Music and night life have always co-existed as kindred souls in this former French outpost.
Roll back the years, and you can almost visualise chivalrous young men, possibly with pompadour hairdo, and elegant women slip out of their homes in the French Quarters and head to the ballroom of Cercle de Pondicherry to party away the night to music and dance.
The city, which has embraced diverse genres such as rock, fusion, jazz or hip-hop, owes its musical multiculturalism, in large part, to the good vibrations coming off The Ashram and Auroville that attracted curious minds from all corners of the world.
In fact, there are many examples of music emerging as a creative extension of the spirituality of this place - Sri Chinmoy, the seer who is said to have deeply influenced John McLaughlin and Santana or Quebec-born musician Nadaka who made Auroville his spiritual home.
It was in the very decade of the British Invasion led by the Beatles in the 1960s, that the city got its own rock band ‘The Blue Diamonds’, a five-piece ensemble formed in 1969.
“In those times, we used to play popular Hindi hits along with foot-tapping Western music,” said Shivan Mullankandy Pamban, band frontman who did the vocals and the drums.
The band would engage in covers of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Cliff Richard, Elvis Presley, Grand Fund Railroad or Creedence Clearwater Revival as couples glided across the dance floors in fox-trot, waltz or Cuban cha-cha-cha moves.
Most musical events those days were all-nighters - gigs started around 9.30 p.m. and went on till 5.30 a.m. - and bands put together playlists that had close to 100 songs, mainly country, rock, R&B and pop numbers.
“A certain elegance and musical sophistication defined the crowds that thronged the all-night concerts in those days,” said Shivan, whose band was paid Rs. 40 for their first ever show.
The audience comprised French expats, Anglo Indians, tourists and those who had moved in from other States.
Soon, other bands such as Les Daltons, Baja, the Night Walkers and The Purple Haze sprang to life adding joie de vivre to the city’s music scene.
Many bands did their gig with the barest of props - amplifiers for the bass and lead guitar and a microphone for the singer.
A great amplifier was worth its weight in gold those days, and one band chose to name itself after one such product. The Ace Stones went on to create rock history in these parts by entering the Simla Beat Contest in 1970.
“We learnt to play the blues or rock numbers largely by the ear,” said Rory Chikhalikar, a former captain in the Merchant Navy and one of the founders of Ace Tones.
Mr. Chikhalikar, who hails from a family of musicians which has stacked up as many Trinity College licentiates and fellowships as antique musical instruments such as English Cottage or German pianos, said that in those days getting hold of an Ace Tone amp was “quite a leap” in terms of musical throughput.
“Most concerts and jam sessions took place in the historic Bharathi Park,” said Siddhartha Patnaik who founded Baaja.
It is this tradition of staging performances in egalitarian spaces that found expression in the Freedom Jam sessions where bands converged in the city for night-long gigs at the Gandhi Square and the Old Port.
Music enthusiasts have also got together to host SecSat Pondy, a musical evening that happens on the second Saturday of every month. The event, which attracts bands from Chennai and Bangalore, is now supported by the Tourism Department.
