If one were to conduct a poll to find out the most ordinary day of the week, people would forget voting for Tuesday, that is how ordinary it is. Tuesday does not fall under the much sought-after weekend days, nor does it receive hate like Monday does, it merely exists, devoid of any special stature. And it would’ve continued to be that way if it weren’t for Kadence, who took it upon themselves to make Tuesdays ‘special’ with their open mic event.
Every Tuesday, the Kadence Koramangala store in Bangalore, transforms into a hotbed for music lovers and the like. Scores of musicians swarm into the Kadence store for their own sweet reasons: some do it for exposure while others, to express.
Last Tuesday, I attended Kadence’s open mic. I was there as their new intern with others from the Kadence head office. Before going, I was assigned a task, I was told to enjoy the event; needless to say, the task was quite effortlessly accomplished. Today, I am assigned another task, and this one seems like it shall require some effort– I am to write about my experience at the open mic.
Now, while I write mostly from memory, I will try my best to do justice to what I saw.
Let me start with the truths first. Jayaraj spoke the first truth in what would be a series of truths; rocking a Kadence slowhand guitar, Jayaraj sang in an amazing raspy voice; his singing was honest, and one could see that he was doing it for himself. Jayaraj, much like the others that were yet to come, did what he set out to do- Perform and blow minds. They were all honest. All but one (more on this later).
In a dramatic reveal, next emerged Dwity Priya Pal from a heavy blanket of smoke billowed by the fog machines. As the stage lights drew what seemed like a marble cake design on smoke, Dwiti began singing with her contagious confidence. The store erupted in screams.
With such wonderful performances, people’s expectations rose, the air was thick with anticipation, and a simple look around disclosed restless eyes. Then came Mike, a foreign national who claimed to have fallen in love with the city of Bangalore. Mike was unlike anything I had ever seen. I mean- I had seen people sing, but Mike, he performed. Mike belted out the Adele masterpiece- Skyfall in his James-bond-like charisma (pun intended).
The crowd went bonkers! A minute into his performance and I found myself mumbling the lyrics, it was hard not to, such was the energy. I whipped out my phone to record the man perform; something I now keep re-watching every so often.
Now, the Lie. Riyaz, who is a sales exec at Kadence, sat through all the performances in silence. His fault? depriving all of us of his brilliance. When asked if he could sing, Riyaz gave us a clear no, an outright lie that would soon be exposed.
When it came time to put an end to the wonderful evening and the staff got busy wrapping up, I went inside the storage area to fetch my bag; that is when I heard the sound of a beautiful falsetto, so clear it could put professional female singers to shame.
Yes, it was Riyaz. Exposed.