Karnataka - Bangalore   

Recreating the magic of yesteryear

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Evocative: It was a journey down memory lane for music fans when Boney M performed in Bangalore.

Bangalore: Boney M minus the original cool cat Bobby Farrell, the ravishing Maizie Williams and Liz Mitchell, and the deep inimitable voice of its mastermind Frank Farian: can Marcia Barrett alone recreate the disco-pop magic? Probably not.

But for the multitudes of fans gathered at Palace Grounds, it was a trip down memory lane and a decent trip it was as they danced and sang to an hour-long resurrection of the skeletal remains of the seventies’ pop band.

Going by the 30,000 plus crowd jumping and dancing, retro music hasn’t waned a bit since the seventies. But then, it’s probably just that Boney M is the kind of music that never goes out of fashion.

The songs with their cool quotient, tempo and even rebellious twang continue to burn record players and get remixed by successive generations of DJs on the dance floor.

This version of the group now led by the husband-wife duo of Marcia and Marcuis James performed most of the Boney M classics.

All members are known to have their own Boney M bands, with Frank continuing to work with Liz. The band performed at “Amaze 2008” organised by the Indian Institute of Planning and Management.

The coincidence of performing on International Women’s Day did not escape Marcia as she sang her version of the Boney M cover of Bob Marley’s famous “No Woman, No Cry.”

With her frilly skirt and her smooth moves, Marcia still has that raucous energy in her voice. Her power alone made the concert worth it, though she spoilt the party with her solos which lacked the quality or appeal of the classics.

Marcia’s team is quite an assorted line-up, yet one misses the original Boney M throughout the concert.

Marcuis who supported some vocals and Fillipo, the dancer, were poor substitutes for the original cool cat.

Although Bobby too is known to have only mimed to Frank’s deep vocals, he was loved for his spectacular dance performances, stage gimmicks and oodles of attitude.

Fillipo’s clown act was irritating and reduced the value of the performance by a few notches.

The concert was kickstarted with one of their oldest tracks “Take the heat off me” — appropriately so, since they’re here to fight global warming.

They went on to “Belfast,” and the iconic “Daddy Cool,” “Rivers of Babylon,” “We kill the World” and had the entire crowd with them by the time they reached the controversial “Rasputin” that was banned in the erstwhile Soviet Union.

The only song that was missing from the original repertoire was “Mary’s Boy Child” which was conspicuous by its absence.

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