TAAQ, Galeej Gurus at Jyoti Nivas College

A busy concert weekend and Sunday evening still left meant that there was more in store! It was the Galeej Gurus and TAAQ at the Jyoti Nivas College. The concert seemed to be a part of their college fest. While JNCites seemed to have free entry, I was charged 150 bucks and even got a rubber stamp and sign on my hand. I should have just kept my mouth shut instead of asking if that was where TAAQ was playing. Anyways, as I was walking in, I could hear live-music. As I entered what I must say is a huge playground (gr8 for a concert) I saw the Galeej Gurus on the stage. I had seen them play last at the Octoberfest in 2005 (where I last saw TAAQ play also incidentally). But then the Galeej Gurus concert was cut short because of the rain. They had played some real good Deep Purple and Black Crowes (Hard to Handle). While I was approaching the stage, saw Bruce Lee Mani chatting with some of his other band members - Tony Das (rhythms), Chandy (keyboards), Nate (saxophone). As I walked towards them, BLM walked into the backstage area. So just hello to the others. Then proceeded to watch the Galeej Gurus perform. The Galeej Gurus are the Harris twins - Matthew (Bass), Nathan (Vox), Ananth Menon (Guitars), Naveen Thomas (Guitars) and Arfaas (Drums). While they take a lot of inspiration from bands such as Deep Purple, RHCP, Van Halen, unfortunately for me I had not heard much of the setlist they played last evening and so I can't comment on it. They did play one from AC/DC and another from Mr. BIG though. During the concert, saw BLM come out from the backstage area. So met him and bought a copy of their last two albums - Jupiter Cafe and Plan B. He was a little concerned that they may have to play a very short set because of time restrictions. I was hoping they would play Shine on you Crazy Diamond, but he said it wasn't in the set for the evening. Got his autograph on the liner notes of Jupiter Cafe. Then went to watch more of the Galeej Gurus. I sighted Rzhude (TAAQ - Bass) near the sound-console at the back of the audience seating area. I also got to meet Santhosh, who is with TAAQ. He promised to send me a copy of their first album, which isn't avialable in stores anymore (thanks dude!). After the concert I met Naveen Thomas who also plays (used to (?)) for Parousia a progressive-metal band from Chennai. He said he's been playing with Galeej Gurus for a while now. He joined them when Ananth Menon left. But now Ananth Menon is back with the band.

Next was TAAQ. I had heard Naveen say he couldn't hear anything on the stage because of bad sound. The TAAQ also seemed to have some problems getting their sound (both the outward one as well as that on the monitors) right. But they seemed to get it good enough for their satisfaction eventually and started their set with track called Hysterio. Then it was Brigade Street (Jupiter Cafe), Bend the World, Paper Puli (both Plan B). After a song that I coudn't recognize, they played a cover of Cat Steven's Wild World. Then it was Look at Me (Jupiter Cafe), another cover (Oasis - Wonderwall), Sanity in Gravity (with a very nice introduction by Nate on the Sax), then Holy Joe's. Then finally a track called How can I get your Groove. A tight and professional performance. But no encore. I was hoping they would play The Steal from Plan B.

While the concerts were great, unfortunately I can't say the same about the organization and the handling of the event. The lights went out suddenly at one point during the TAAQ performance. The crowd didn't seem too enthusiastic except probably for the girls from JNC who were standing right in front of the stage. Everyone else was seated. I think chairs should be banned at Rock concerts! The sound seemed to be bad. And to top it all the organizers left a third band totally in a lurch. They were slated to play just after TAAQ. But everyone left immediately after the TAAQ performance (which ended at 8.30 pm) not knowing that there was another band waiting to play! By the time TAAQ wrapped up, there was not a single soul in the audience except for the organizers. The band of course very disappointed. One of the members (naively I'm assuming) asked them to go to the stage. One of the band members asked impatiently "For whom?". Unfortunately I couldn't get the name of the band. A member from the band said they were planning to play six songs (all covers) - three from Deftones and three from Rage Against The Machine. I hope someone at the college learns some lessons from this very quickly!

But I was there to see TAAQ. And while I didn't get to hear my favourite TAAQ numbers, I did add a few more to my favorites list (Sanity in Gravity, Brigade Street, Look at me). At the end of the concert, met Rzhude and Rajeev and got their autographs as well. Got another autographed copy of Jupiter Cafe for Riff. BLM told me they are playing at a place called Pebbles near the Palace Grounds this Friday (15th Dec, 2006). Be there if you can. When I asked BLM, if they'll play 'The Steal' there, he said they might. :-) Santhosh, waiting eagerly for the copy of Thermal and a Quarter! (:--))