Dec 8, 2006: MoB @ Opus

It was MoB @ the Opus and Riff and I certainly didn't want to miss this one. It was about a year ago that I last saw them play. Then the venue was the Legends of Rock. The time the venue was Opus that has in the last few years become a --venue to play at-- for bands both established as well as upcoming, especially because of its ambiance and its music friendly management. We reached the place around 8.00 after spending about forty five minutes in Bengulooru traffic. As we entered, we could hear the bass in the background. It was the MoB doing their soundcheck; Vinoo on the bass. The place hadn't filled in yet. We went, met with the band and then took our seats a few feet away from the speakers, right in front of the playing area. Vinoo was all ready, DK had already set up his electronic drum-kit and was warming up. Philipe was warming up himself by playing along with the Dire Straits that was playing on the Speakers. Rauf was setting up his keyboard as well. Slowly the crowds started coming in. By 8.30 - by which time the place was full - the band has set up their equipment but the in-house sound engineer was no where to be found. He hadn't turned up yet. We were a bit concerned as these days the Police doesn't allow live music beyond 10.00 am. So the band would have only an hour and a half to play? By the time the sound engineer (I think his name is Alex) showed up and they were ready to play, it was already 9.15. They of course started with Stevie Ray Vaughan - first SRV's version of Mary Had a Little Lamb, then Crossfire. But that was warm up. Then it was time for a crowd favourite Pink Floyd's Coming Back to Life with Rauf on the vocals. After Long Train Running (Doobie Brothers), a favourite of mine, next were tracks from the master of Blues Rock - Jimmy Hendrix himself: Redhouse and Voodoo Child. After a break, they continued with Little Wing and then played Grits Ain't Groceries by John Mayall. The last one was amazing with the entire band coming together. Philipe was in peak form, shredding his axe, doing the pogo jump, playing with his teeth and some behind-the-back and over-the-shoulder shredding as well!!! I wish I had got that on video! That was the last song. Or at least they and the organizers thought. But the crowd didn't want to let them go so easily after that last electrifying performance! Everyone of us wanted them to play more! The organizers had another band - two members of a Jazz band from Germany -- waiting to play. But then they had to give in to the crowd and asked the band to play one more. They played Deep Purple (who incidentally will be playing in town next weekend) - When a Blindman Cries. For those who thought it was over, they were in for a surprise, a major surprise. Turns out the band who were supposed to play next, actually wanted to jam with the MoB! Bring it on!!!! So the two Germans a keyboard player and bassist come on stage, taking over from Rauf and Vinoo. They were about to start when Philipe suddenly waved to someone in the crowd - a person sitting right behind us. This person came in and took the guitar from Philipe who came and sat right in front of us. Riff excitedly remarked that he was Alwyn Fernandes. For those of you who are wondering who that is, Alwyn Fernandes was the former guitarist of Millennium! We @ 72 Hoyt Street have recently been trying to find out the whereabouts of former-Millennium members and we didn't even see this one coming! As if it was Divine Intervention! It must have been! He started jamming with the jazz duo and DK, slowly at first trying to get to the theme of the music. And the amazing thing was, he was finger picking. They were playing around Voodoo Child. All the members were improvising well and decently when suddenly Mr. Fernandes decides to go ballistic and starts shredding some metal - he goes on his own trajectory with metal sounding filler notes in what was until then a nice and slow bluesy/jazzy music - and returns right in time for the end of the bar! Riff and I looked at each other and knew it had to be Alwyn! That done, they were about to start with their second, when this Alwyn hands over the guitar to this person standing right next to the stage and wearing a jacket! On the streets of Bangalore, he would have fit right in with the crowd reporting for a 9-5 job. It was the first time I was seeing him and I was wondering how this guy could play after seeing a performance from Philipe and Alwyn. Turns out I couldn't have been more wrong! This guy finger picks too and this guy rocks! They played around another Hendrix number. Wow, I love this music! Riff heard someone call him Jagdish and he seems to be a prominent figure in the music circuit around here. We sure are going to keep a ear out for him! Music over? Of course not! We requested for another one from the Ministry. Carlton the owner/manager of the Opus was in an obliging mood and agreed! Riff had mentioned a lot about Gary Moore and thats what we all requested in unison and thats what we got! The Texas Strut! Another mind blowing performance and a cool way to end the show! Show over, we met with the band, congratulated them for the gr8 performance and then started to head out. Of course we did take the photo of G3. Its coming up right after this! Riff and I got a chance to speak to Alwyn before we left! He is planning to start a band with Keith Peters, his old band-mate from Pulse (Sandeep Chowta was the guitarist for this band)! Riff got his picks - another to his growing collection! And we headed out to our dull and uninteresting lives!


Playlist (partial):

Mary Had a Little Lamb (SRV)
Crossfire (SRV)
Redhouse (Hendrix)
Little Wing (Hendrix)
Coming Back to Life (Pink Floyd)
Long Train Running (Doobie Brothers)
Voodoo Child (Hendrix)
Texas Strut (Gary Moore)
Grits Ain't Groceries (John Mayall)
When a Blindman Cries (Deep Purple)