Kaiya Vandemark

May 17, 2023

Bloodywood Returns to The Santa Ana Observatory

Bloodywood returned to The Santa Ana Observatory as part of their Rakshak US Tour on May 8th with support from Vended and Wargasm. Coming all the way from New Delhi, India, Bloodywood traveled over 24 hrs to make this tour happen! Bloodywood has been one of my bucket list bands for over a year now! I had the opportunity to see their US debut at Louder Than Life last year but I literally just missed them, walking into the grounds as they finished their set. I was kicking myself over that for so long but I’m glad I finally had another opportunity to see them this night!

The night was kicked off by Londons own, Wargasm. Their an electronic rock duo that composed of musicians Sam Matlock and Milkie Way. They had great stage presence and got the crowned pumped with their fan interactions. Towards the end of their set, some guy came out (was not introduced, but I assume guitar tech?) and sang along with them.

He even did a cartwheel at some point!

I’ve been to a lot of a shows and that was the first time I had ever seen someone do a cartwheel on stage. During the last song, Sam jumped into the crowd for a little crowd surfing moment.

Next up was Vended! The band features vocalist Griffin Taylor (son of Slipknot’s Corey Taylor) and drummer Simon Crahan (son of Slipknot’s percussionist “Clown”). I saw Vended for the first time last year at Louder Than Life and right before they went on, my friends were telling me that watching Griffin is like watching Corey. I kind of took it with a grain of salt at the time but it was so true. It’s crazy watching him because the whole time your like “this is Corey Taylor.” Obviously, Vended is their own thing and they’re making their own mark in the genre with their own brand.

When Bloodywood took the stage, I was instantly in awe of them. Sarthak Pawka walked out with a Dhol, which is a double-headed drum that’s used throughout Indian music. Hearing the sound of it live was so beautiful and it was something rather indescribable. Bloodywood was created by Karan Katiyar (guitars, flute, production, and composition) and Jayant Bhadula (clean and dirty vocals) in 2016. Their rapper, Raoul Kerr, joined soon after. They sing in a mixture of Hindi, Punjabi, and English, and they will literally have you singing in their language no matter what. Bloodywood's music is inspiring, heart-warming and uplifting. Full of energy and compassion, their debut album Rakshak was independently released on February 18th, 2022.

Before everyone of their songs, they took the time to explain their songs and the message behind them. I had no idea until this night that one of my favorite songs of theirs, “Dana-Dan,” is about sexual assualt and trafficking. The song starts of with with the sound of the rage like feeling we feel when we hear about these crimes, before moving on to a more level headed call to arms. It’s a message for all of us to reflect on the role we play when crimes like these happen and to work towards eliminating it altogether.

Bloodwood’s performance is unlike anything else!

Performances like theirs are a reminder of how powerful music actually is and how it can exceed boundaries. Their music is so unique because they mix their culture with Metal. They incorporate classical Indian instruments such as the Dhol Drum, Ektara, Tumbi & Indian flute into theirs songs. They closed out the night with another powerful statement: “Stand with us and we’ll change the world, one metal show at a time.” Bloodywood still has a few more dates on ther RakShak US Tour! Be sure to see them now if you can because they might not be coming back to the US for awhile!