MUMBAI: The Chennai based â€?Youth for Social Change’ has organised the â€?1000 Bhopals’ concert, the second concert of its kind organised under the â€?Justice Rocks’ series.
Justice Rocks is a series of concerts targeting the youth to convey the message of social justice through music. The concert will be spread over two evenings, 7 and 8 February at Bucks Theatre, YMCA grounds in Chennai.
The concert will feature 15 college and school bands, with three professional bands Yodhaka, Rainbow Bridge and Karnatriix. The concert would be an amalgamation of all genres – Jazz, rock, classical, experimental music, fusion and Tamil folk.
The concert is the brainchild of few youngsters who had earlier organised the â€?No More Bhopals’ concert on 7 December 2008 in support of the 24th anniversary of the 1984 Bhopal Gas Disaster in Chennai. The first concert was â€?Lever Fever’ last March, held to highlight the issue of Unilever’s thermometer production plant in Kodaikanal polluting the environment.
Youth for Social Change was formed two years ago, with the thought that musical concerts are a perfect way to reach out to schools and colleges within Chennai. Justice Rocks aims at exposing youngsters to contemporary issues through music of different genres. Says Jeny Dolly, member of the forum, When we hear music, it registers in our mind and is an apt instrument to spread awareness. Spreading a social message through music is less aggressive and more inclusive and is of interest to listeners….
The 1000 Bhopals concert is to highlight the fact that Bhopal is not merely the place where a dreadful disaster took place 24 years ago, it can happen anywhere because of the pollution caused by the industries…. Proceeds from the concert will be forwarded to Bhopal gas tragedy survivors.
Youth for social change sticks to its stand of â€?No corporate funding’ and their concerts are funded with voluntary contributions, by musicians, audience, activists and small businesses. We are trying to establish an alternative culture in Chennai and youngsters chip in with money to conduct concerts. There are bands who perform for free, the sound systems come with a concession, the venues are available for free, it is a voluntary initiative and the chain reaction is happening…. Passes of Rs 200 and Rs 500 are being sold out and the funds would be carried forward to conduct concerts for social causes in future.
We are open to conduct concerts for any cause we feel for…. Apart from the local bands, bands like Yodhakaa, Rainbow Bridge and Karnatriix would be performing at the two day event. Says Rainbow Bridge’s guitarist and vocalist Sanjeev Thomas, I have witnessed the group doing something similar earlier and wanted to contribute for the cause as a musician. We will dedicate one of our special social songs for the show and try to revive people’s memories to the tragic accident which happened 24 years ago….
Show line-up
7th February
5.00 – 5 30 – Substance
5.30 – 6.00 – Buzz Theory
6.00 – 6 30 – Youth Association for Classical Music
6 30 – 7.00 – Skrat
7.00 – 7 30 – Jhini (Vedanth and Ananth Menon)
7 30 – 8.00 – E Flat
8.30 -10.00- Yodhakaa
8th February
5.00 – 5 30 – Funky Ink
5 30 – 6.00 – Grey Shack
6.00 – 6.15 – Peter Kaapi (Sofies’)
6.15 – 6.30 – Kavitha and Priyanka
6 30 – 7.00 – Kalyani and Keba
7.00 – 7 30 – Downhill Automatic
7 30 – 8.00 – Rainbow Bridge
8.30 -10.00- Karnatriix