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 ;)
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12 comments:
hehe good stuff man. AD rocked big time. and regarding the publicity, slots and stuff, I thought it was a very nice move. firstly, it gives a feeling of oneness when you are working for an event. secondly, otherwise it wouldn't have been possible to organize the show properly. and unless u have extremely talented people, you cannot play a led zeppelin song impromptu. you know that too. so it was necessary to tighten the ropes this time to get quality bands! :D And i'm sure that the average quality of the performance has gone up highly compared to the last couple of years when it was generally one very good band and a few not so good bands.
PS: wud ya mind posting this link on the staccato group.
PPS: where the fuck were u all these days?
an and i forgot to tell my favs of the evening.. off the top of my head..
love buzz
killing in the name
whole lotta love
and our entire setlist :D
i vito sridhar :P
too lazy to write more
I was getting jobs and apps ;) Now I have both and have to worry about passing my BTP :D
Anyway, it was a much better quality AD as far as the music was concerned. It's just that the casual atmosphere was lost this time. But come to think of it, people did work hard and prepare and practice a lot for it. So cool ;)
-PPS
p.s :- My netmon is blocked. So I don't get staccato mails any more. Check the group once in a blue moon.
p.p.s :- When does the video come out?!!
p.p.s2 :- Reddy, I agree. I enjoyed your band the most at AD!!! You rock! Of course, since I'm in my band, I love it more :P Give me that much leeway ;)
i'll give u all the leeway u want man :P
once agian , i'm lazy to write more :P :P
Well I had mailed PPS and Pursha earlier about this. Sridhar I dont agree with you. AD was never about organisation. NEVER. All the music secy had to do was to arrange for the speakers and AD was there for people. I remember times when it went upto 5 am and floyd was played all through out the night.
If you think u have a slot and you are shooed off when only half your setlist has been played...then there is definitely something to think about from the organisational part! If so much has gone into the think-tank for slots...what ppl should realise is that there are infi fuck ups that can happen such as processors dying out (it happened to us...BOTH our processors weren't coming up on the amps...and we had to change to other processors), sound mixing not coming out to your taste, the drum kit not being adjusted to the drummer's will. Anyway those are just things that can possibly be rectified later.
Ill give u an excellent example about "organisation". My most favourite Livewire to date has been in my freshie year. In the other years you have had bands being shooed off stages and stuff. Livewire to begin with was a rock competition and sadly today it has been reduced by most to a mere pro-show. (Thank god for the revival of the competition).
Note AD has always been something where music lovers: performers and listeners get together for enjoyment. About studgiri...cmon how many of us played well the first time we started off at AD.
I would really prefer an AD (like the one in H2 in my 3rd year) where you give everyone a chance to play and jam for a decent time as compared to everyone being kicked off halfway just to ensure good organisation.
Also finally sridhar... when you practise for AD you ARE working...what more do u need than loving music to find oneness for AD ???
golu, i agree with you on most points. but the insti has changed a lot since you left, i tell you. that fucked up 10 O clock rule. no event can go on beyond 10 pm. this time we've had so many enthu bands that we had to start the gig at 5 pm. imagine! and still finishing by 10 pm was a big fight. that was the only factor which forced us to go through all that trouble.
the situation is so bad that the security comes to H9 at precisely 9:55 pm. ..also, when we had rock video night in my hostel last semester, we had played videos for barely 1 hour and the fuckin security people and a prof came to h5 to stop the event.
That's what me and Pursha were wondering about. Instead of doing all the publi and lights and all (which were cool :)), AD could have been spread out over two days. That is kind of a weird thing to do, god knows how many ppl will attend two days, but still :)
well, should have suggested this before the event..
although a nice suggestion...pps i think there is one major issue in that...ppl would start 'fighting' for 'good slots' on 'good days'. So 2 days is thoda fight.
You know what would be a good modification and I really hope that if u guys are enthu u pull it off. Every month (or 2 months), on a weekend have an unplugged in the LT. Trust me..in the LT, the people on stage really appear close and big (I wonder why). I think it would really be good because u would not have to worry about sound equipment..because u would like people playing acoustic guitars and damped drums...so in a way you would be listening to the true natural sounds.
I know it is fight to pull off... but u know that is the best way to give people their proper slot for say 1 to 1.5 hours.
Agreed AD has its own amazing charm (only god knows how much i miss it), but i think a change in the music circuit is really wanted.
We thought of it when about two days were left :P And anyway, we did suggest that the lights and publi were unnecessary, but I have a knack of not sounding too serious :)
lol .. :)
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