Live music in Panjim: All about Madragoa

Navigating the streets of Panjim, we finally find our destination bang opposite river Mandovi. We ignore the neon lights of the casinos, show our bookings, and walk up the wooden staircase. A chandelier lights up an azulejo, Portuguese-era hand painted glazed colour tiles. We walk into a room full of framed azulejos. Then we enter the heart of the building – the performance hall. We are at Madragoa for a one-of-a-kind concert of fado and mando.

Under the umbrella of CIPA in a many -years old Portuguese building, Madragoa is hosted. The organisers tag Madragoa as ‘The first house of Fado and Mando’. Both Fado and Mando are genres of music. Fado has origins in the Portuguese cities of Lisbon and Coimbra. The Portuguese colonisers brought this artform to Goa. Mando is a Goan native song and dance performance that flourished under the patronage of rich Catholic families. Fado is sung in Portuguese and Mando is sung in Konkani.

I was looking for some cultural activity in Goa involving live music when I came across Madragoa. It was through Instagram but I was heartbroken to know it is houseful on my date. Then I almost pleaded with the organisers to allow two more people in the show. Fortunately for me, they already had huge demand– so they arranged an extra show.

Live music in Panjim: The show starts

The mural inside the performance hall has a street-of-Lisbon-esque vibe. Soon the audience chairs are occupied. A curtain is pulled over the entrance door. Seated in a chair Orlando de Noronha starts playing his Portuguese guitar. Then he is joined by Carlos Meneses who plays a Spanish guitar and the lead singer, super-talented Goan fadista Sonia Shirsat.

Sonia opens the show with a fado, buzzing with longingness of ‘home’ from a sailor’s point of view. As the show progresses and the audience are hypnotised, I realise Sonia is not just a gifted singer but a natural entertainer. She constantly engages the listeners and, by explaining the meaning of every fado she sings, she makes sure the language barrier is not an issue. She is one of those rare people who can immediately make you feel comfortable, no matter who you are, from wherever you are. On interacting with her later I also learn she is an extremely down to earth person.

Luckily for us, this evening we also have veteran fadista Chico Fonseca. 78-year old Chico is a disciple of the Coimbra school of fado. Wearing the iconic long overcoat that is unique to Coimbra, he sings a few intense fados.

At Madragoa there is food too

There is a refreshment break where we get to explore the rest of the building. Perched in a chair in the wooden balcony overlooking the Mandovi, we have food and cocktail—mini burger, quiche, bread with pate, pie/pudding(I forgot!) and sangria.

The best thing about the Madragoa concert is that the audience is free to socialize with the artists during recess. The entourage is just so adorably down to earth! I notice most of the crowd here already knows each other, so they must be regulars. We have put up at Vivenda Rebello Homestay in Panjim and the extremely informative host there, Derc, had mentioned that he has been to the concert thrice.

Post recess, the audience takes their seats, the artists reappear under the spotlights. Sonia beats the ghummot, a musical instrument which looks like an earthen pot sealed with the hide of a monitor lizard. Nowadays the use of monitor lizard hide has been discontinued for obvious reasons.

Ghummot is amply used in mando performances. As the song progresses the tempo of the mando increases. Sonia requests the Goans familiar with the lyrics to start humming, then she requests the audience who cannot speak Konkani to follow her and repeat after her. With clapping hands, the audience joins in the musical gala. Sonia says mando is usually accompanied with dancers who wear specific outfits and put up a performance. I make a mental note of catching a mando music with dance performance the next time I am in Goa!

If you are looking forward to indulge in some cultural activity in Goa that involves music then Madragoa is the right fit for you.

Details:

Price: INR 1000 per head prepaid
Duration: 1 hour
How to book: Go to Madragoa’s Instagram page (@madragoa.goa) and drop them a DM or look around the link section which may have the booking page. You can also look into the webpage of CIPA and get in touch with them through it.

cultural thing to do in goa - fado and mando in goa

*****

Love travelling? Sign up to the free newsletter here to become a loyal follower and get access to travel inspirations and exclusive surprises planned just for you!