"Ah yet another weekend, yet another gig".. longing for the day I can actually pull that one off but for now, it'll have to be, "Yet another weekend and yet another gig to cover". And this past week I was at the Absolut Launch Party at Kyra with the band Mood Logic, who were called upon quite literally to set the mood at this rock themed event.

The concert which was supposed to start at 730 in true Rock fashion started fashionably late at around 10 after the band members had their fill of food and alcohol and after giving their fair share of interviews for the event, ah such is the life of a band. Speaking of band members the band Mood Logic consists of an ever playful Timmy on lead vocals, a wily Naveen Thomas on lead guitar, Britto providing solid rhythm guitar, a very energetic Wilfred Demoz on the drums, Bryan providing the platform with the bass and a person I have already complimented enough Jason on the Keys.

I was there early, or un-fashionably on time, at 730 and had a chance to hear the band sound check and I must be honest I had a few concerns regarding Kyra's acoustics. But once the first note was hit I must say all those premonitions were laid to waste. Yes the acoustics of the theater weren't that great but a great band, sounding really tight, playing high tempo classic rock numbers, will make you over look that and get you dancing or head banging in seconds.

For this night, Mood Logic played classic rock covers that ranged from Pink Floyd to Deep Purple to Maroon 5. The set list included hits like "Rock you like a Hurricane", "This Love", the Beatles classic "Come Together", a very jammy "Roadhouse Blues", Deep Purple's "Burn", "Another Brick in the Wall" etc. Timmy was completely playing to the crowd getting the crowd involved as and when possible, to the extent that during their rendition Pink Floyd's Wall rather than playing to the crowd, he instead played in the crowd getting into the mix to get people more involved. Naveen Thomas dug into his usual bag of tricks and provided some really sweet sounding solo's mixed in with a few tricks and quirks like playing from either side of the neck etc. Britto was also really on the money providing rhythm guitar and really came to the fore in what I consider the bands high point of the night with Burn by Deep Purple. He hit that riff with pin point accuracy and really made the song jump. In a live performance the little things are what make the difference between good and great and in this case it was solid backing vocals from both Bryan on the bass and Jason on the keys. On songs like Burn backing vocals play a major part and can cause a song to fall apart when not done well but that wasn't the case this time and they also filed in during the start when the crowd was only slowly "getting into the mood". Jason showed his prowess on songs like Roadhouse Blues where he performed a solo and in also in some keys centric songs like Final Countdown. It wouldn't be right if I left out the drums with Wilfred in all this, but I'll simply state the fact that a band can never sound great with just an average drummer, and Wilfred was anything but average.

High points sadly can't exist without there being relative lows and that came about when the band went into romance mode for "Bed of Roses" by Bon Jovi. But then again a band must play to its crowd and I'm sure all those with wives, girlfriends or significant others wouldn't consider that too much of a low. But the band from then on steered clear of anything else low tempo and just concentrated on keeping the energy sky high. They ended the night with a special encore request (by the organizers) of surprisingly, Queen's "Crazy little thing called Love". And Jason threw in a little Mario (the game) jingle right at the end just for kicks, to sign things off.

All things considered, its hard to go wrong with a mix of private concert, free Absolut and great music and this night was no different. For a music lover this was another great night in the book, or in this case the Blog. Until next time adios.

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There are but a few near perfect places in Bangalore, and in my opinion the Hard Rock Cafe Bangalore has always been one of them. Nestled in quite literally the heart of the city on St Marks Road, on the MG road intersection it's placed in a quaint yet lavish stone Cottage (formerly the St Marks Barista), with its high wooden roof and smoky feel (just the feel theres no smoking allowed inside) it really is the perfect location for the world famous chain. On top of that, like all Hard Rock Cafe's around the world, it's laden with priceless rock memorabilia including Eric Clapton's guitar, The Doors drum, a great picture of Metal legends Black Sabbath, Dave Grohl's guitar and the list goes on and on, coupled with a playlist of the genres best numbers and the place is almost perfect. Add to that the food and drinks served in humongous quantities in true Americana fashion, and it becomes a must visit to all Bangaloreans or visitors to Bangalore with even a faint inclination towards Rock. It truly is a little piece of Rock heaven in our own Bangalore.

You might have noticed that I mentioned the place was "almost" perfect and there is a good reason for that, you see all Hard Rock Cafe's around the world are known for their live music where local bands have the opportunity to come to the fore in truly legendary surroundings and that was the missing piece of this master piece. For a long while they didn't have live bands playing at Hard Rock and started doing gigs at the place a little while ago. Most of these concerts have always one way or the other eluded me. Until Now.

And so it came to be that with an over expectant heart I went to see Thermal And A Quarter (TAAQ) playing live at Hard Rock. TAAQ to me, from even what little I had heard of them before the concert, has always been in my book one of the best bands ever to be produced by this city and possibly even this country. Their classic rock numbers heavily influenced by supremely contagious blues guitar, with stand out vocals from the bands lead Bruce Lee Mani and the never-a step-out-of-place drumming from Rajeev and the peppy bass lines from the ever smiling Rzhude (Rudy), have always been great catchy funky numbers that never fail to put a wistful smile on your face. And for this concert at HRC they were joined by the uber talented Jason Zachariah on the keys.

The stage at the HRC is another thing that adds to the allure of the place, its placed right on top of the bar, the place is almost made with live music in mind and thats always a good thing. So with these long list of expectation I went to see TAAQ play live and lets get one thing straight right off the bat it was amazing. The vibe at the place was spot on the crowd was amazing, the music was sublime. TAAQ played a bunch of their own compositions and a couple of covers the highlight of which in my book was a funky version of Hey Jude a crowd pleaser like that is always good to have in the set list. Bruce (aka the Guitar Doctor) was inspirational, his bluesy style play and smooth vocals are hard not to love. Rajeev was performing pretty much from the background as behind a huge drum kit and on the back of the stage, on top of the bar you kind of have to crane your neck to see him. But he really was on the money with some great drumming. As far as Rudy goes well if a smile is contagious he probably infected the whole crowd, it never left his face as he kept putting out those beautiful bass lines. TAAQ's songs are rather guitar centric so Jason was just providing support for the most part but when his number was called up he doled out his impeccable signature style keys solo that we've all come to expect of him.During the break the waiters at Hard Rock also surprised us with a sudden performance of the Village People's legendary song YMCA. I'm not that big a fan of the song but when performed (seemingly) impromptu and on a bar top its hard to dislike.

Sadly soon after their little intermission work beckoned me to leave and cut the fabulous night a wee bit shorter than i would've liked. But that was the only small downside to what was a fabulous night which will not soon, if ever, be forgotten. If anyone from TAAQ, or Jason, actually ends up reading this, great show guys, you rule.

P.S: Haven't got the pics of the Gig yet will put em up as soon as I get them.

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Music is kinda like your veggies, now before you come at me pelting stones and out to break cymbals over my head, let me explain. We were all most likely force fed them as a kid and never took it up and when we grow older we realize they were actually important and now its "too late" to take it up again. Everyone with even a faint interest in music in general has always housed that dream of learning the art well enough to rock the stage. And these hidden desires often show face be it, singing in the shower, drumming at the table or shredding furiously at a guitar only you can see.

So why don't people take the plunge and actually get involved with music and try to live the dream? Everyone seems to have their own little list of the reasons why they can't do something that will actually enrich their lives and chief among the list of usual contenders has always been . . . Time. But now a bunch of upstarts from my own backyard of Bangalore seem to have come up with the answer with what they call "Music Method" (can't you just hear the raspy voiced movie promo guy going Music Method).

In this age of quick solutions ranging from ready to eat food, to crash course studies they claim they can train you in music (in vocal, keyboard, bass, guitar or drums) and in 9 weeks you can be good enough to be put on stage. And thats not just a tag line this time around, that is the actual end result of the course, you and few other students form a band and play at an event. And with this dream of bringing music to the masses was born the Nathaniel school of music (NSM) headed by the mother and son team of Lillian Zachariah and Jason Zachariah. The faculty includes the who's who of the Indian music scene, headed by a Jason himself, a man who is regarded by many (including myself) as one of the best keyboardists in the country today. Add to that bass heavy weight Dwight Patterson (who has played in as big a stage as Wembley no less) and guitar maestro Naveen Thomas and it does have the makings of an all star cast.

Now while I agree most "fast short cut methods" have the tendency of feeling a bit incomplete, what NSM is offering is more of German Drill than a Crash course. Their course spans for 75 hours over 9 weeks with periodic assessments, state of the art equipment and software. And with music, after a point, there is only so much you can do, its like strapping a pair of training wheels and giving you a push on a bike, how far you pedal after that is really your call.

If you haven't figured it out by now I am quite impressed with these guys and what they have to offer, more so after a visit to their site (www.nathanielschool.com) and talking to them about their course and other plans. Visit their site and choose your own method to keep abreast of all the happening at NSM through their Facebook Group or using Twitter or follow this blog (yes I've finally bit the bullet and added the Follow feature to my blogs). Seeing these things really gives me hope that Bangalore is still the music capital of the country and I intend to use this blog to let the world know.

And to further make my point I've actually signed on to join NSM once the courses officially start on Nov 16. If you haven't, then now that Time is out, whats your excuse?

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Of late a certain alarming trend regarding Reality TV shows hit me, I mean apart from the fact that so many of them exist in the first place. Most “couples” that enter reality TV shows or feature as the main focus of the show tend to end up broken up after it. Be it families that have been through hardships or couples that have spent years together, they all end up divorced/broken up. That begged the question from me.. why?

Now one might argue that the whole reason for the break up could well be staged and it’s a part of the show, while I don’t completely agree with this its not a theory that can easily be dismissed. After all, all reality TV shows thrive, and I mean REALLY thrive, on tragedy and controversy. A couple’s breaking up would mean more people tune into the show, saying “Oh, I wonder why that happened?”, when in truth they’re in their head going “Wow I wonder how much they fought or how badly they suffered?”. That means more TRP ratings, it’ll get aired in more countries, each will start their own version of it, and the subsequent tumbling avalanche of money will conquer everyone in its path. But there is an issue with that theory, which prevents me from buying it. If in fact the reason for their breakup was indeed a bunch of conniving “reality TV show producers” (aka Satans Children) telling them to, well, then once the whole thing is over and the dust settles they should in all honesty get back together. Unless they were brought together only for the purpose of the show, which then questions the whole “reality” concept in the first place (Hmm actually hadn’t crossed my mind till now).

Which then brings me to my next reason, reality TV shows, like I mentioned before focus on tragedy, now the normal human life of one and all including the poor souls who go for these shows (aka Satans Puppets), is not filled with problems and issues (well not entirely atleast and I’ll get to that). And these shows being “reality” they can’t be scripted (again debtable I know but for now lets assume the reality part of it is true), so they must be invented. Now when I said human life is not full of problems and issues its not really true, problems are a dime a dozen in all our lives but we are usually content enough to not see them as problems. They can be dismissed from the mind without even a moments thought and that is where the creepy camera men come in (aka insert your own devil reference here). Now what these shows do is focus on the little niggles, replay them (sometimes in slow motion) and worst of all ask you how you feel about them, in a little testament to national television.

This leads to the next problem, in times of undying misery a human being can rarely, if ever, blame themselves, so they blame whoever they are with. One would say why don’t they blame the tv people, well that simple isn’t it, they will simply say “we are only showing you what exist we aren’t the one you are truly mad at”. And thus in an age far beyond fables is born the Anti-Cupid, armed with a camera in the place of a bow.

But all this begs the question of why we need these abominations in the name of entertainment in the first place. Have we reached such a low point in entertainment that fake agony is just not good enough? As the walls of the neighbors grow higher have we found another window to peer into? Stop the madness, please, the world really is a brighter place. Join me and shout for the Death of the Anti-Cupid \m/

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The other day I was talking with a friend of mine about the sad state of music today, how artists aren’t really artist anymore and are only bothered with selling what they have to sell and not create something that will live on long after they do. About how no one makes albums anymore. they just make sure they have one or two “hit” songs in an album and your done. Speaking ofwhich, what is a “hit” song exactly? Something that momentarily, say for a period of a week or so, stays relevant to the entertainment world and that’s it. They make their money on that and they’re happy!! It’s like they’ve washed their hands off it. And in that moment as a passing comment I said music today is like fast food: cheap, momentarily satisfactory and almost never good for you.

That got me thinking; is the pattern of food over the ages is vaguely similar to music? And it seemed to make sense as I pondered upon the thought. Food started out pretty basic in its early days made from what was available at the time and the place. Same case with music, it started off quite basic and simple primarily focused on vocals and simple instruments. It was also largely regional, and it remains so to some extent, just like different regions and countries have different cuisines so too does music have traditionally different styles all over the world.

With the advent of technology the food started to get more processed, in the seventies came the advent of frozen foods and cans and processed food, and lo and behold music also underwent a similar change with digital instruments playing a heavy part of 70s and 80s music. Both started to become more available too across the world thus bridging the gap between cultures (for better or for worse is a matter of one’s own opinion). And as time passed music and food both seemed to deteriorate becoming things of momentary pleasure that appealed more to the masses. In the case of food this happened in the late 90’s with the advent of fast food chains, and for music sadly the time is now. The rise of Hip Hop and drum machines and “2 weeks hits” all seem to be rampant these days.

They say when you go looking for similarities in something vague you more often than not tend to find it, primarily because you tend to inject sense into the littlest most non-sense-ical things and I’ll admit it’s very likely that that’s the case here too. But I for one would like to believe this correlation because it might just have a happy ending.

You see if you look back at that description of mine you will see that music has always lagged behind the advent, if you will, of food. And if you look around today the age of fast food is dying (though slowly, you know what they say a heart attack will only kill you eventually), chic eats and eating healthy are the “in” things today. Food for many has started to become more about the whole package, about the dining experience, rather than fulfilling a craving. Translate that to music and it could well mean the age of good music might be returning, albeit in perhaps a different form. Maybe what is to come is a new age of music, with music to soothe the soul and once again be good for you, musicians might give up their drum pads and auto tuners and synthesizers for more traditional maybe even unconventional instruments to create music, like chefs are giving away the oil and the processed food for more natural fresh ingredients. Maybe… maybe…

In any case all I can do is pray that my mad theory is right and the age of "fast food music" is indeed coming to an end. Amen.

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I've been meaning to write a post for a while now and a number of ideas had popped into my head as to what to write on. But all those were put aside when I heard of the sudden death of Michael Jackson. I cannot call myself a music buff if I didn't write about it, speak about it and make my peace with it.
I heard the sad news from a friend when I was at work, and its funny how people react to it. First almost is a state of shock that creeps in because its a blow that came out of nowhere. And then you think of his music and a small momentary smile comes on your face and at the same time you feel that pull of sadness to know that the man who made them is gone. But then you start thinking of his life and feel a very different kind of sadness to see what this amazingly talented artist has turned into.
Michael Jackson was a legend, he truly was a king. In all my life I haven't come across a music fan, be it a Death Metal fan, be it a hard core rock enthusiast or a even a hip hop fan who ever denied the fact that the man was great. He was one of those people that was blessed with one incredible talent, his voice, its pitch, its smoothness its aggression (when the need came) was all perfect. Add to that the music that in most cases accompanied that voice in such a beautiful way, thanks to great musical minds like Quincy Jones and you think that there isn't a person on this earth who hasn't heard a song of his and thought (may be secretly) in his head that, “Damn that's a good song”.
I haven't even got to the second thing he was blessed with, dance. I mean he inspired a legion of copy cats and inspired so many choreographers in the world. He had so many signature moves and tricks. And don't even get me started on the Moonwalk cause no one EVER did it like him. It was like he was one ice and gliding backwards.
Add those two things together and you get one hell of a performer, the likes of which I don't think have ever graced a live stage since. It is unfortunate that I have never had the opportunity to see the man perform live but every live gig of his I've seen on TV you see it and you think, it would be demeaning to call his concerts merely a concert. It was a show in its own right, huge theatrics, huge stages the big lights, the dance, the music. I'm not surprised so many people faint in them.
He was also the artist in my mind that was responsible to change the way the world thought of a music video. Till then it was merely an artist singing his song so people buy his album. But Michael Jackson changed what you could do with a music video with Thriller. I mean he made a mini movie, sold his song, sold the dance moves, and even made that red jacket the most popular thing on the planet. People would bunk school quit work so they could catch the “premiere” of his music video. The world of music revolved around Michael Jackson at that time, and its sad to say that the end of that era pretty much marked the end of the man we knew as Michael Jackson.
You know how there are always TV shows or movies where the story goes on to say how a man sold his soul to the devil to have the one thing that he wanted most? In my head MJ fit that description perfectly. It was like he was on this planet to do one thing make music and he sold his soul to the devil so he can be the greatest at that. We all know the tumultuous life he had and for the sake of the fans reading this (including me who is writing this) all I'm going to say is the Michael Jackson we all admired was sadly gone a long time ago.
In my mind, and I don't know if I speak for more fans around the world, this final news of his death was merely an affirmation of the fact that the great man had long since passed and sadly that's the thing that hurt the most. And it sad to say the the best way to sum up his life is in the same to words that make up this blog. . . Music and Mayhem.
The Ride is over, from the highest high to the lowest lows, Rest in Peace Michael Jackson. . .

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I dislike Apple (not the fruit) but its not the usual dislike, it’s not because they’re so unreasonably expensive, so over the top at times and actually contain a lot of flaws that people overlook. My dislike for Apple is more like the fox that didn't get the grapes, I dislike them because they have an indistinguishable uniqueness to them that makes them great and yet I can’t have one. (Expensive)

To me Apple are, and provided they continue the way they do right now, will always be the celebrities of the tech world. They are the incredibly gorgeous, incredibly outrageous and supposedly flawless. Though if there were an entertainment channel where gadgets were the celebs there definitely would be ‘Pain behind the Fame’ episodes on Apple.

They aren’t perfect none of their gadgets are but there is that indelible impression in your head that goes “True but they are SO close”. Far from the truth really, example consider its darling, its super-celeb if you might, the iPhone, that really is the Britney Spears of the gadget world everybody wants to know of it, so many dislike it yet everybody seems to secretly like it or want it. First thing that’s wrong with it and as far as I’m concerned the only thing that need be wrong with something that calls itself a phone is that its not so good at being a phone. Now that’s like going to someone and saying “I’m an engineer, except I’m not so good at the engineering part” well that’s not good is it?

That seems to be the case with most of their products. Case and point the product that though is an Mp3-player became so popular that it made the term Mp3-Player redundant, of course drum rolls please for the iPod. Now ask any music enthusiast or gadget reviewer for that matter and the first thing they will tell you about the iPod is its audio quality is …. average. Now why would something that, being a music player and yet having only average sound quality become so immensely popular? Over that most Apple products are quite expensive compared to its available counterparts yet that’s not a problem for the world!

See what I mean by celebrity, seem perfect, but are flawed, but still seem perfect. We (me included) are willing to overlook those flaws and still accept them. So what has Steve Jobs and his merry bunch at Apple done to capture the world?

According me the first thing (perhaps the most important) thing they did right was, aesthetics. All Apple products top of the line to run in the middle are good looking, gorgeous things. And that’s the first thing they did right and why not? Its your first contact with something, your eyes see it first and that what makes you want to find out more. I’m not saying it has to be sleek and all that, just simple, clean and so magnificently in tune with the times. Like say the first iMac, it may not be much of a looker now but in its time it was phenomenal. So is the new one. Another great example is the Macbook Air, I mean that thing is just Giselle Bundchen in a Victoria Secret Catalogue, I mean she doesn’t act, doesn’t sing or dance she just looks phenomenal, and that’s exactly what the Air is like, its average in all respects, doesn’t have a optical drive, very expensive etc but is just gorgeous, you look at that then turn to its maker and say, “All things aside, job well done.”

The second thing Apple does well is be the jack of all trades. It may not be the best at something but that something is paired with so many other great thing that overall you have to say that that’s a great product. Take the iPod its music may be average, but its scrolling mechanism, its look, its organization all make it great. And all of you going well they’re still the master of none, well Apple is looking at you and laughing all the way to the bank.

The third thing that Apple knows how to do quite well is sell, and that is where they owe Steve Jobs immensely. Listen to one of his keynote speeches where he speaks of his products and you for some reason seems enthralled, completely awed by whatever he’s talking about. He is a great speaker. But its not just that, ad’s also help, they make great ads and if your saying so what. Well again my dear friend that’s your first point of contact with the product in question a great ad creates interest among people excites them and more often than not makes them say, I want that.

I admire Steve Jobs to me he really is one of the pioneers of the gadget world, he is one to whom the beauty of gadgets also mattered, not just its purpose, he is one who understood his customer base and knew those little niggles like touch-screen’s and scroll wheels that they wanted and he is such a great speaker that each time he speaks you seems so sure that he’s so proud of his companies product that it makes you want one.

After all this you might be wondering why I said I dislike Apple? Sadly my friends I am just a fox who can’t have his beloved grapes.

P.S: I know my word won’t get very far but for what its worth, get well soon Mr. Steve Jobs. Take some rest, enjoy your time off. Get well soon the world still needs your wizardry :) .

P.P.S: Thank you for reading and wish you a very Happy new year!!

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