Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Gigs this month

The gig scene has been pretty decent the last few days, including one virtual experience.

Them Clones were playing at Hard Rock Cafe last week, with Shaair+Func as the opening act. Bad idea! Shaair+Func were brilliant! Their music was a lot different than what I was expecting really. For one, I didn't expect them to have a backing band. I don't know why, but I always assumed that it would be just the two of them on stage. Anyway, Randolph was pretty good with his guitar, and his funky eyewear was absolute high-fashion! Monica Dogra was hot! She had a great stage presence, sang the pants off everyone, and did I say she was smokin' hot?

So this was why it was an absolute bad idea for Them Clones to play after them. They seemed like some kids at a local gig. No stage presence to speak of, and apart from their single "My Life", the other songs were kinda lacklustre. Lets hope the songs sound better on their album, the corny sounding "Love, Hate, Heroes". Check out the song and video online.

This was followed up a few days later with Iron Maiden's Flight 666! Whatta kickass experience! It was great, revisiting the bombay concert, and watching the global hysteria and the mad chaos at all the venues the band visited. Man, Latin and South America is crazy! People camping out for days on end, guys quitting their jobs to watch the band, and people coming in from neighbouring countries, even! Brilliant! The documentary itself wasn't so hot. I would have enjoyed some more behind-the-scene revelations and snippets, and less concert footage. But what-the-hey, it's a great adrenaline rush watching it anyway!

And lastly, the Channel [V] and BigAdda Concert For Change. This was mixed bag, if anything. With a line-up that included the Launchpad finalists (Cassini's Division, Faridkot and Reverse Polarity), The Raghu Dixit Project, Anoushka M, Bappi "You are my Chicken Curry" Lahiri, and Kailash Kher, I was absolutely not sure just who their target audience for the gig was.

Anyway, it got off to a bad start with me missing The Raghu Dixit Project and Cassini's Division, sob sob. I believe I was, at that time, having a bloody cold coffee at a local restaurant. What can I say, I suck. I walked in just as Reverse Polarity was finishing their gig. Probably a good thing, as I was not a fan of their music. They are a very tight band, and if they stick together for a few more years, are sure to do bloody well.

Next up, Anoushka M. Blah, boring. A very bad billing. Faridkot came on next. They were pretty decent. A very Jal/Atif Aslam kinda sound, they were probably the band that would have had the best pan-India appeal. Kinda monotonous after a while though. That monotony was broken by the fabulous sounds of Bappi Lahiri! I still have a hard time deciding if people actually liked his music for what it was, or just as a novely act. Either way, the crowd went ape-shit insane. Probably the most successful act of the night. Even Kailash Kher, who came on next, couldn't really get the crowd going as much. Infact, he even sounded a bit less energetic than usual.

Sometime before or after the final act, Reverse Polarity were declared Launchpad winners. I was personally hoping for Cassini's to get it. Anyway, for a gig titled "Concert for Change", I dont know know if anyone got any message out of the show or not. I didn't, really. There were some cool Channel V promos on all the time, with Santa and Banta and stuff, plus some occasional messages being show, that I couldn't decide were being serious or spoofs. It was, anyway, a free gig, so that was good.

1 comment:

Sudeep Bhaumick said...

is back to writing... how are you doing mate...

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