{"id":2216316,"date":"2025-12-30T07:05:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T07:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2216316"},"modified":"2025-12-30T07:05:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T07:05:25","slug":"this-time-of-the-year-people-actually-soak-in-the-music-events-movie-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/this-time-of-the-year-people-actually-soak-in-the-music-events-movie-news\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This time of the year, people actually soak in the music\u2019 | Events Movie News"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
ARC Project band members perform at a Christmas gig in the city<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

As Christmas lights dim and the countdown to the New Year begins, Kolkata slips into celebration mode. Music spills from caf\u00e9s, restaurants, and street corners amid laughter, clinking glasses, and cheers. While the city parties, musicians work relentlessly \u2013 tuning instruments, warming voices, stepping onstage night after night to shape the season\u2019s soundtrack. Clubs, hotels, and open-air venues hum as bands fuel festivities. When the city clinks glasses with family, they\u2019re under the lights, ensuring the party never stops.A different kind of energy<\/span>\u201cThere\u2019s a different energy,\u201d says jazz pianist Soumojit Sarkar. \u201cYou can see it when people are smiling, when they\u2019re making requests, when they\u2019re actually soaking in the music. Jazz is niche, I know that, but if the sound is good and the band is tight, people respond, and that appreciation means everything.\u201d On Christmas day, the Soumojit Sarkar Quartet played standards like Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, White Christmas, and Let It Snow \u2013 all songs which fill the room subtly. And every year, requests like Fly Me to the Moon endure. \u201cWe wait all year to play these,\u201d he says. \u201cSo, when someone asks for them, it feels right. One fan saying, \u2018that was beautiful\u2019, post-set makes it worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"WhatsApp<\/p>\n

The Soumojit Sarkar Quartet performs at a city restaurant<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Longer sets, inadequate pay<\/span>\u201cEveryone seems to earn more during the festive season, except the musicians,\u201d says Soumojit, noting that fees largely remain unchanged, with only December 24, 25 and 31 offering a \u201cmarginal bump\u201d. \u201cIronically, these are also the nights when artists are expected to play 30-45 minutes longer, hold the crowd\u2019s energy together, and push ourselves further than usual.\u201d While the love for music keeps them going, Sarkar stresses that the system still has a long way to go in showing live artists the respect they deserve. Aamir Rizvi echoes the concern. \u201cA 90-minute to two-hour set is perfect, but depending on the event, performances can stretch to 2.5-3 hours,\u201d he says, underscoring the need for pay structures that reflect not just the season, but the stamina and skill such extended sets demand.<\/p>\n

\n
\"WhatsApp<\/p>\n

Aamir Rizvi and Craig D\u2019Souza<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The high comes at a cost<\/span>For Aamir Rizvi and Beas Ghosh, the stretch exhausts as much as it enchants. \u201cThis is the time when musicians perform at more than 30 gigs \u2013 sometimes even two to three in a single day,\u201d says Rizvi.Fatigue, stress, and mental pressure mount. \u201cA musician is not a jukebox; we are literally hopping from one gig to another,\u201d he reveals.Chandni Chakraborty of Generations Apart agrees:\u201cThe biggest challenge is probably keeping up our energy and health. Back-to-back high-energy shows can take a real toll but the moment we\u2019re on stage everything falls in place.\u201dAccording to Beas, the crowd reaction becomes their celebration although they are away from their families. \u201cBut New Year gigs come in waves, and for most artistes, this is also livelihood. You can\u2019t really opt out.\u201d Yet, according to them, the magic persists, right from proposals mid-set, to strangers singing along.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

Members of Generation Apart during a gig<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Pop, rock and everything in between<\/span>\u201cPop music always hits the spot, be it Bollywood or English tracks,\u201d says Aniket Dutta of ARC Project. \u201cNo matter the city, we always cover Get Lucky by Daft Punk, Every Breath You Take by The Police, and of course, the trending commercial Bollywood hits are always on people\u2019s minds.\u201d Classics endure, adds Andrew Chater, drummer at Switch, who played almost 18 gigs this month. \u201cEarly-age pop songs are always the jackpot for bands. Dance and pop always work \u2014 people love ABBA, Bonney M, Gloria Gaynor, the Bee Gees, Elvis Presley. Some rock fans ask for AC\/DC, Scorpions, Deep Purple, Bon Jovi, or Bryan Adams. A mix of old and new keeps the crowd energised all night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"WhatsApp<\/p>\n

Punch guitarists jam during a gig<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The logistical woes<\/span>Festive gigs bring logistical woes, especially during multi-city runs. \u201cTravel is a real challenge,\u201d says Wriddhaayan Bhattacharya of Punch, who had more than 10 gigs this month. \u201cBecause of the fog, flights get cancelled and trains run late, so we often end up driving to shows in Ranchi or nearby cities. You really have to time your exit from Kolkata carefully to avoid the usual traffic choke points.\u201d Then there are the last-minute pressures. \u201cLast-minute song requests are fine as long as they fit our sound palette, but last-minute gig enquiries are tough. December dates get blocked way in advance, and it\u2019s hard to say no when the demand is this high,\u201d Wriddhaayan adds. It\u2019s a dream for any band to have a busy calendar. You earn more through your art during this season. What more can we ask for?\u2013 Wriddhaayan Bhattacharya<\/span>Helping people celebrate isour celebration too. Seeing their facesglow withjoy is thebiggest satisfaction\u2013 Andrew Chater<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

ARC Project band members perform at a gig in the city<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The songs that keep returning<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
    \n
  • Fly Me to the Moon<\/li>\n
  • Have Yourself a<\/li>\n
  • Merry Little Christmas<\/li>\n
  • White Christmas<\/li>\n
  • Let It Snow<\/li>\n
  • Last Christmas<\/li>\n
  • Hotel California<\/li>\n
  • Summer of \u201969<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

    \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source timesofindia.indiatimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    ARC Project band members perform at a Christmas gig in the city As Christmas lights dim and the countdown to the New Year begins, Kolkata slips into celebration mode. Music spills from caf\u00e9s, restaurants, and street corners amid laughter, clinking glasses, and cheers. While the city parties, musicians work relentlessly \u2013 tuning instruments, warming voices, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2216317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[428382,428376,428379,428377,428380,428381,428378],"class_list":["post-2216316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-jazz-music-kolkata","tag-kolkata-christmas-celebrations","tag-kolkata-nightlife","tag-live-music-kolkata","tag-local-musicians-kolkata","tag-musicians-in-festive-season","tag-new-year-gigs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/\u2018This-time-of-the-year-people-actually-soak-in-the.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2216316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2216316"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2216316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2216318,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2216316\/revisions\/2216318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2216317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2216316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2216316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2216316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}