• Bhangra discussion is still going strong. Join us in our Facebook group!

    New user registration has been closed (as it was entirely spam). We encourage you to post in our Facebook group, even if it's a followup to an existing thread. BTF will continue to be archived and hosted here - Saleem

Why don't teams perform with full live bands?

abhigames

Member
Messages
709
Teams that perform live, why don't they perform with a full live band? It's great to see how well skilled they are live, but without full melodies and bass...sometimes live performances can get a little dry sounding to the ears with just a singer and a dhol and a chimta player. Why don't live performances have full algohzey, bass, guitar, keyboard, drums...all the things you would find in recorded music? I think it would make live performances more exciting to watch and would give the viewers better harmonies to listen to.
 

dj2nyce

Facebook.com/TheOfficial2NyCe
Messages
854
im not any expert but i would assume to keep the traditional aspect of it? sometimes youl. find an algohzey player in a live set but when bhangra originated there wasnt any "recorded music" and therefore no bass, guitar, keyboard, "drums"...just dhol, chimta, a singer, and algohzey mainly. also, i would assume sarangi, dadh, etc...but the bare minimum would be dhol and a singer...and i guess instead of modernizing the whole aspect of going live people stick to keeping it like it was back in the day.

correct me if im wrong anyone?
 

Pooja

I put the double o in cool.
Messages
932
I think TBT (The Bhangra Team) had some different instruments back in the day...
 

Ashveer

New Member
Messages
492
2nyce said:
im not any expert but i would assume to keep the traditional aspect of it? sometimes youl. find an algohzey player in a live set but when bhangra originated there wasnt any "recorded music" and therefore no bass, guitar, keyboard, "drums"...just dhol, chimta, a singer, and algohzey mainly. also, i would assume sarangi, dadh, etc...but the bare minimum would be dhol and a singer...and i guess instead of modernizing the whole aspect of going live people stick to keeping it like it was back in the day.

correct me if im wrong anyone?
I think that the chimta came in the 1950s...
Have you ever seen dadh/sarangi used really? I think that only dhadis used them
 

dheerja

Member
Messages
607
I think there are two main reasons why we don't see this:

1) The more instruments you add the harder and more time consuming this is. For every instrument (guitar, keyboard, bass, etc.) you need to find a qualified musician, then have the members of the band create their own musical adaptations of popular bhangra songs since that sheet music isn't available, practice as a band since it's not just a singer and dholi, and then of course practice with the team. This entire process is so much harder than just a singer/dholi, and any live team can attest to the difficulty of doing just that. Plus if you're looking for more intricate instruments (sarangi), it's hard to find someone actually trained in the instrument. I played violin for 16 years and tried to learn sarangi for a few years, it's not an easy task.

2) None of those instruments are required for a traditional live set, so it probably doesn't even seem worth putting in all the time/effort when you really only need a singer/dholi to have an authentic performance.


That being said, TBT is the only team I can think of who has successfully done a live set with a full band. They had a guitar, bass, harmonium, and maybe a few more that I'm missing. IT WAS AWESOME. Their live performances are still some of the best memories I have of watching bhangra live, the music was absolutely beautiful and dancing was equally as good. United Bhangra also had some additional instruments from what I remember, though definitely nothing close to the full band TBT had. I believe they had ~2 instruments with the singer/dhol. I saw them perform at VIBC and Bruin and it was amazing to listen to/watch. Both TBT and United did this during the live bhangra phase where almost every team in the bhangra scene had some sort of live segment.

I would LOVE to see a team come out with a full band, but the live teams out there today are focused on what they do and how they do it. Bring back TBT part 2!
 

abhigames

Member
Messages
709
^yah i remember TBT...that was pretty dope. I just think that, perhaps as the scene evolves...even though it is tougher to get all the aforementioned instruments and artists...mabye thats the next big thing...fusing talented dancers with taelnted musicians to create a performance that is really amazing both visually and soundwise.
 

dheerja

Member
Messages
607
abhigames said:
^yah i remember TBT...that was pretty dope. I just think that, perhaps as the scene evolves...even though it is tougher to get all the aforementioned instruments and artists...mabye thats the next big thing...fusing talented dancers with taelnted musicians to create a performance that is really amazing both visually and soundwise.
Totally agree, that would be awesome. It's hard to tell where the scene is heading though since things change so much in just a 2 year span. I would love to see more teams take on the TBT method of creating a multi-faceted performance. THAT's the kind of evolution that North American bhangra can really showcase.
 

Basim

♥ BTF ♥
Staff member
Messages
1,459
ENVY BANG-RUH said:
Gurbir23 said:
does anyone have any videos of TBT?
Please say yes...then post it ;)
TBT is legendary; great team that really pushed the outer limits of bhangra at the time. Gagandeep did an amazing job leading them.

For videos (although not the best of quality), see below.

The Bhangra Team @ BOB New York (2006): The Bhangra Team @ BOB New York
TBT at Mission Bhangra (2006) - The Bhangra Team: TBT at Mission Bhangra - The Bhangra Team

And just for jokes... THE Bhangra Team (TBT) Practice: THE Bhangra Team (TBT) Practice

Enjoy,

~ Basim :)
 

Pooja

I put the double o in cool.
Messages
932
hahaha wait that practice video - this guy is tooo good - who is it?
 
Top