CHANGING RHYTHMS

From music stores and weekend gigs to digital waves and social media-driven sounds, Chennai's soundscape is constantly adapting, growing, and connecting generations

- P Sangeetha

IF YOU LIVED in Chennai during the mid-2000s, you'll remember that music wasn’t just something you listened to; it was something you experienced. Film songs played on loop in buses, college bands battled it out at IIT Saarang, and weekends were incomplete without a live gig at a cosy café or the Unwind Center.

Landmark and Music World weren't just stores but sanctuaries for melomaniacs. You would spend hours flipping through CD racks, headphones on, discovering new sounds one track at a time. Picking up the latest AR Rahman or Green Day album and walking out with that unmistakable Cheshire Cat grin was sheer joy.

Come December, Margazhi transformed Chennai into a city of music, with the rustle of Kanjeevarams and the promise of a two-and-a-half-hour Carnatic concert. Outside, people queued up for hot, crispy vadai and steaming cups of filter kaapi between concerts, debating ragams.

Live concerts span every genre, almost every weekend. But somewhere between swiping and scrolling, what did we lose, what did we gain—and what do we miss the most? We rewind and fast-forward through 18 years of sound in Chennai’s ever-evolving music scene.