WHEN: 8 pm, Wednesday, November 8, 2023
WHERE: Sagamore Ballroom, Second Floor, Indiana Convention Center, 100 S Capitol Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46225
TICKETS: $25
Red Baraat is a pioneering band from Brooklyn, New York. Conceived by dhol player Sunny Jain, the group has drawn worldwide praise for its singular sound, a merging of hard driving North Indian bhangra with elements of hip-hop, jazz and raw punk energy. Created with no less a purposeful agenda than manifesting joy and unity in all people, Red Baraat’s spirit is worn brightly on its sweaty and hard-worked sleeve.
But even as it’s clear that Red Baraat has built a startling history of performances in iconic settings, the band’s bread and butter remains the sweaty clubs, festivals, packed performing arts centers, and college auditoriums that keeps the band on the road all over the world the last several years. It’s here where Red Baraat does what it does best — communing with their audience in a joyful, near hedonistic celebration of music and dance which, tellingly, draws a crowd even more diverse than the players on stage. The universality of what Red Baraat does is undeniable. And this is no happy accident. It is the product of intention and design. Says Jain, “The band…our songs…are addressing the multiplicity of viewpoints,” says Jain. “There’s ‘Zindabad,’ which means ‘Long Live’ in Hindi. In that song, we’re saying that we celebrate life, we celebrate devotion — but we also celebrate agitation and revolution. If we can unite people of all backgrounds and ethnicities to partake in the exuberance of life through the universal language of music, then life is that much sweeter.”
“The album is full of moments that hit with the force of a spiritual awakening…The funk, ska-punk, and other American forms that make their way into the music are layered intricately within the same threadwork as the ragas on which these songs are pulled from. Each piece is a gesture of cultural harmony, rendering not only genre irrelevant, but the geographic placement of those sounds.”
— STEREOGUM
“There was a raucous finale. The last set belonged to Red Baraat, a Brooklyn brass band that looks to South Asia, pumping out Bollywood tunes and Sufi songs with a crackling beat (from the two headed dhol drum) and the muscle of horns blasting in unison, putting some New York bluster atop faraway roots.”
— The New York Times
Want more than just one show? See this concert, plus over 100 clinics, performances, and sessions at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention from November 8-11, 2023, in Indianapolis. Register today at pasic.org/registration.