Culture of Bangalore - Music

Music

Bangalore is marked by many musical bards who have contributed significantly to both forms of Indian classical music, the Carnatic and Hindustani traditions. A home to many outstanding musicians, veterans and upcoming, Karnataka prides itself of renowned musical personalities like Purandara Dasa (the father of Carnatic music), Tyagraja, Kalakkad Subbiah Ramanarayanan Iyer, Dr Nithyasree Mahadevan, Gingger Shankar, Basavaraja Rajaguru, Gangubai Hangal and Sawai Gandharva.

The newfangled musicians of Karnataka have adapted a modernistic approach towards music and have flawlessly conflated different various genres to create progressive music, yet retaining the ethnic appeal. Some of the names worth mentioning are Raghu Dixit (Mysore), Lucky Ali, Suchethan Rangaswamy, Jim Ankan Deka, Bapu Padmanabha, Pravin Godkhindi, Pravin D. Rao, Shimoga Subbanna, Mysore Ananthaswamy, P. Kalinga Rao, G.V. Atri, C. Ashwath and Balappa Hukker.

The Bangalore music scene consists of a far-cry of different genres, from international music to traditional folk songs. Janapadhas are the traditional folk songs in the historic culture of Karnataka. The vast number of different people living in Bangalore hailing from different places developed a distinct style of music. Kannada film music is heard playing in auto rickshaws, shops, and the streets. The party and the nightlife scenario experiences a different type of music, mostly popular international numbers varying in genres from Trance, Pop, Indi-pop, and Hip-Hop, Bollywood music is less dominant.

Though Bangalore is a hub for both classical and contemporary music, the dominant music genre in urban Bangalore is rock music. All sub-genres of rock, varying from classic rock n' roll to extreme metal can be heard in Bangalore. The underground scenario in Bangalore is often acclaimed, and hence lead to the city being called Rock/Metal capital of India. The American band Green Day is very popular among the youth. Rock 'N India, Great Indian Rock, Deccan Rock and Summer Storm Festival are the primitive rock festivals in India. In early 2012, the Bangalore Open Air metal festival (powered by Wacken Open Air festival), to be headlined by Iced Earth and Kreator, and to be held on 16 June was announced. Bangalore was also the first city in India where internationally popular rock groups Metallica, Iron Maiden, The Rolling Stones, Bryan Adams, Scorpions, Sting, Aerosmith, Elton John, Deep Purple among various other heavy metal groups performed live for the first time in India.

List of international musicians who performed or will perform live in Bangalore :

• Scorpions in 2001
• Bryan Adams in 1994, 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2011
• Deep Purple in 2001
• Elton John in 2002
• Roger Waters in 2002
• The Rolling Stones in 2003
• Mark Knopfler in 2005
• Joe Satriani in 2005
• Sting in 2005
• Uriah Heep in 2006
• Jethro Tull in 2006 and 2008
• Iron Maiden in 2007 and 2009
• Aerosmith in 2007
• The Black Eyed Peas in 2007
• Sepultura in 2007
• Megadeth in 2008
• Machine Head in 2008
• Satyricon in 2008
• Amon Amarth in 2009
• Lauren Harris in 2009
• Textures in 2009
• Lamb Of God in 2010 and 2012
• Nervecell in 2010
• Lacuna Coil in 2010
• De Profundis in 2010
• Flo Rida in 2010 and 2011
• Meshuggah in 2010
• Purified in Blood in 2010
• Saving Abel in 2010
• Backstreet Boys in 2010
• Richard Marx in 2010
• Prime Circle in 2010
• Jayce Lewis in 2010
• Sean Kingston in 2010
• Akcent in 2010
• Tesseract in 2010
• Enslaved in 2010
• The Prodigy in 2011
• Akon in 2011
• Jay Sean in 2011
• Ludacris in 2011
• Cradle of Filth in 2011
• Metallica in 2011
• Biffy Clyro in 2011
• Poets of the Fall in 2011 and 2012
• Opeth in 2012
• David Guetta in 2012
• Fatboy Slim in 2012
• Suidakra in 2012
• Kreator in 2012
• Korn in 2012
• Slayer in 2012
• Carlos Santana in 2012
• Guns 'N Roses in 2012
• Sean Paul in 2012
• Children of Bodom in 2012
• Wolf in 2012
• Behemoth in 2012
• Above and Beyond in 2012