GIR , The Mumbai Leg

Well, well well .... wat do we have here .... GIR once again. Being my 3rd GIR, I entered the stadium with great expectations. The venue was jus perfect for an all free gig :) Andheri Sports Complex. Large open space and amazing sound :) The first sight gave a good impression. Lets get on way with how the bands performed, alright? Medussa, the band which was supposed to start off backed out and left more time for the remaining bands, which was absolutely great, cuz i personally hate Medussa and their shitty groove box. So i'd say, the start was good, No Medussa! :P
So the band that started the most insane show in the recent times was none other than, apan ka, mumbai waala Demonic Resurrection. And they were tight ... amazing, melodic, totally kick ass. Sahil's vocals have improved, his growls had more depth this time. The guitaring by pradeep was very good, nothing really exceptional. The guy on the keyboards was amazing. But one person i really went to this gig for was, JP. DR's drummer :D I was backstage, behind the drummer when JP was playing. Irwie got me in, btw. Thanx man. All I was doing behind was just havin a look at JP's footwork and cymbal work, upclose. Learning a lot of things. Their song frozen potrait stands out , I just love it :) Mellow breakdowns and then the brutally fast paced parts. Surely this night was gonna be one of those concerts which i wud remember.
After DR, i came back into the crowd with my friends. And next up was Split. They started off with a U2 cover. I really dont know the name of that song (not a big fan of U2) .... this band was very ok (Edit: the song was Vertigo - Sridhar). They had this really annoying bass guitarist, who kept talking rather than playing songs. Not one of my favs. Their vocalist gets a special mention for sure, he had a really wide range of vocals. Impressed me in every song. Great going man.
The night was still young, and i dint headbang yet :) Though DR was 'headbang'able, I was busy backstage. So the next band was Joint Family. Having watched them live twice before, i was expecting a lot from this band. Last time i saw them, they made the crowd go crazy over RATM covers. So, with those images in my head, I got ready to totally headbang. Even the crowd was expecting some heavy shit. And believe me, the crowd formed the largest moshpit I've ever seen, jus before the first song of Joint Family. And once they started with their original, the crowd jus went crazy and moshed and headbanged. It was as though everyone was suicidal. But it doesnt fucking matter. They were having a blast. The drummer of Joint Family was tight and good. But as their set progressed, they sounded very montonous and boring. This time around they didn't really impress me at all. They were sounding like jus another nu-metal act from my neighbourhood. Vinay of BM came on stage as a guest vocalist for Slipknots PPL=SHIT and the crowd obviously went crazy. Their originals werent that great and all sounded somewhat similar. Bottomline, they were disappointing, though they were tight.
Next band was Prestorika. Ahhh, wat a band. I saw them live a year back in Livewire. I totally enjoyed their set then. I was expecting something good here. And , just when I was mentioning to my friend the kick ass show that they did at livewire, they started off with 'Enter Sandman' and I went crazy, the crowd went crazy and for the first time in the night, I was in the largest moshpit ever in India. It was fun, me and my friends moshed like crazy fanatics. And then they did a few OC's which were totally amazing. Their guitarist Lokesh was one helluva guy, crisp , very fast paced solos. He was amazing. Then prestorika played 'Holy Wars' and 'Hit The Lights'. And they ended their set with an OC. I'd say they were the tightest band tonite. Crowds favs and absolutely mind blowing.
Prestorika gave way to the much awaited 'Freak Kitchen' from Sweden. They started playing their orignals, doing some amazing work. They were tight, and knew what they were doing. Experience clearly showed in their performance. The vox/guitarist Mathias was kinda funny, and the bassist dude was jumping all around the stage, crazy motherfuckers. They were damn tight and wat impressed me was that they were a 3 member band. Pretty crazy huh ? I really didn't enjoy their originals but I can say that they are good. It's jus not something i like , thats all :) Mathias, with his gutti gutti (Edit: wasn't that "Goody Goody"? - Sridhar) chant and some really crazy, funky guitaring, a good drummer, and a funny bassist, Freak Kitchen showed what they were made of. They had marks of a tight international band written all over them and their music. They had some good originals like porno daddy and others which I can't recollect.
So the night ended. 4 hrs of metaldom. There cant be anything better to do on a weekend. GIR was well organised, and had good crowd. Foreign chicks, desi chicks and many metal heads (which make any gig a great gig). There was food, water and to top everything smoke was allowed. Everything was done professionally and perfectly. It was known that the show wouldnt start on time , so we have to leave that one flaw out (its jus an innate quality of Indians, can't really be helped ;) ). To describe the show in few words, amazing, mind blowing and fucking crazy. If you missed this, then go kill yourself .

mvikred

Remakes

When I was in 12th (as in, in and around phase of my life), I had a theory that remixes are when you just add new beats and all, and remakes are when you remake the whole song. It seemed kind of sensible, since it followed from the words themselves. Anyway, this post isn't about that :P

Here are a few pairs of songs, each consisting of an original non-rock song and it's interpretation by decently (!) well known bands:

.1. Diamonds and Rust : Original - Joan Baez, Interpreted by Judas Priest.

The Judas Priest version, is well....funny! Unless you've heard Judas Priest exclusively atleast for a few hours, there's no way this version could even begin to compare with the Joan Baez one. Near the ending, when the JP waala starts singing "Diamonds! Diamonds! Diamonds and Raaast!", I almost start laughing. However, if you do get into the feel of things (if you're in the metal mode, so to speak), the irony and biting sarcasm in the song does glimmer a little.

The Joan Baez version, on the other hand, is amazing, to say the least. It's haunting, and the anger, the sarcasm, the sadness, it's all there and you can imagine the pain of the person the song is about. It was supposedly written by Joan Baez for Bob Dylan after their affair. And the pain is all too apparent.

.2. Turn the Page : Original - Bob Seger, Interpreted by Metallica.

This is a tough choice to make. The feel is available aplenty in both the songs. Strangely, however, while the Bob Seger version seems to convey the desperation and hopelessness of the person the song is about, the Metallica song invokes almost the opposite feelings: hope and determination!

The drums in the Bob Seger version are way too cool! They're silent for the most part, simple and totally in sync with the song. I love the way the hi-hat is used in the first half of the song. It's simple enough for even someone who doesn't know how to play drums, but its "value addition" to the song is amazing! Metallica waale drums, are well...normal Metallica waale drums.

Other Metallica "interpretations" : Tuesday's Gone (where they haven't changed much, but they've done a marvellous job), Whiskey in the Jar (the Metallica version rules anyday! Thin Lizzy clearly had no idea how amazing his song - supposedly a folk tune- could be!)

.3. Wicked Game: Original - Chris Isaak, Interpreted by H.I.M.

This song was what prompted me to write this post in the first place. The Chris Isaak version is amazing and all. It keeps playing in Mocha HN btw. Everyone keeps going gaga over the vocals and all. It is a nice peaceful song, and with feel and all. I loved the song and it was almost perfect. Or so I thought.

Then I heard the H.I.M version! It's amazing! The drums, the guitar! Pure unadulterated rock! It's like Chris Isaak got the song all wrong, and the original version (the way it should have been in the first place) is by H.I.M.

Other things I haven't considered:

Pink Floyd and The Ramones - Another Brick in the Wall (it's obvious who's better, but the Ramones did do a respectable job)
Alien Ant Farm and MJ - Smooth Crminal. No real feeling in the song to talk about, so it's ok :)

And Parikrama's version of Sweet Child of Mine at Kala Ghoda with Violin and keyboard and no drums (slowed down, mellow) was also very cool :)

One interpretation I refuse to comment upon is Slipknot trying out Bullet the Blue Sky by U2! :P

Vicious Circle

I've wanted to write about this a while now. In gigs, you always see people who get excited when they hear a band covering Metallica, Pantera, Slayer etc. I'd like to see Indian bands that play more original comps. There are two sides to the issue actually. Firstly, you need a mature open minded audience that can appreciate original music. The second issue is that the music has to be ORIGINAL in order that the crowd likes it. For example, if you take Zero, you see that they have a very distinct sound to their music. You also see people asking for PSP 12, Old Man.., Christmas in July etc. You would also see most people sing along with the band. On the other hand, if you look at Sceptre's originals, it feels like you are listening to another run of the mill average thrash band. Its a totally different thing that the band can play Angel of Death or Reign in Blood note to note. I still feel that the Indian rock scene is in its very nascent stages. When will we see all original setlists at gigs? I don't see it happening in the near future.

Again, there are multiple sides to this issue. Firstly, bands that do create good original music move on to other stuff for lack of market/audience/sales/record label backing and other assorted shit. A band making a brilliant album might end up selling a few hundred copies. This again depends on whether the Indian rock fan base is loyal or not. If you heard a good album by an Indian band, would you buy it? Do you like any Indian band? If so, do you own their CD? Or are you happy listening to the mp3s on your computer? Secondly, Indian bands don't stick around for too long for some reason or the other. One needs time, patience and experience to write good music. And the ones that stick around for too long suck :) Some bands like Parikrama and Vayu that have existed forever and have yet been able to write just one or no decent song all their life. While I cannot claim to have heard all the bands in the Indian circuit, I've heard bands like Zero, TAAQ and Zebediah Plush that have written good "original" music. I have also heard some promising original singles from bands like Acrid Semblance and IIIrd Sovereign. Only time can tell us if they can actually come up with a good full length album. What is frustrating is that all this is a vicious circle. Bands might not even get gigs to play if they went with an all original setlist.

Lets just hope that the scene just gets better. I hope next time I go to a gig, I wont hear people shout Metaaalllica, Slayaaar and I also hope the bands play good originals. Vicious Circle you see..

Valentine Massacre

We reached the place on time, but the gig started two and a half hours late! I was cursing myself for going on time, but it didn't matter at all, because the gig was a killer. One of the most brutal gigs I've been to.

The first band to play was "Amidst the Chaos". I don't remember much of their setlist, except for a very ok-ish nu-metal original and some covers which included a bad cover of Tool's Stinkfist.

Second up were Bruteforce a band that claims to play old school thrash. Their setlist included more than just old school thrash. They played some kick ass covers like Domination (Pantera), Holy Wars (Megadeth), Children of Decadence (COB) and some song by Ensiferum, if I remember right. There were violent moshpits during Domination and Holy Wars. While they nailed all the originals perfectly, their original was again, not a very memorable one. It was about some reservations in the private sector or some such bull-shit. The drummer deserves a special mention. He was good. The vocalist needs to improve though.

Next up were Exhumation. This is the second time I'm seeing this band . And unfortunately both the times, the band had some problem with the sound.
I'm not very familiar with the kind of music these guys play, but they were awesome. I hear that they played some Vader. The vocalist was just brilliant.

Next up were Redemption. I was seeing them for the second time. Despite all the hype, I didn't like their music too much. The vocals were too monotonous. I don't remember the setlist except for one *hold your breath* Meshuggah cover. That was just very bad in my opinion . First of all, how can you cover Meshuggah with just one guitarist? The song just didn't have that punch. And secondly, the vocalist was screaming away in one constant pitch. I'd say first get your act right and then cover Meshuggah.

Time to smoke. It was weird that smoking was prohibited in the hall where the gig was taking place. Anyway, I think we should be happy that we have some place in Bombay where we can have metal gigs. By the time we came back, Infernal Wrath was on stage and this was the band of the night for me. They just destroyed. They covered Cannibal Corpse (I cum blood is the only song I remember), *OMFG!!!* Cryptopsy's Phobophile and played a Slayer medley which was just insane. JP, the man on the drums was just mad. This was also the first time I saw a vocalist walk into the moshpit with the mic (you need balls for that!). People ripped his shirt off and the guy kept singing like a mad dog.

Sadly, we couldn't stay for the last two bands Metakix and Bhayanak Maut, the band for which we went to the gig! Anyway, it was one hell of a gig. Metchulll!

Storm of the Beast

Its 3 AM. Here I am listening to possibly the greatest thrash metal band to have come out of Europe. Yes biyatches, its Kreator!!!!!!!! You listen to the first few riffs of the album and instantly know that its a classic Kreator album. I remember the first time I heard the band, which was about 2 years go. I was listening to Endorama and I never really gave the album an other listen thinking it was some Gothic shite. About 1 year after that, I heard Extreme Aggression and I was completely blown away. I knew it. That was the shit! I now know their first three albums note to note :D I have to explore their other albums. I've heard that they experimented quite a bit on their later albums (damn!). Anyway, I'm hoping that the rest of their catalogue kicks ass too and shit I have to fuckin sleep. later...

Acoustic Dusk

Looong time since I posted :D

Anyway, here's what I thought of this time's AD. Views are of course, strictly personal, and shouldn't be taken seriously if they go against your own views ;) Maybe the Staccato group is a better place to post this, but I like this blog far more!!

The first meeting (that I attended) : People were discussing publicity etc. and I knew I wouldn't be working for this AD. Acoustic Dusk for me (and Pursha) was this place where people who liked music just came and sat down (or stood up and shook their heads and drank like mad) and listened to music. This whole stuff about slots and lights and big posters (it actually did seem like a copy of InSync) was totally against the feel I had for AD. Especially the slots, which I'll come to later. I remember, in my first year, this guitarist fellow (don't remember his name) generally came up on stage and said he wants to play Babe I'm Gonna Leave You. NCR got up and said he could do the drumming. So they played that song and they played Tunnel of Love. The whole informal atmosphere, everyone having fun (Golu's antics!), it was all so amazing!!! From the first meeting, I could see that wasn't going to happen this time. People were thinking big :(

The subsequent meetings: I didn't attend any. Didn't do any work since I believed it was all against my principles (Ok Fine! I was just lazy!). Just concentrated on trying to prepare for my songs. For Why Not?, I was playing some 9-10 songs, all simple, straight 4X4 beats, except for Fade to Black.

Acoustic Dusk: The first band I played with, halfway through Fade to Black, before the lead, we were told that that the song was going to be cut off midway! I couldn't concentrate at all after that! I kept losing the beat. To add to my trouble, the rhythm guitarist (which was the only thing I could hear clearly on my monitor) was constantly losing beat as well! Anyway, we were stopped this way. NCR's band couldn't play Romeo and Juliet. Why Not? played 5 of our 10 songs.

But overall of course, it was a grand AD, with proper organization etc. It wasn't informal at all. I mean, every band was practically shooed off stage! Maybe it was necessary, maybe they could have spanned it across two days, whatever. But AD Rocked!!

Now for the music :D

I loved my band the most, obviously! We played simple songs, but we played them well :) I was happy I got praise for my extremely complicated drumming (maintaining a 4x4 beat for 5 minutes!!! That's gotta be hard!) on one of our originals! 2 AM came out very well. Atleast I enjoyed it thoroughly. People said I was actually smiling and shaking my head on stage. I didn't notice it, of course :) Playing on stage is amazing!!!! I made, on an average, two mistakes per song, but I'm the drummer, and almost no one notices the drummer ;)

Of the other bands, there were lots of amazing people playing! Songs that I remember as being the best of the lot:

1. Brimful of Asha
2. Hallowed be thy Name
3. Bulls on Parade
4. Cliffs of Dover (I just looovvee the song!)
5. Shiver
6. Losing Shine and Bad Poem (our original! :D)
7. Tubthumping (from the girls)

The worst song: With or Without you. This might seem biased, since U2's my favourite band . Basically, the band meddled a little too much with perfection, adding a lead, changing the drums, etc. I just couldn't handle it ;)

This was the first time I paid attention to double bass when it was being played live. Thanx Reddy! :D It sounds amazing! Raj ka original was amazing! He'd said you would play Quit Playing Games. But Rahul kicked you off stage, didn't he? =))

There's so much that can be done with double bass! But, like you said, there's still I lot I have to learn with single bass. I do hope I get an app. When I get back here after my PhD, I'll be the best drummer in the world :D

So anyway, it was an amazing AD for the audience, I guess, with lots of bands putting in amazing performances. But I still think we lost more than we gained with a well publicized and well organized Acoustic Dusk.

Ahh commercialization ;)

Bastard

I first heard Ocean Machine around 8 months back, when I was doing my summer internship. Ocean Machine is one of Devin Townsend's (the Canadian mad man responsible for Strapping Young Lad) side projects. I again heard the album a couple of days back. Its one of the greatest albums ever made, I tell you. People talk about genius all the time, but this is pure fuckin genius, believe me. There is one track (titled "Bastard") on the album which might just become my all time favourite track! I think it already is my all time favourite. Devin Townsend might become my all time favourite vocalist too! Never before has any song moved me so much. It feels just incredible when I listen to the album. The album is simply brilliant. The music is very unique, bordering on rock, metal and ambient. I have been trying to get hold of everything that Devin has ever released. I'm just 2 or 3 albums short of completing the discography. You have to listen to the music to believe me, he is one heck of a musician. I say again, pure fuckin genius!