scene’ was subdued, compared to the ‘glory days of rock’.
And if at the time, it was my ignorance, the lockdown 4 years later, made one thing painfully clear: Bengaluru’s music was the latest victim of the pandemic. Popular venues shut down, concerts became a distant, fading memory, and musicians were left scrambling, uncertain of what the future held.
But before writing an obituary for Rock Music, I wanted to revisit the legends of Bengaluru’s rock scene and find answers to some questions: Is rock even dead? Where and when did this rock scene exist, and why the hell are people so hung up on it? How did Bengaluru get the super cool tag of being India’s Rock Capital?
Credit’s due to Biddu Appaiah, a strapping fellow, fresh out of Bishop Cotton, who went by the name Biddu. He had a mullet and donned rock star attire - bell bottoms, boots and all. His band, The Trojans, was one of the first bands in Bengaluru.
Bengaluru in the 1960s was a hip little city, laid-back in style, with a willingness to experiment with the Anglo Indian and western culture that was seeping into its music. At 3 Aces (one of the first live music venues in Bengaluru), The Trojans made a name for themselves before they switched over to playing gigs at private parties for a select clientele. In no time, Biddu made waves globally with his debut release Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great Love Songs featuring Carl Douglas.
With Biddu, the scene was set, and all it needed was a little push. And push, it got.
In 1982, Sunbeam Motha started Music Strip in Cubbon Park to encourage live music in the city.
Under the glow of petromax lamps, musicians, friends and family gathered for an impromptu jam while homemade burgers and sandwiches made the rounds. It was messy, unrehearsed, and the typical ‘jugaadu’ setup, but it worked. By the time it was moved to the Cubbon Park bandstand, it had cult status.
In fact, the legendary Konarak Reddy’s first jam at the strip had a rather comical setup. Amplifiers were set up on rocks plugged into car batteries. You had a wobbly mike stand, a drum kit with the bass stuffed with cushions and an audience of the bold and curious — what caused quite a stir in the scene.
In 2024, Reddy celebrated his 50-year musical journey at Bangalore International Centre through Bangalore 1974, with the iconic Cubbon Music Strip marking a key chapter.
While Music Strip was brought to a close in 1986 given long standing issues with park authorities, it was a launchpad for bands and artists to pursue successful music careers; the same people who gave Bengaluru its rep as a rocking city.
The city’s love story with music, however, was just beginning.
Music Strip metamorphosed into Sunday Jam (an impromptu gig held on the first Sunday of every month) and later, Freedom Jam, which was started to commemorate India's 50th anniversary celebrations in 1996.
Tony Das from Thermal And A Quarter remembers the Sunday Jam era and what the live music scene looked like ‘back in the day’ — “It was free to register, you just had to show up, bring your instruments, plug into whatever was there, play your gig and go home. Nobody was making any money off of it, but you know everyone was in it for a good time.”
“There was a great community that was centred around it because they knew you'd get a variety of music there – Indian classical music all the way until the most extreme form of metal you could think of. And it was genre agnostic, it was style agnostic, it was the idea that you could do whatever you wanted there.”
Accounts of Freedom Jam are strikingly similar to Tony’s recollection of Sunday jams in the city:
“The first Freedom Jam I attended was in a ground behind Ravindra Kalakshetra. I went with my parents in 1997, picnic baskets in hand. It felt like a really cool, adult experience for me at the time — we’d arrived around 8 in the evening and stayed until 3-4 in the morning,” my colleague Sumanth recounted when I sat down with him to understand more about the appeal of such a setup.
He continued, “Unlike concerts, where one artist or set of artists are the main event, this space thrived because you were equally looking for artists as they were for an audience. At Freedom Jam I was introduced to a metal band for the first time and my 8 year old world exploded. The concept of a jam was so freeing — it was not sponsored, there was no agenda, and people didn’t look at it as a public nuisance. To me, it was the closest to a Woodstock experience in India.”
Over the years, Freedom Jam became a long standing tradition of Bengaluru’s music scene. Almost all the iconic bands and artists from Bengaluru I can think of, played at Freedom Jam - Thermal and a Quarter, Kryptos, Sarjapur Blues, Bhoomi, Lucky Ali, Vasundhara Das, Raghu and Vasu Dixit - seriously, the list is endless.
The temptation to experience it all over again as a true-blue Bengalurean is understandable, but just in case you’re a newbie to the city, unable to understand why people are itching to go back to the Music Strip days, you’re right to wonder too.
Sure, the setup was good for the time, but doesn’t Bengaluru have multiple venues for a better gig experience? Isn’t music just becoming bigger and better?
The short answer: yes, there’s no dearth of venues or artists. But while the scene has undeniably expanded with bigger concerts and a more polished setup, there's something about the spontaneity of places like Music Strip and events like Freedom Jam that helped shape the city’s identity. It set the foundation for the scene that exists today. In fact, Freedom Jam continues to this day, even though it doesn’t command the same audience as it once did. While part of ‘reviving’ these spaces is the nostalgia talking, there’s a whole other part that’s a call for the city’s inherent curiosity to remain unchanged; for the culture to stay forever experimental.
Rock was a quiet revolt in the city, and it meant no agenda, no rules, and most of all — no policing and control! For music, it was truly a lovely time to be alive.
So, here’s my take — while the city’s music scene might seem like a shell of its former self, rock in Bengaluru isn't dead — it's evolving, and we’re about to dive deeper into where it stands now. Stay tuned for part 2 where we’ll explore music festivals and venues that are shaping the scene now and how music has evolved over the years in Bengaluru.
Do you have pictures and/or stories of the times you spent at Sunday/ Freedom Jam? We’re suckers for a good ol’ Bengaluru story, so send us an email at namaskara@unboxingblr.com and we’ll feature it in upcoming newsletters shortly :)
Favourite Finds
Start March on a high note, with handpicked recommendations on what to check out in the city from the UnboxingBLR team 🕺🏼
Namma Oota - Namma Oota, part of Science Gallery Bengaluru’s Sci560 exhibition, explores the science and sustainability of food through expert-led workshops.
Date: 1st and 2nd March | Venue: Science Gallery, BengaluruUnited Vision for Science - The Unified Vision for Science seminar series by Param Science brings education stakeholders together to promote quality education, reforms, and hands-on learning. Our CEO, Malini Goyal is also on the panel, so you should come say hi 👋
Date: 7th March | Venue: Yuvapatha Seminar Hall, JayanagarBengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFES) - The 16th Bengaluru International Film Festival showcases 200+ films from 60+ countries, celebrating cinema under the theme ‘Universal Peace in Diversity.’
Date: 1st - 8th March | Venue: PVR Cinemas – Orion Mall, Rajaji Nagar
Annnnnd that’s a wrap for this edition! We’ll be back with more updates and exciting content next month, so look out for our email in your inbox 📨
Until then,
Team UnboxingBLR 💌
BLR Echoes is UnboxingBLR’s newsletter; a monthly curation of Bengaluru events, interesting tidbits, and the many amazing things that we’re up to - all yours to unbox and discover!