\m/.Bollywood Rock has Arrived. And it is FULL ON.\m/

So we have it. The first Indian Rock Bollywood soundtrack. Ugh! I so hate to call it that. It is a Bollywood movie soundtrack-Yes! And it IS ROCK. How Indian? I can see no Indianization in it (except for the Hindi lyrics) and it is an all out-full throttle Rock soundtrack with no holds barred. No cliche’ sitar addition or an Indian classical solo on a distorted electric guitar in the arrangement of which Indian Rock soundtracks in Bollywood are known to be. Nothing wrong about them as well. But Rock On’s soundtrack is what it is-ROCK ON. It is somehow an Indian tribute to the many Legends of Rock that we have grown up listening to -AC/DC, Megadeth,The Who et al. And I know it for sure that Farhan Akhtar saw way too many concert DVDs before sitting down to sing for the soundtrack. The attitude, the grunge and the punch in the vocals comes through easily, and yes, get ready to be hit by the Vocals. And well, it might not be a totaly new sound for us Rock fans, who pretty much listen to it all the time, it is a big welcome change for Bollywood Music. And quite frankly, it seems funny (in a good way) to hear Hindi lyrics on a Rock Song. As always, I am gonna go the reverse way -Last track first.

But well, there is now a twist to it. The Last track is a Live version of the second track in the album. SO let’s go for it together. Track 2 and 8: Pichle Saat Dinon Mein – Farhan Akhtar on the vocals. I know it is Ehsaan on the guitars belting out the riff. . The lyrics is as silly as it could be , but well you don’t expect a very metaphorical referencing rhyme in a Rock Song-not this one. It is about what stuff the guy lost in the last seven days. And it contains things as trivial as a Laundry Bill, a lady’s phone number, a king of hearts from the deck of cards, and a silver ring. Pretty meaningless and irrelevant, unless we hear the organ sound in the background, the riff, and the chorus going Na Na Na Na Na!! And hold on it does contain the Lines- Maryjane ka ek packet, Meri Denim ka ek Jacket. And who did we say wrote the lyrics. Javed Akhtar \m/. For those who still don’t have any idea of what Maryjane is (no it isn’t Mrs Spiderman), get some ejj..ucation. The guitar solo is Oh Yeah!! And this song leaves you grooving to its addictive sound. Special mention: Listen to Farhan go :-Kabhi Khud Pe Hasaa Main, aur Kabhi Khud pe…Ro.yyyaaa (in perfect Bon Scott fashion).
Now for the Live version: Starts with “Hello Everyone” in a concert venue. Farhan asks people to sing along the chorus Na Na Na Na. Somehow, when I try to sing it, it always loses direction and shifts to the Na Na Na of Cuts Like a Knife (Bryan Adams). LOL. I know, both are very different Na Na Nas. Anyway, the Live version creates the ambiance of a Rock concert, and I can totally see the people sway with the guitar riff. Nothing much added to the studio track (this one is as well, but then for the sake of it, we’ll call it the Live version), but it is really cool to see that they didn’t do a Lounge version and a Techno version, and oh yeah a Bhangra Underground version with Punjabi MC. . This track (both) sets the mood right. Really cool. Finally good to hear loud guitar solos (not subdued muted ones ala Pritam).

Track 9: Phir Dekhiye: Its an acoustic one. Caralisa Monteiro on the vocals. This one is on the lines of the many lady artistes we get to hear -may be a bit of Alanis. Very cool sounding pianos to go with the svelte vocal lines. Very likeable and perfect for a quite evening when you want to listen something calm as you sit down to solve your Sudoku.

Track 7: Sinbad the sailor: The guitar ‘sounds’ so similar to AC/DC’s You Shook Me All Night Long. But then, the Keyboard kicks in and we are almost back into the 80s. I cannot search the right name of the band which inspires such sounds-perhaps a whole league of Brit Bands in the 80s. But this is the weakest tracks of the album. The lyrics are predictably about Sinbad, the sailor. Nuff said. The guitar solo is likable, nothing that would qualify for a smokin solo. This is at best a clichéd Rock track which fails to live up to the standard of Tracks 2 and 8. But, wait we are not done yet. The final 2 minutes is when the track picks up.Enter Raman Mahadevan and there is a fresh twist to the sing, and hear Farhan go the falsetto way – high ,high and high. And it all wraps up in typical guitar solos and the cymbals going disshhhh. Huh, after the climax, I’d rather, not Bad eh!

Track 6:Tum Ho Toh: Farhan tries a ballad (ok, Shankar ,Ehsaan and Loy made him to). A bit pitchy at times in the intro, romantic lyrics, and yes, Farhan does the falsetto again.As suggested in the promo posters, Luke Kenny is on the keyboards. And this song, surely does have enough shots of him, considering the Keyboards portions in the arrangement. Prominent bass to go along. It does sound a bit like Coldplay at times, but then may be it’s because I have been listening to a lot of Coldplay’s latest album (Viva La Vida, check out Violet Hill from the album). Listen to Farhan do the falsetto in the second verse. Ladies n Gents, Boys n Gals-Farhan Akhtar,the singer has ARRIVED.

Track 5: Zehreelay: 1…2…3..4..Oh Yeah. Silly lyrics again..LOL. Talks about venomous snakes. Forget the lyrics. I bet you can’t stop headbanging to this one. The double bass on the drums keep on thumping. This one’s really Metal. Oh yeah. Bollywood featuring Metal. Awesome! can’t wait to see this one on the movie. And that is what excites me more than anything. I would like to watch and hear this tracks on the loud, ear piercing speakers of a multiplex cinema. The vocals of Suraj Jaggan are very typically thrash (where has he been so far?). Very harsh, the drums as brutally wild as it can be, and the guitars are fast. The rhythm riff is very Megadeth, and the solo is blazing fast. Beware Bollywood -The Metal has finally landed. This one has got to be my favorite of the Album. You have to buy this album for this ONE. The wrapping up part just grabs you by the..ahem…and just throws you away. God, there are zillions of people sounding like this in English,German or infamously from Norway, but Zehreelay makes Hindi added to the list. Now listen Shankar,Ehsaan and Lloy, no matter what Yashraj Uncle says, DO NOT GO BACK to doing Karwa Chauth and God Bharai songs. Puhleeeezzz.

Track 4:Ye Tumhari Meri Baatein-Dominique Cerejo- Who’s this lady? I have one word for her-Satine’. Would love to hear her sing any damn Jazz song and I can just sit hours listening to her. May be a bit of Norah Jones would also make me go crazy. Love the bass lines on this track. A romantic ballad. But I can’t get over her vocals. Pitch perfect!! I wouldn’t be surprised if this is shot on location in a Jazz bar. This is actually how it should look. We have to wait for how this is gonna be picturised. My second favorite of the album. Dominique-step out and SING.

Track 3: Title Track-Rock On: Enjoyable Guitar Riff- Standard Rock Lyrics speaking of freakin’ out, speaking your heart out, screaming your lungs out blah blah!

Rock On-Hai Ye Waqt Ka Ishaara,
Rock On-Har Lamha Pukaara,
Rock On- Yu Hi Dekhta Hai Kya Tu,
Rock On- Zindagi Milegi Naa Dubara

Okay, probably it is me because we just have heard so much about this stuff in the ones that started it all. I would have liked the lyrics to have been a bit more innovative.
Leave the lyrics aside, and this one is actually enjoyable. Has the rhythm riff, a guitar solo, the head shaking drum beat and a catchy chorus line. What else do you need?
There we have it-The Title Track-tailor made. I say, fits well. Just not Armani yet.

Track 1: Socho To: Is it me, or is it still the same guitar -yeah, the AC/DC of You Shook Me All Night Long. Although we get to hear flashes of a bit of Joe Sat, and a bit of Colplay as well. Man, I am insane now.
This does sound a bit like some Strings track as well. Or should I stop thinking of references and listen to this track. I am enjoying the bass track more than anything on this track. Listen closely and you’ll understand what I am saying. The guitar solos embedded in the track are a bit on the lower side of volume. And then, the louder solo kicks in. This one is a Happy Rock Song with even the Happy Oh ho ho. The lyrics are again, quirky and a bit childish.

Aasman hai Neela Kyu
Paani Geela Geela Kyu
Gol Kyu Hai Zameen

Silk main hai Narmi Kyu
Aag main hai Garmi Kyu
Do aur Do Paanch Kyu Nahi

Try singing these lines and I am sure you’ll fall in love with this song. Much like a Nursery rhyme with a bass track, a drum beat, a rhythm guitar to go with and a guitar solo. I would say, not a very good opener to a Killer album, but yeah, kinda good.

So there you have it. My verdict: GO BUY IT. It is Rock as you would expect, and Bollywood music as you would never. Few things are still unexplored- may be darker themes for a rock song, a punk sound and perhaps, even an instrumental track. But then, you know how demanding I can be. Heroes of the soundtrack- Farhan Akhtar, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Dominique, and definitely Suraj Jaggan. I’ll go with 3.5 stars out of 5 for this one .

Ladies n Gents, Boyz n Gals, make room for the Rock to hit you, coz here they are: Wagon Rags to knock your socks off with their rock and well make Bollywood remixed bitches eat dust. But well, Mr.Lead Singer, Jh**ga (though he specifically mentioned his displeasure over being referred by this name and that Jh**ga is not derived from Abhishek JHA but from his affinity to prawn dishes) would put it otherwise. (I asterisked the name coz my chicken platter is at stake) He says, Wagon Rags aren’t here to compete or battle against any form of music. Wagon Rags are just here to belt out their music and sweep the crowd off their feet. Ok, I know Wordsworth said “A thing of beauty is a joy forever”. And well, “A little of Self Promotion is SuJOY forever *wink*”. First, lemme introduce the band before I go into the intricate details of the seven hours in Sound Ideaz Studios of Pune where we witnessed a nine month old tune take its shape, riff by riff, solo to solo and beat to beat.
Drum Rolls: Dheessh!!!!!!
Dean on the Bass.
Gyan on the Drums
Vatsal on the Guitars
Parag on the Lead Guitars
Abhishek on the Vocals.
The Band: Wagon Rags . First Single: Devil’s Ride
In a way, it makes sense that the bands Rhythm guitarist:  Vatsal Raicha is a Mechanical Engineer from NIT Surathkal. But then, he has lost all of his mechanical gyan of IC engines, and that now all he knows is screw up the nuts of his project teammates (he is a project lead in an respectable IT Firm ). And well, to say that Wagon Rags has anything to do with Mr.Raicha would just be cool for the sake of it. That is so not how it happened. Wagon Rags emerged as the winner over such great ones nominated as “Marcoly’s Punch”, ” Pure silver Brutal Farce” and well the one suggested by me – ” Paanch Badan Ek Jaan” (5 bodies, one soul). Clearly Wagon Rags seemed logical to them, but well I still think Paanch Badan to be a clear winner.

BAND PROMOTION PICS FROM RECORDING ROOM AFTER THE JUMP

Venue: Sound Ideaz Studio run by Nitin Joshi
The band is already there since 3 pm trying hard to put together the drum setup. But then, the mixing of Brute Force’s next track is on. So plans are a bit postponed. And then, the clock have now been set up to start ticking at 4:20 pm. Nice choice. Drums setting up starts. The quest for the perfect bass, and THE sound on the tom is on. Muting, tuning, taping, cushioning with extra pink pillows, tightening of screws (or screwing em up) and getting rid of the extra toing. It takes an extra hour and it  almost consumes three hours to get it done right (not to forget, we had a fun jam inside the studio and then finally realised that we were being charged by the hour, and that before we could actually settle down and record a thing, the Rags are already been charged a cool 1000 bucks). But then, the Rags wont stop until the perfect sound is achieved. Such a bunch of perfectionists. (A slight element of promotional stunt, given that these guys are my close pals, but what the heck, they even made me a pseudo publicist and promised me two meals of chicken for this post).

Drums all set to roll. Gyan takes his Throne. Headphones on. Mirrors tilted to see the reflection from the mixing room. Nitin on the Mac. Guys ready with their instruments for the demo take. The plan was to go one by one. The order to be followed was: Drums >> Bass >> Rhythm Guitars >> Lead Guitars >> Vocals . Gyan gives the cue, and we ROLL. A taste of the lyrics is given below.

Worlds movin, but on really slow feet
tryin to keep time, its missin a beat
an ol black n white
I wanna paint it, i wanna paint it in speed

I dont even let the wind set the pace
gonna overtake the storm and set the chase
gotta make every moment a raceday out here
i leather my skin, i get ready to race

(pre-chorus)
and theres that sign ahead that says go slow
never cared to know what the fuck that means
have seen them lights all red n yellow
but i dig only … i dig green …

(chorus)

I…. get on the devils ride,
kick up dust … leather my stride
blazin wheels … better watch your side
coz I…. m doin the devils ride

First take of drums- a bit flawed. First take was a bit of a disaster as everyone didn’t seem ready. The guitars went out of control and so everyone was shut down. But surprisingly, the tempo is a bit on the higher side than the one in the rehearsals. And it sounds GOOD. Gyan hits for take 2 and it goes goo..oood until the last 20 seconds when his headphones fell off. Take 3..and we are done with the drums. Best part in a band is when everyone knows his flaws through and through. We listened the entire drums track closely and carefully, and couldn’t deduce any flaw until Mr.Gyan pointed it out. And with some help from Nitin’s mixing skills, drums are served on the platter. Next up :Dean Vaz on the Bass (try to say it as a rhyme).

Dean on the bass, goes easy and smooth. Just a bit of improvisation required and with instructions from Jhinga, Vats, Parag and Nitin, job is done. And yes, it looked as easy as it sounds here. Very smooth.
And we are almost four hours into the clock. Now the debate for recording the rhythm guitars:- whether to go for direct Line Out Recording, or go for the Amplifiers. Vatsal knows it best. Amps it is. And we enter the studio again. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, Gyan is already out of the room, and is puffin some smoke of the tobacco kind.

Vatsal settles down, overcomes his stage fright, leaves all his worries of Project deadlines and attritions behind, and gathers the confidence to PERFORM. Must be the Hide n Seek and Cashew Nut Good Day that he ate (You guys I spent 25 bucks  on that). First take- Vats not satisfied. Second take : went well until he looked up through the looking glass and saw Alice…no I meant Jh***a. Third take: Job Done…or was it the seventh? Parag is in next. The Rhythm parts to be filled first. Done. Solos in the verse part, Done. Intro Solo..one take ..Done. Outro Solo..Done. The solo part where the spotlights are to be on on Parag..3 takes. Done.

Last but not the least, Mr.Jh***a  (Abhishek Jha) takes control of the microphone. He entered, he made some mistakes, he corrected em and was then beaten to pulp. Why do I keep deviating? Must be too much of Korean gore that I have been watching lately. The recording on the other hand went smooth, quite.
And then, it was up to the Man to make the pieces fit perfectly. Mr. Nitin Joshi. And so he did. With regular inputs on the volume levels, the punching in and punching out,etc. after almost 5 and a half hours of clock time, Devil’s Ride was ready to ROCK THE WORLD. Go here to the Myspace Page of Wagon Rags to listen to the Track. I have the MP3 but they won’t let me upload it here for download.

Bonus Track :Live recording in two takes: Tie Your Mother Down: Original Artistes- Queen
Long story short: Signed, Sealed ,Delivered. Hear me in the Chorus. LOL.
CD Burned: Thanks Steve Jobs for the Mac. Thanks Sujoy for the cookies. Thanks Nitin Joshi and Sound Ideaz.

PROMOTIONAL PICTURES AS PROMISED ABOVE:

The Pseudo Band Manager / Publicist

Photographs Exclusive to : OneKnightStands

CONTACT for Band: wagonrags [at] gmail [dot] com

MySpace Page: myspace.com/wagonrags

Guest Author: Prakash Rajgopal ( the guy in the Gulshan Grover beard).

BENGALURU, Bangalore or just same ol’ BANGY. Oh how fortunate art thee to have been the soil which played host to Rock in India. How golden is thy spirit to have seen history in the making!The biggest International Rock Festival India has ever seen! Nine bands! Two headlining acts! The chance to get 8 hours of thrash/hard rock drilled into metal heads! What a mouth-watering prospect! Which genuine rock enthusiast would miss such a historic event? One of the top four metal acts in the world, Megadeth was playing in India. Yes, MEGADETH!! It was the last leg of their United Abominations Tour Of Duty. March 14, 2008. Palace Grounds, Bangalore. After a month of eager anticipation since booking the tickets, the day had finally arrived! We all HAD to be there to witness it. And we did!

We (my friend Harshal and I) reached the venue well ahead of time, at 1 pm. As we arrived at the venue and were waiting for the gates to open, we could hear some sound checks going on inside. There were already some people loitering around, most of them wearing black tees. I could see lots of Maiden’s, some Slipknot’s, Children Of Bodom’s, Nirvana’s around along with the usual Megadeth ones. We also saw a girl and a guy walking in, with the girl wearing a Megadeth tee, and the guy wearing a… hold your breath… 50 Cents!! Yo mama, he was right in da club!!! I also saw a guy wearing a Master Of Puppets tee. I wonder what became of him. Soon, Sujoy arrived with his gang just in time for the gates to open, and we headed inside. There were two stages on the venue. A smaller stage that was meant for the Indian bands, and a bigger one up front, obviously for Megadeth and Machine Head .

Here’s a run-up of all the bands in the order of their appearances:

1. Casino Blues: The band from Guwahati formed by Joshua, the lead singer of the Independence Rock winner band-Faith. They might’ve rued the fact that their’s was the first act of the day. With the scorching sun was beating down everybody’s necks, most of the people preferred taking shelter in the shady corners of the ground to avoid being burnt. The band had some catchy numbers. But they didn’t catch enough attention. Enough said.
Verdict: Mediocre.
Sujoy’s Verdict: Joshua has got strong vocals, but it got sunburnt.

2. Prestorika:

This Delhi-based band sure knows how to get people’s attention! They started their act with the intro of Holy Wars, and that got everybody kicked up and in the mood to rock!! They belted out most of their popular originals. They were very tight. A special mention for their lead guitarist. The solos were blazing fast, and he ripped apart the whole venue! The guitarist might’ve used all the existing guitar techniques from tapping to sweep-picking. Super-talented. But the special mention is for another reason. His mannerisms were all Kirk Hammett-inspired. I mean, Kirk Hammett would’ve been proud seeing his antics on stage and would’ve taken him under his wings! Whether intentional or not, only he can tell.
Verdict: Good.
Sujoy’s Verdict: Best Indian Metal band I have ever seen live. Hint: I haven’t seen Bhayanak Maut perform live.

3. Junkyard Groove:

I’d heard a lot about this band. They had participated in the recently-concluded Channel V Launchpad. Let’s get to their music. What Prestorika lacked, Junkyard Groove made up for big time. Melody. The songs they performed were really melodic and got the crowd cheering, asking for more. The band’s stage presence was amazing. Especially the singer was great at interacting with the crowd, making wise cracks now and then. He also got the crowd to sing along to their well-known track “It’s OK”. In one instance, the singer said, “Say something. Say We love you, Fuck off! Say anything!”. Some attitude, and alcohol for sure. The drummer, IMO, was the best of the lot. His off-beat classical style drumming was effortless.
Sujoy had earlier mentioned about the unusually long fingers of their bassist! His bass guitar too was quite different in shape. Okay, let’s stop at that.
Verdict: Very Good
Sujoy’s Verdict: Ladies n Gentlemen, Vee are Jungayaarrd Groove. Welcome ..Wannakam! Vee khickd yur asses. Yuu know that!

4. Motherjane:

A little history first. This band is based out of God’s own country (that’s Kerala, for the lesser mortals). So it’s a rock band comprising of all Mallus. I don’t have anything against their community (hell, I’m a southie myself). But it’s just that one cannot picture Mallu’s playing rock. I blame Lola Kutty’s sidekick Alex for this. Anyway, I had never heard about Motherjane before. When they arrived on stage to get plugged, I thought both the guitarists could certainly use a makeover. Sporting bushy moustaches that looked Mallu-ish from every angle, they were dressed in really “simble” attire, and were very unassuming. We joked that when not playing, to earn a living these guys must definitey be fishing or rowing boats in the Kerala backwaters (Damn you Alex!!).
Well, we had to eat our words, and how!! Right from the first note, we were all blown away! Motherjane’s music sounded like an amalgamation of hard-hitting rock and mellow carnatic classical music! What an orgasmic combination it was!! Each song sounded like it had bettered the previous one. Quite amazing! Although one guitarist (Mr. bushy moustache) did take prominence, I can absolutey not label the other guitarist as a pure rhythm guitarist. Their guitar solo’s were laced with carnatic raaga-style pieces, and lots of harmonic ones which had to be played by both guitarists. Both complimented each other very well. Their song ‘Mindstreet’ still lingers on in my mind. The way they started the song with the carnatic piece really gave me goosebumps! This was easily the best act on that day among the Indian bands.
Verdict: Excellent!!
Sujoy’s Verdict: Since IIT Guwahati’s Alcheringa 2006, I hadn’t heard of what happened to Motherjane. Two years later, they rocked not as hard as what they did then. They rocked hardER.

5. Thermal And A Quarter:6. Millennium:
We chose to give these bands a miss, and went off to grab a bite. But we were hearing them play, and we thought we weren’t missing anything great.
Sujoy’s take: Long queue at the Men’s Loo. Killed time by taking the Pic below and chuckling. Also showed to everyone around.

7. Pentagram: The last of the Indian bands to perform on the day. One thing that struck everyone about their act was that it wasn’t completely live. Most of their song parts sounded pre-recorded and were played from source. To add to this, their singer (Vishal from the Vishal-Shekhar composer duo) was jumping around with all his might and his enormous belly!! That was some sight not worth beholding! Their songs sounded like some alternative-techno-rock-punk junk. I saw a couple behind that were dancing salsa-jive to their songs while we were trying to make sense out of them. We were just looking at each other in disbelief. Here’s Pentagram, one of India’s leading bands, and what do they come play?! Pretty unimaginative stuff.
Verdict: POOR!!
Sujoy’s Verdict:4u Vishal- Tera Paao Bhari Ho Gaya, Tera Paao Bhari Ho Gaya. 4 Pentagram-please stop churning out the processed noise aka shit aka bullshit aka Pentagram.

Alright, we said. Enough of the Indian bands. It was finally the turn of the real metal messiah’s to take centerstage. More people trickled in now, and the crowd gradually moved over to the main bigger stage. It seemed as if the heavenly gods were also a mood to headbang. The weather took a turn for the better. It became overcast, a cool breeze was running across the grounds, and a stunning lightning display played in the skies right behind the stage. The setting was perfect!! We were ready!!
But sadly it appeared as if the sound guys weren’t. There are some things you should really struggle to do at a heavy metal gig. Carrying out a conversation without blowing out your lungs should definitely be one of them. Well. when Machine Head and Megadeth came out to play, the sound system seemed to have a mind of its own. The volume kept going up and down, and the sound kept panning right and left. Hell, the Indian bands sounded louder and better than these guys. Anyway!

8. Machine Head: I had heard only two of their songs way back in college. Songs whose names too I had long forgotten. Machine Head shredded and shredded. Their solo’s were incredibly fast. I yearned for some melody in their songs. But they came and shredded the place down.
Verdict: Above Average
Sujoy’s Verdict: Why can’t I hear the guitars, or the drums or the vocals. I can hear him complain about the marijuana smoke from the front row. Damn you Penta’hose’gram. You played so damn loud. Now I can’t hear what I came to listen.

9. Megadeth: I couldn’t believe I was seeing Dave Mustaine in person. Megadeth played some of songs from their latest album United Abominations, and many of their popular ones like In The Darkest Hour, Skin Of My Teeth, Symphony Of Destruction, Tornado Of Souls. Dread And The Fugitive Mind wasn’t played, ading to the disappointment of a lot of people.

I’ve always felt it takes great skill to sing while executing some of those wrist-bending riffs, and Mustaine showed why he is one of the best! He was flawless in his solo’s and played them almost exactly the way they appear on the records. Chris Broderick, the new lead guitarist, was a tad disappointing though. No doubt, he was exceptionally talented, what with Mustaine drawing analogies between him finding Chris to Ozzy finding Randy Rhodes. But he seemed to lose control and fly away while playing some solo’s, and didn’t interact with the crowd very much. Probably the long tour must’ve taken its toll. But Marty was sorely missed.

They also did their Holy Wars/Mechanix mash-up which they have been doing recently at other concerts. Overall, although Megadeth were awesome, the sound screwed it all up. Mustaine’s closing words would be in memory for some time atleast: “You’ve been great, we’ve been Megadeth!”.

Sujoy’s take: It is a bad BAD thing to play and fuck around with the sound console during a concert. It’s considerable if it’s a Pune gig, punishable if it’s I-Rock, and sinful if it’s the Gods who are playing. I could hear someone shift the balance from left to right to left again. That was actually all that I could hear. Not the vocals of Mustaine, not the shreds of his guitar and not the bullets fired from the Drums. Damn you..whoever responsible.

Sujoy concludes: The skies were with us. It was dark and the clouds were roaring for Metal. They flashed the lightnings. They roared like they should. But then, nothing else could roar or was disabled from roaring. I am rocked to the core, but I still got some more room to be rocked. Boo you sound guys. Now you lady, I am cheering you to bunjee-jump.

PJ of the Day: What do you call a girl who is bunjee jumping? Think! Think! Wink! Wink!

Answer: Bundee Jumping.

Extension of the prior joke: Courtesy Praxy:- What do you call an elderly lady who is bungee jumping? Think.

Answer: Behenjee Jumping.

Praxy concludes:
Overall, it was an average concert. It was really heartening to see all the Indian bands perform. It showcased the abundant talent that we have in our country. I also thought Megadeth playing with so many other bands on the same day wasn’t really a good idea. They appeared like just another band that came and went. Something other major bands would probably never do. Aerosmith’s June 2 concert at the same venue would definitely rate way higher than this one. (Save it. Not debatable at all!).
And now that Megadeth’s come and gone, it’s definitely time for a certain metal band to take note and consider touring India. DNA Networks, get the clue.

And now for the Winners of the Rock in India concert. Ladies ani Gentlemen, please applaud- OneKnightStands with Boras.

If you are a rock-addict( I mean music, and nothing related to Geology or Paleontology) in India, and you love Beer and the subsequent alcoholic preparations, and your wardrobe fashion is dominated by those Black tees flaunting the GnR, Metallica and Sabbath prints, you know which is the best place to hang out. It is Bangalore! Especially when it’s concert season. I was there for the “Rock in India” concert and the air was breathing and smelling rock , I mean grass, I mean the fragrance of beer burps, I mean all of that. We’ll talk about the concert later, here we are talking about the eternal escapism for a Rocker like me, on a Rock weekend at the Rock Mecca of India-Bangalore.The journey begins on 15th March 2008, a day after the Big-Rock in India Concert-at 6 pm from my friends’ place at Jayanagar. There’s rain and there’s Bangy’s infamous,static and most irritating traffic jams. But I was more than ready to brave all of them for the Booze, the Bass, the Beeotches at the Bar and of course Bang Bang Headbanging. Do you know the concept of Party hopping where you are so restless enough to be at more than one party on a single night. Try that when 5 glasses of LAGER are already down your throat. Anyway, first venue- STYX at MG Road. It’s still raining. Thanks to my pal’s Raincoat, I am 70% drenched. I am waiting for my friends -Praxy and Harshal to arrive.And here they are (see pic below, I am the chinki guy).

A cover charge of 200 bucks on a Saturday Night-pretty decent. And as we walk up the stairs, I can see a few chicks trying hard to speak on the phone and a few others staring at them. The doors open and I am hit by a WALL of shreddding guitars. It’s Hetfield and his army and the black tee brigade with the long hairs is echoing -Master ! Master! Instant reaction : Yeah with a devil’s horns Up!!! Walk straight to the Bar. There’s hardly any room here to stand. The seats are filled and there are some firang backpackers too. Next song (that I can remember)- predictably Megadeth – Symphony of Destruction, and the crowd just goes berserk. I gulped down the chorus line with a Smirnoff blended with Tropicana Orange. And that was when my entire gang joined in -Enter Ravikanth, Mandal and Satya. Next up-Bora, Mohanty and Barik(I have to mention their names or else I might get slaughtered SAW style). More beers with Chilly Chickens and some more vodka shots, I get my first kick already. All this while we were being hit by the Metal of Slayer, more Megadeth, Godsmack, Soulfly and Sepultura. Special Mentions: We got to see a new video: A Little Piece of Heaven by Avenged Sevenfold. Have a look at the video and you’ll get a new mashed up enlightenment of animated gore and gothic rock with growls.

It was time for us to hit to Party Zone 2. No rickshaws in the vicinity and we had to walk to Purple Haze at Brigade Road. It was already 9:25 pm and the only bad thing about Bangalore’s ( I will NOT call it Bengaluru) night life, the upper limit of 11:00pm, was hanging on our heads. The clock was ticking, the beer was gurgling in our bellies as we tried to WALK to Purple Haze. I see a lot of BRANDED showrooms with Kannada hoardings. And I could only make them out with their Logos. Seemed like a visual round at a Brand Equity Quiz. Nevertheless, we reached there in almost 20 min, at around 9:45pm. Another 300 bucks for the cover charges, taken care of by my extremely generous friends. And as we walk in, we are greeted by Mr.Robert Plant on the vocals and Mr.Jimmy Page on the Guitars, exclaiming – Wanna Whole Lotta Love!!!!!

If STYX was heavy, this was ROCK. Rock as I Love it most. Oh, I can see some familiar junta from aamchi Pune who have come to Bangy on the same bus, for the concert. Purple Haze belted out the quintessential Rock playlist featuring : Metallica- Unforgiven II(I had my Metallica Tee on, see the pic), Cranberries-Zombie, REM-Losing my Religion, Pearl Jam- Alive, Deep Purple- Smoke on The Water and God I can’t remember anymore. Coz I was already too drunk. The only mishap that happened -Harshal’s credit card got swiped thrice and he signed only once, but he was debited for all of them. Dispute raised but case not resolved yet. The damned clock struck 11 and all the music was shunned. Bollocks!!!!

I could still see people getting really jubilant, and some not so jubilant. Even at an elevated state of mind, my analytical brain was surveying the workings of the drunk rocker. And trust me, it is a delight! Either they do get extra happy and extra generous while paying off the bills, or they get extremely selfish and act sloshed and sit in the corner -acting depressed. I can also see some loser crying. Ugh! why? And oh, there’s yet another aspect that I haven’t covered. And that is Mohanty. For him, when he gets drunk, all he does is crack jokes, and not just simple plain jokes, but the most filthiest ones and of course the jokes are on the person next to him. Beware of him when he has the slightest amount of alcohol content and he strolls near you. You could be his next victim. It was like literally he was on a roll, as if some nuclear reactor was providing him a non-exhausting source of energy of Jokes. And this continued right through dinner and the walk on Brigade Road, until Mohanty’s mouth started forming foams and Barik was eternally humiliated with the color jokes.( BTW Mohanty ridiculed about my website saying: Click the pic. We’re gonna be on OKS. We’re gonna be famous. Now who’s laughing?) That’s the infamous Mohanty in orange with the specs next to me. Look at Bora.Don’t go by his looks, he is completely sober.

I know, I know. This is a closed-circuit post and I might not quite find any potential readers taking interest. but c’mon. No matter the city, no matter the names, you’d always be able to identify the characters mentioned and the events depicted. Just replace that Mohanty with a Juan or a Pablo or an LC Saikia, and Purple Haze at Bangalore with probably some bar at some street at some city. And there you go, you have your drunk Saturday Night with your drunk mates and your drunk self, banged heavily to the Rock Anthems and the Molten Hot Metal. Oh look at me so satisfied.

Confession: For me “Rock in India” was the curtain raiser to the Saturday Night Blast . Peace. \m/

Image courtesy: Praxy’s PICASA Album.

Venue Courtesy: STYX, Purple Haze.

Hospitality Partners: Satya Swaroop Sharma, Sidhharth ‘the pudhiya rolling” Bora, Orindam Mandal, Ravekanth “Co-ordinator” Kosuru, Sarthak ” Kalaprasad” Barik, Swagat “@$%^&#” Mohanty and finally ,oh! I think the list just got exhausted.

If you are one of those lazy bums who just can’t sit through the 1285 words of my previous post on the Maiden Gig in Mumbai, this is for you. And for those Maiden Maniacs like me, this is definitely for you. And for those who missed it, burn , burn, burn in ENVY!!!

The Story in Pictures .
=============================================

The Pass

The Prophet

The Place

The Playlist

The Percussions

The People

The Pandemonium

IMPORTANT LINKS:
More Pics at Flickr.
Playlist Pic courtesy Slaytan 666
IMAGE COURTESY: abhijeetkin hpiramal Satya’s Multiply Site

In the beginning, there was darkness. And the Devil said,” Let there be Metal”. So Sir Winston Churchill speaketh, “…. we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender,” and the cymbals hit hard with the guitars riffing. Mumbai screams in unison, the bass commands us to Jump, the lights go haywire, and Bruce Almighty jumps out of nowhere , over the monitors in his army cargos, and orders

“Run, live to fly, fly to live, do or die
Run, live to fly, fly to live. Aces high.”

I was there. HELL YEAH! I look around to see only one reaction, the headbanging, the fingers closed perfectly to show the devil’s horn and the music taking control. IRON MAIDEN ripped us all apart. And when you just wanted to take a breather, the shredder reveals another killer with the drums rolling to the Anti-War Anthem “2 Minutes to Midnight”. The crowd goes frenzy, and chaos prevails. My first bruise, my first kick on a guy’s back (now his T-Shirt reads the mirror image of Size 9), and even more jumps and pushes. Ladies who were expecting some sort of courtesy and ahem, respect, got the unexpected answers. Hilarious it was, when a lady started to roam around searching for her lost boyfriend, and my pal told her, Auntie, you won’t be able to manage yourself in the first row. It took her not more than two minutes to realize that.

Track 3: The very AC/DC-ish Revelations. The crowd responds as Bruce commands and that’s what you expect at a Maiden gig. Personally, not one of my Maiden favorites, and add to that, the great fall of Sujoy. I do a “Konhi to Konhi” (elbow to elbow) Dance to stand up, to be pushed down furthermore. And before I could even realize, I was at row 10 from the barricade. I somehow managed to get a breather when Dicksinson engaged the crowd with his English English. My dear neighbors thought I had passed out , I replied , not yet!! Yeah right! Unaware of what was coming up next. Track 4: “The Trooper” and you know what that means to “We, the Maiden Maniacs”. How many times have we blasted our stereos with that track, how many times have we airguitared to that riff, and how many times have we been scolded by the nasty neighbour auntie- Mrs.Shukla for making her ears bleed. And to see that song come alive in front of me, can be best described as next to Heaven. The crowd goes O-o-o-o-o-o-O-o-o, and I go completely dry, I mean dehydrated. As Mumbai faces the Charge of the Maiden Metal Brigade, I try to somehow keep myself in senses . And as the song descends, I am yet again doing the Konhi to Konhi dance to find a way to the nearest Pepsi stall. 10 bucks for a glass of water, 30 bucks for a glass of Pepsi. Gulped down, I donno how many. And before I could realize, Maiden had already opened the envelope to “Wasted Years”.

Track 5: The Number of the Beast:

I left alone my mind was blank
I needed time to think to get the memories from my mind
What did I see can I believe that what I saw
that night was real and not just fantasy
Just what I saw in my old dreams were they
reflections of my warped mind staring back at me
Cos in my dreams it’s always there the evil face that twists my mind
and brings me to despair.

And then the inhuman scream that tears every mortal soul. Bruce Dickinson at 49, pierces through every fucking metalhead’s heart with as much ease as he could always.And if you thought you’d get some time to settle down, behold, coz Run to the Hills was next, and for those who missed the United Chorus of MMRDA’s rendition of Run to the Hills, you’ve missed D-Moment.Talking about the showmanship stunts, Bruce rules with his costume changes, dry Brit humor, and his jumps which would put any athletic teenager to shame. Steve Harris and his stunts with the Bass have always been popular, and he doesn’t disappoint us. Adrian Smith – the most sober, the most calm guitarist ever and makes his job look so easy , even while executing some of Metal’s most complicated guitaring. The next three tracks that followed were- The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Powerslave , Heaven Can Wait and Can I play with Madness ( never expected them to play that). Some unexpected additions to the playlist, and the crowd grew more and more impatient to listen to the most awaited song –Fear of the Dark, and as the silence ambience resonated to the four hits by Nicko on the Hi-Hat, the guitars lead the path to the crowd’s hum. The most recognized crowd song comes alive, and Bruce says: Fear of the Dark, You…Fear of the Dark. And then, the British Wave washed us down, and I jumped high with my glass of PEPSI. Spilled it on some bloody mindfuck who pushed me. Neither did I, nor he gave a fuck about it, and as the song rose to a crescendo, all of us sang along the O-o-O-o-O, and my head refused to go along, but the headbanging was inevitable and uncontrollable. I knew I had to save some for Hallowed.

This was the time when I actually so wanted to hear to Phantom of the Opera , or may be Bring your Daughter, which Maiden, surprisingly skipped. But then, how much can you ask for. Dickinson says Good Night, Thank You Mumbai, and we aren’t surprised. Because we all know, NO MAIDEN concert is complete without Hallowed, and so before even the most ignorant Maiden Maniac started screaming “Maiden ..Maiden”, we all knew that the Band is gonna come back for their encore. And yes they were.Track 13: Iron Maiden: Eddie is brought back to life, as the 12 feet cyborg Eddie walks around in his “Somewhere in Time” avatar with his muscular system showing and his gun in hand. Mr.Harris lets his bass rest against Eddie’s gun (see below). Now that’s Diabolic.

Moonchild and Clairvoyant play next, and all I can NOT feel now is my legs. Bruce Dickinson continues to go Higher and Higher and run and jump around. GOD, what does he eat (or rather DRINK)? And then…. the final nail in the coffin, the last blow, the Bazooka… as the Bell Rings and Darkness prevails, there comes a blue light, and an image singing to ME-

I’m waiting in my cold cell when the bell begins to chime, Reflecting on my past life and it doesn’t have much time.

And as Dickinson goes from running Looooowwwwwwww to Hiiiiigh…the song ascends to a level which cannot be experienced anywhere else but a Maiden concert.

I stay numb, helpless, not understanding what to do, and awestruck by the sheer power of Metal that can make so many lonely souls, who have been complaining about their mundane daily routines of 9 to 6 jobs, come together and exhale the same emotion and experience the same state of mind, simultaneously. Hallowed Be Thy Name marked the end of the first concert of the Somewhere Back in Time World Tour, but the Metal was far from over. As I walked out of the venue, I see around smiles, angry faces and happy faces and well, T-Shirts soaked in sweat and dirt all emoting “Hell Yeah! I JUST FUCKING SAW MAIDEN LIVE”. If you weren’t there, where the fuck were you? Dream realized! End of Story. Peace!

Coming Up Next: The Story in Pictures.

Prelude: It all begins at the Volvo stand of Pune, near Nandu’s Paratha house, on Jan 31st, the day before the gig. Or is it, umm, Jan 21st, Planet M, MG Road, when I bought the tickets? Screw it. The excitement all began with the first rumors that emerged on various online forums that the Devil’s Official Children-Iron Maiden were coming, yet again, to make our ears bleed and reign our souls with their Metal-this time, not so far from here. I reached Mumbai on the 31st at 1:00 am, thanks to Neeta Volvo’s extremely “relaxed” pace.

Feb 1 Morning:10:00 am. Shit!Shit!Shit! Waking up to a Stomach Upset on a Maiden Concert day. Things weren’t as “green” as I wished they were. I mean the day. I had to rush for breakfast, coz I wanted to reach the venue ASAP. Had Chole Bhature for Breakfast cum Lunch and two glasses of water. Took a Bath, got into the Auto, oh yeah! got dressed, not in that order. Auto Waala was Shaana and knew that I didn’t know squat about Mumbai. So he took me for a RIDE. Ghatkopar West se Bandra Kurla ke beech main 3 flyovers paar kiya. ( He crossed 3 flyovers from Ghatkopar West to Bandra Kurla). And so I reached BKC somehow, amidst all the chaos of Kurla. The Namaaz was going as usual; the Mikes were playing the usual Himmess. And the crowd as busy and lost in the hustle- no one with any idea of the Mayhem that was about to get unleashed. But then, as I approached the venue, things seemed a little more familiar. Auto Rickshaws, Cars, and People Walking towards a Banner that read- To Iron Maiden Concert Venue. And before I knew, I had my devil’s horn on my right hand.

As I stepped out of the Auto and paid him his unworthy 102 bucks, I looked around, and all I could see was Black. No, not as in skin color. C’mon, me not racist! Black as in Uniform. Seemed like March of the Penguins, with denims and cargos below. Almost all of them read Iron Maiden, quite obviously. But then there were certain exceptions too with the very rare appearances of Black Sabbath, GnR, Nirvana, Metallica and even Pink Floyd! What made me wonder was, the variety in the prints of the Maiden T-Shirts itself. I could hardly find any two T-Shirts having the same print. And then I realised, I should stop thinking about it. I was surrounded by an Army of MetalHeads, no Maiden Heads, a proper Eddie Regiment. But yeah, as usual, nothing pisses me more than the fake posing junta that throng such events. I’m talking about the whore-leather booted, micro-minies, black-gothic kaajal, and black nail-polished “woman” flaunting their tempo-tattoos. And yeah, that goes for the guys too! I mean c’mon. Get a life!

4 HOURS TO MAIDEN:

I had the tickets in my hand, and was guarding it with my life as I stood in the queue braving the sunlight, waiting for my friend. And he calls me up to ask for my co-ordinates. I asked him,”What are you wearing?”. And then I realised, that’s why they call me D-Moron. And as you can see from the Picture above, if an aeroplance flew over BKC at that very moment, all they could see was a piece of earth turned completely black. What they failed to notice was that, that piece of earth was now soaked in Maiden Mania, and may be a little Beer too in the queue. I finally managed to locate my friend, and as the gates opened, we rushed to the barricades. Just missed the first row, and we were happy to be in the third row. Well for the time being! And as expected, bloody noisy soundchecks which ticked me off. Parikrama doing Soundcheck. Can’t hear Nitin’s vocals, neither Sonam’s lead. But ain’t bothered. That band from Chennai, Nervewreck, came and went, ain’t bothered. The crowd continues to daunt my confidence to sustain my position in the thrid row. The pushes increase, and the First Fall of the 3rd Row happens. Thankfully, zero casualties.

3 HOURS TO MAIDEN :

First Opening Act: Nervewreck. The same old Alternative Formula sound. They were tight no doubt. But, when you go to a Maiden gig, do you expect your mind to be as accepting as say, a Campus Rock finale. NO! Unless, well you are the next Metallica to take Ozzfest by storm. Won’t waste time by talking about Nervewreck. Only thing mentionable. The crowd went “Hare Raam..Hare Raam, Hare Krishna Hare Raam” (from the Bhul Bhulaiya Soundtrack) on one of their tracks. It was me who started that, and I feel so proud to have been comfortably fit in that into the song’s groove. Collars UP! My friend asks me- How the Fish do they maintain such good and silky hair-style? Look at mine. My reply- Dabur Amla Kesh Tail.( Didn’t sponsor the event, nor this post). Anyway, NEXT!

Lauren Harris- the chick born to -the Steve Harris -the Bassist. Okay, I’ll talk in syllables to describe her band. I hope you get this. Hot Chick- No one Listens-Her Music- Everyone Stares-You Know Where- Hot Leather Pants- Could Count Her Veins on …- Perfectly Shaped Bunnies- Not So Perfectly Shaved Armpits- Rock Chick Formula of Swaying- Bassist straight out from Motley Crue/Poison/Any Glam Metal Band-Only Thing Missing was Panty Hose-Purple Bass with Silver Star-Guitarist–>Zakk Wylde Clone- Drummer–>Some Old Blonde fighting with His Baldness, but hasn’t forgotten “her” Roots. Songs – Umm, something that had to do with, I want YOU, and she climbing up the Monitors and Jumping, and Shaking Her Booty and her well-conditioned Hair, and shouting Mumbai-how are you doing? You know it. All of THAT! NEXT! And sorry guys, no Pics.

Enter PARIKRAMA. Fourth time opening for the Metal Lords. But man, they have come such a long way from the last time I saw them perform live in 2005. An all original set- all kickass songs. How I want the album to get released! “In the Middle” kicks start their set. Rhythm n Blues- my favorite track, follows. By now, am surrounded by a wall of hard rock, and a Berlin Wall of nervewrecking sweaty smell. Soaked in sweat, smelling the dirt, trying to raise my mose to breathe in a fresh breathe of air, only to inhale another draft of exhaled weed. Cough!Cough! And before I could realis, Parikrama were playing their Countdown song-But it Rained. Imraan on Violins just kicks ass. But yeah! I was totaly not in the mood of hearing anything else but Maiden. They play another song -Tears of the Wizard based on Gandalf ala LOTR. Awesome groove man, especially the climax with the Violins and Sonam’s Les Paul doing a Jugalbandhi. And well, Chintan on the bass goes mad and starts playing the bass like percussion, literally. No tapping or slapping, just beating the strings like you’d play a bongo. Ok, now that I’ve let Parikrama tak up enough space, I’m just gonna shut my mouth, on Parikrama ie, and let you know, that it was still almost 45 minutes after Parikrama finished their set, until the METAL of MAIDEN was unleashed.

And what exactly did we do until then? We were fed to the commercials eh! One of the management guy had his 15 seconds of fame by making himself look like Michael Kaemen as the crowd sang to the tunes of the Reliance Mobile Commercial,” You got the Whole World in your Hands”. DNA kept reminding that they have been organising all these events for the last couple of years; round of applause!!!! And SRK and John Abraham on that Pepsi-My Can ad-More on that Ad, may be later (for now, the Ad just sucks). And well, can you believe, even after we all survived the boredom of Nervewreck, when I actually started to have hopes that there wouldn’t be any stampedes or wreckless pushing, me hopes got crushed with my legs, as a lump of 120 kilos rested his arse on my right leg horizontally, with no signs of becoming vertical. Kicked him with my left leg (thank God for my Class 8th Football Games), and managed to get out my right leg just in time. The song is getting louder, and I can barely see the translucent image of the shining cymbals behind the Black Screen. I can see the Huge Backdrop Painting of Eddie and I can also see the crowd ready to be more hostile and metal than ever before. Because what was next, was not for the faint hearted;because what was next was something we will tell our children as -We were There;because what was next, was IRON MAIDEN-First Gig of the Somewhere Back in Time-World Tour.

Next Up:- Mayhem at Maiden- Metal:Somewhere Back in Time