Must catch events this weekend

Let drum and bass get you grooving plus 3 more must-catch events

Let drum and bass get you grooving plus 3 more must-catch events

On: July 3, 5 pm onwards
AT: Pebbles, Sadashivnagar
Call: 2361 4109

To all those fans of Drum and Bass, here's a show you can't miss. Danny Williamson aka LTJ Bukem, the creator of the genre, is in town. Drum and Bass is a not-so-popular and underrated genre in the country which has a niche audience. The scene, however, is evolving and charting out a path of its own. UK-based LTJ Bukem started out as a DJ in 1987 and soon began recording his own music, releasing his first track in July 1991. Performing with Bukem on Saturday will be MC Conrad on the vocals, a defining figure in the drum and bass music scene. The artists will play on a live set as opposed to a DJ set which involves both mixing and creating live music. DJ Vachan Chinnappa from Bangalore and BBC from Mumbai will open the act. Brought together by Grooves Samaritans, the event is one of the 18 gigs that they have planned till December. Kashyap Shangari, partner, Grooves Samaritans, tells us, "We plan to bring down artists of this genre who are music producers and not just DJs."

Tel Aviv sound arrives
On: July 2, 8.30 pm
At: Opus, Palace Cross Road.
Call: 98440 30198
They are called Nasty Peach. And no, the name is not some spin-off of Alice In Wonderland. Nasty Peach is a tame take on the harmless Nestea Peach, an iced tea the band loves sipping on while jamming. This band from Israel first came together in 2006 and has Odelia Shmulewitz as lead vocalist, Ben Krispin on guitars, Jonathan Loewenthal on the bass, Tal Bruchstein on keyboards, Yony Kory on drums, Darya Aloufy and Omer Tessel on back vocals, Arad Yeini on the trumpet and Gal Dahan on the sax. Their sound is a mix of funk and groove with back vocalists and prancing around on stage. The group does not focus on Israel's disturbed political landscape. Instead, their English lyrics captures the less-talked-about lighter side of Israeli life.

Take train back to Malgudi
On: July 4, 4 pm and 7.30 pmu00a0u00a0 call: 98860 62324
At: KH Kala Soudha Hanumanthanagar.
Wouldn't you want to go back to a small town where life is simple and lazy afternoons are spent playing with friends or listening to grandmother's stories? Bangalore-based We Move Productions plans to take you back to Malgudi Days, written by RK Narayan and serialised by Shankara Nag. Now you can watch Swami and his friends quarrelling over cricket, and other quirky but real characters walking right out of the book on to the stage. The play will capture life and times during the Raj, the early days of post-Independence India and how it affected a small, sleepy town like Malgudi.

Celebrate queer Azaadi
ON: Friday, July 2, 4 pm to 7 pm
AT: Senate Hall, Central College Campus
Transgender activist, actor and now author A Revathi will launch her book, The Truth About Me, as part of the anniversary celebrations of the reading down of article 377. "I have spent five years writing this book. It is not easy to write an autobiography. Every time I would write, I would miss out on something important and go right back to where I started. It took about four drafts before the actual one," she says about her book.
She has previously co-authored a book as a part of Sangama, a support group she worked with. "My first book was not in-depth and well-researched. This one took a lot of work, and defines not just mine but the struggle of many like me. It is my version of our fear, anger, happiness and all the other emotions we have been through. This is my way of telling them we are normal. We pray, we believe in culture, religion and all the other things which form a part of your lives," she tells us. Everything in this book is true. Revelling in the celebrations, which she claims is almost like a victory after 10 long years of battle, the journey continues. "The community is opening up and people are getting more aware of alternate sexualities. We have our rights now, especially property rights. Problems still exist, many which we don't know about, and harassment continues. My parents still don't accept me," she says.