Sounds from the Pitaara: Catch a Woodstock-like music fiesta this weekend in Goregaon

This weekend, Pitaara - The Art Box, a new cultural space in the suburbs, is throwing open a Woodstock-like music fiesta. Discovery Night will feature musicians from a wide range of genres and sounds. The line-up will pique Pop lovers, as well as those who are picky about the Blues. Amidst all the known genres, there are two acts to watch out for - Siddhartho Poddar (a finger-style guitar player) and Abhanga Repost (a contemporary Folk/Fusion group that composes the poetry of Sant Tukaram and Sant Eknath).

A visual experience
"It's primarily an instrumental performance; the session involves me hitting the body of the guitar to create percussive sounds, combining it with the melody on strings," explains Poddar, who studied his craft at The British and Irish Modern Music Institute in the United Kingdom.

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The 27-year-old stays away from playing covers; he derives inspiration from his trips to the mountains, which he finds peaceful. "There is a track called Summit. It was composed after my first trip to the Himalayas. So, it is an ode to the hills. The tune Amber, meanwhile, is about my autumn experience in Brighton. The leaves tend to fall before winter, and that looks beautiful," he adds.

His set may not have the glamour or electric noises but the guitar player is hopeful of turning heads. "Finger-style playing is visually interesting, which might be a plus. Every kind of music has its strong points," reasons Poddar. With no words to the songs, his set is likely to push people into imaginative mode.

Culture and roots
At 21, people usually hit discs, chug a bottle of beer listening to Daft Punk, but not so for Viraj Acharya, percussionist of Abhanga Repost. The word ‘Abhanga' means verses that cannot be destroyed.

Siddhartho Poddar

"We want to remind the youth about our forgotten culture and rich poetry, written 400 years ago by saints. Since we are recomposing, we added Repost to our name," he says.

Within 18 months of the band's inception, they have played close to 90 gigs. "People like us because we are not your typical band. They say they haven't heard such music before. They like dancing to our music, too," informs Acharya.

Among their popular tunes, De Dewache Mandir (written by Sant Tukaram), was recently released online.

On February 25, 7 pm onwards
At Pitaara - The Art Box, Road No 2, Yashwant Nagar, Goregaon (W).
Call 9820393001
COST Rs. 300

Full line-up
Akshay Dakhane (Pop),
Lydian Dominant (Experimental Fusion), My Kind of Blue (Jazz/ Blues), Sooraj (Pop/ Rock),
FourSharpMinor (Experimental),
The South Dandies Swaraj feat. Kacheri Movement (Multilingual Rap)