The girls, Surisha, Shristee and Shramika, have only just arrived. A mutiny breaks out when realization sets in through the crowded room that everyone’s tipsy whereas they have only just landed and the band’s already about to go onstage. But the girls take this in their stride. Besides, they have more important things to worry about. And I think one of them has a thing for Sirish.
Sirish is a born romantic. That’s a hard concept to wrap your mind around if you’ve seen him with his recent haircut, though.
For nearly a decade, Albatross has been the most unregenerate grump group, sneering contempt for everything over bubblegum-punk hooks, and Sirish has been in the thickest of it all.
Over beers in between the performance, Avaya seems amazed at where he’s ended up. From a guy working at a 9 to 5 job until about a few months ago and head over heels in love with his girlfriend of two years and having embarked on his first major tour.
“The crowd at Bhairahawa was nice to us. They knew most of the songs and even sang along,” he says.
Three albums and a hectic tour that’s just concluded, Niraj, the drummer, is driving 200kms back to Kathmandu at midnight in order to make it to the band’s performance at Bhrikuti Mandap the next day. Albatross finally sounds like a real band.
There’s been a ton of stuff written about live performances: from those who think that it’s a corrupting influence on those who insist on live sound with unwanted interruptions is meaningless as compared to the neatly cut records, and to take it seriously smacks of pretension because it’s only music. And then there are the fans gathered on Friday nights at the House of Music who recognize a good performance when they see one. And sure, it can just be fun and a way to cut loose once in a while. But it’s also something which can speak to what we love, what we long for, and so much more.
“Atti Bhayo – Live at House of Music” was the most talked-about performance on the music circuit last week. But for being the band generating the entire buzz, Albatross is surprisingly humble. And because I’m a fan, I’m able to capture all of this. It’s not just in the obvious moments, like the band joking about how they can play “anything” when they perform at the “house,” which lifts them out of their black mood; or Sunny tending to his “angels” when he learns they have been waiting for him at the bar and are rather pissed off. It’s in the wild spirits of people – like the three pretty girls who’ve followed the band as they toured, and their tenderness that makes them believe that they serve as muses to the band.
“Atti Bhayo” isn’t an album about the obvious problems and silliness in rock music: It’s about what still draws people to it, and though it acknowledges these people’s faults, it still loves them for who they are.
Of course, there’s a lot more reasons why “Atti Bhayo” is an album that’s meant to be listened to from start to finish. It’s a terrific coming-of-age story, a bittersweet love story. The lyrics are great, and it sounds terrific. But it’s the band’s obvious love for music, and for the people who love it, that makes “Atti Bhayo” the best original album I’ve heard so far this year.
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