Where would you find the culmination of all things odd and eclectic, if not in Goa? Lending a physical location to this allegorical vibe, a funky new bar in our very own Assagao, Oddbar is quickly becoming our new hangout central.
Run by editor-filmmaker duo Hena and Q, Oddbar has been an evolving idea for a while now - quintessentially the neighbourhood watering hole with arts and music that sidestep the mainstream trends and celebrates the alternative!
A Goan style house where an art residency meets a party pad meets the alternative lifestyle and arts, Oddbar hosts a space for artists, a well-stocked bar (where you can choose between ‘fine’ or ‘fancy’ drinks) and a huge living room which doubles up as the performance space and dance floor - especially with those modish lights on and the full-wall mirror right across the dance floor.
The space, in its stark red and silver looks right out Q's sets and in aesthetics is made to parallel the concept of an African shebeen. Illustrator Devika Dave’s idiosyncratic-cubist-esh artworks spruce up the walls, and unpolished metal surfaces pepper the space — from ashtrays to table-tops to a curiously silver spray-painted globe, by the bar. Keeping up with the Goa’s disposition to recycle, the materials used are mostly repurposed, including props from their older film sets having become eccentric pieces of décor. Alongside the edgy vibe, the fact that the ample metal surfaces are percussion friendly, are of course an added advantage for a space where music takes centerstage.
Thursdays are their key music nights — though there’s usually something happening every other night (keep up with their Instagram, people) — where alternative artists from all over the world turn the living room into what could be possibly called Goa’s coolest low-fi party pad. While low-fi might be the mood and feel, the tech is quite not — a Behringer remote digital mixer adds the groves, while downtempo electronic musicians add the spunk, and artists, filmmakers, writers, musicians, producers and party lovers from all around, flock here to grab a drink and couple it with some conversation, or munch on some yummy but gluten-free rolls. The rolls, true to their Calcutta roots come right out of a yellow cart, and are made to perfection in the true-blue Bengali style.
In keeping with the collaborative alternate arts idea, where the agenda remains to promote and invest in the more pedestrian forms of the arts, Oddbar also has several neat events planned — from hosting talks and interactions with contemporary filmmakers, artists, to weekly screenings of underground films, to a Street Arts Festival are all in the pipeline.
Rolls, arts, fine drinks and some piquant partying - did we say that we're already spending most of our evenings here?!
