Aquatar, drumclouds, shower music on city

MUMBAI: If you're attending Concert for Mumbai at Shanmukhananda Hall, be prepared to enter the Earth Harp. The entire auditorium will be turned into a giant string instrument courtesy M.A.S.S. Ensemble, a band from Los Angeles. The group has other strange instruments that sound appropriate for a celestial orchestra: the chimesword, the drumcloud, the aquatar, a giant, three-necked combination of guitars and a sitar and the drumbrella which is, as the name suggests, an umbrella of drums.Next prepare to reorient your ears to the sound of Lez Zeppelin, an all female band that pays tribute to Led Zeppelin by playing covers. Both groups are performing at this fundraiser that aims to collect money to buy ambulances for casualties that occur at CST on a daily basis.
The two groups couldn't be more different. M.A.S.S. Ensemble (the title is an acronym for Music Architecture Sound and Sculpture) offers a multi-disciplinary performance. Expect symphonic sounds and aerial yoga by the band's associate director Andrea Brook as she plays the drumcloud.
New York's Lez Zeppelin, on the other hand, promises to serve up some noisy rock. "I suppose what we do is more of an earthquake,'' says guitarist and founder member Steph Paynes. She said the band has had a long love affair with Led Zeppelin's music that has never diminished as "it withstands the test of time''.
The concert is being organised by Teesta Setalvad on behalf of the NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace and Farhad Wadia of E 18. Setalvad says there's an acute need for ambulances at local stations where people die crossing the tracks every day. The need was strongly felt during 26/11 during which 57 people were shot at CST. "Thirty of the 57 shot at CST bled to death,'' she points out. "Some were taken by hand carts to the hospital.'' Wadia added that he hopes their efforts will shame the government into providing paramedic aid at stations. The NGO has tied up with 1298 ambulance services and will be ready with its first ambulance in the first week of April. Kitted out with life-saving machines, the ambulance will operate from St Georges Hospital, near CST.
The concert will also feature a performance by Farhan Akhtar, Ehsan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa. The groups are performing free of charge and are eager to lend their support to the city after 26/11.