Lyrics: Wind Dance With Fire

Lyrics for tracks from Wind Dance With Fire. Thanks to Adrian for the link.

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! (:--))

The Bengalooroo Habba ... was whacked!!

MOB sightings were reported at the Bangalore Habba tonight ... by the few who survived the onslaught ... when a crowd of about 7000 were woken up from a daze (both forms) ... innocent, unprepared, they were ... alien to the massacre the Ministry had conjured for them ... at 10 thousand plus watts on the PA ... with ... alas just three songs (indigo ... ill get you for that one day!!) ...

And like the day before with "Mona Lisa was a man" at the Opus (damn ... the bacon-wrapped shrimp back there!!! Ummm!!)... the Ministry Of Blues were demented at the Habba ... with great sound on the PA ... and not so great on the monitors (Phil repeatedly asked for more Rauf on the monitor in vain). They woke up the "family" junta and the drunks with "Voooooooooodooooooooo Chile" .... then segueing (that a word?) straight into "Texas Strut" (this was a thumper, Ill tellya) ... and then the smiling lady (still debated) ... "Monalisa was a man" came on when all the paisan went berserk ... Phil started chomping strings ala hendrix ... behind-the-head-shred and all ... Rauf sampling the organ (the patch on his Korg 364 workstation, that is) ... Vinoo ... shredding bass (question I often ask myself ... was he a 6-stringer before??) ... and DK ... experimentation is everything!!!! I didn't know if I should click pics or to break my neck against the goddamned barricade!!

Then ... backstage ... talk-about-show with the guys ... Empire (if it weren't for you ..........Id have been gangly!) ... home ... the site ... the blog ... here's a few pictures from the scene of the crime ...

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)

T-shirts ...

Me and Satchit went ahead with making some tee shirts last week ... a "WDWF" and a "One Concept 2 Live" (Millennium) tee ... Here's the themes ... We got the WDWF image from the tape itself ... The Millennium theme I made by hand ...

Indian Bandstand: Indian Rock Music History in Photographs

Day before yesterday, while searching for the whereabouts of the members of Millennium, Riff found this blog called Indian Bandstand written by a person who calls himself Adamji and who played in a band called Pulse with Sandeep Chowta. Adamji's blog is a treasure trove of photographs of the veterans of the Indian rock music scene. It contains many early photographs of Millennium, Agni, TAAQ as well as Aftermath (Philipe and DK - the guitarist and drummer from Aftermath - now play in a band called Ministry of Blues), as well as a lot of information about those bands. Do check out the site.