Gig review/ The Think Floydian

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

The Think Floydian/ Tribute To Pink Floyd

Genre: Classic rock

Details: AntiSocial, Lower Parel, June 4

Rating: *****

The sun was the same in a relative way, but nobody grew older. A few minutes past midnight, as the calendar shifted from June 4 to 5, singer-guitarist Rohit Kulkarni announced that their band The Think Floydian would be playing their last piece. What few people expected was that he was referring to the entire The Dark Side Of The Moon album, presented from start to finish. Though the show had begun two and a half hours earlier, the excitement increased even further.

The Delhi-based tribute band's performance at AntiSocial, Lower Parel, was a Pink Floyd fan's dream experience come true. The venue was jam-packed, some people in their early 20s even came with their parents, some of them in prism-spectrum tees. Everybody seemed to know every song by heart. From the popular 'Time' and 'Comfortably Numb' to the fan favourites 'Sheep' and 'High Hopes', they sang along, played air guitar and banged imaginary drums. And when Aditi Sharma sang the high notes of 'The Great Gig In The Sky', they all listened with stunned expression. Oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-ho-ho-oh...

Rock is very much alive. Pink Floyd rolls on.

The earlier avatar of the band had played at Hard Rock Cafe, Worli, on exactly the same date 11 years ago. Though there were fewer visual effects, the music on Thursday was perfect to the note, with each musician chipping in with magical artistry. Rohit was accompanied by Mayank, showing his 'Animals' instinct with vocals on 'Dogs', Ritwik De on guitar, Anindo Bose on Wright-eous keyboards providing any colour you like, Tanisha Bhatnagar on bass and Shantanu Sudarshan in fine 'Nick' on the drums. Guest parts by vocalist Aditi and Rishabh playing saxophone on 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', 'Money' and 'Us And Them' completed the line-up.

The show lasted roughly three-and-a-half hours with a 10-minute break. It started in classic fashion with Side 1 of The Wall, beginning with 'In The Flesh' and 'The Thin Ice', before getting into the ever-popular 'Another Brick In The Wall 1 & 2'. A change in guitars and you had 'Mother', with the fans roaring along to the line "Mother, should I trust the government?"

There were the long vintage Floyd numbers, like the 23-minute 'Echoes', the 17-minute 'Dogs', the 13-minute first half of 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' and the 10-minute 'Sheep'. There were the middle-length tracks like 'Coming Back To Life', 'Wish You Were Here' and 'Have A Cigar'. And there were the crackling guitar codas of 'High Hopes' and 'Comfortably Numb', the outstanding middle solo of 'Hey You', the sheer madness of 'On The Run', the clock chiming on 'Time', the coins clanging on 'Money', the insane laughter of 'Brain Damage', the surprsise encore 'Run Like Hell', everything played marvellously, no momentary lapse of reason.

The crowd recognised each song from the opening note, sang along to iconic lines like "The grass was greener, the light was brighter", "But it was only fantasy" and "The lunatic is on the grass". There was barely space to move, but everyone was like a bunch of lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, wanting to breathe.. breathe in the air.. the magical Pink Floyd air. The show must go on. Organisers, is there anybody out there?



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gig review/ Enrique iglesias

Image
BY NARENDRA KUSNUR  Enrique Iglesias/ Live in Mumbai Genre : Pop/ Latino-pop Details : MMRDA grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex, October 29 and 309 Presented by : Eva Live Rating : ** 1/2 As he proved at his shows at the MMRDA grounds in Bandra Kurla Complex on October 29 and 30, Enrique Iglesias has some special talents. His voice can have the same volume whether his microphone is close to his lips or three feet away, or whether it's perched safely on its stand as he's dancing some 10 feet away. He can also trick the cameraman to show he's singing high notes on the giant screen when his mouth is shut.  Most of the audience, of course, didn't notice this brilliant improvisation of the art of ventriloqu-lipism. They had come to party, and a party is what they got. They had come to dance, and dance is what they did. The ladies in their early 40s wanted to remember their first real-life crush, and they did that secretly. They had come to sing along with their 'Hero', a...
Read more

Naren's indie round-up/ Jan 2023, Ep 4

Image
BY NARENDRA KUSNUR Kamakshi Khanna/ Breathe Label: Self-released  Rating: ***** Everything seems just right about Delhi-bred Kamakshi Khanna's new single 'Breathe'. She sings from the heart, vents out, expresses anxiety and self-doubt, creates an impact. Kamakshi has written the lyrics herself, using lines like, "Every day's a fight, but now I search for the light that was there inside". The main line goes, "I just have to breathe", and there's beauty in the way she sings 'breathe' each time. Add to that a crisp production, with gentle ukulele, subtle rhythms and Ajay Jayanthi's angst-filled strings. Anjali Kamat's illustrated video adds to the vibe. The best thing is that it's a song many will emotionally relate to in the quest for peace. Shehzad Ali & Siddharth Kasyap/ Ishqbaazi Label: SK Music Works Rating: **** Composer Siddharth Kasyap has maintained a good balance between fusion projects and pop tunes. His new song ...
Read more

Naren's indie round-up/ June 2024, Ep 4

Image
BY NARENDRA KUSNUR The Anirudh Varma Collective feat. Divyam Sodhi & Kavya Singh/ Mausam Label: Self-released  Rating: ***** Delhi-based The Anirudh Varma Collective has been doing some exceptional work, blending classical melodies with contemporary sounds in a rather subtle manner. The new song 'Mausam', from their forthcoming album, is another such gem. It's a song about longing, sung fabulously by Divyam Sodhi and Kavya Singh, who also complement each other very well. The lyrics by Likhari uses lines like, "Mausam badalta jaaye, balma na aaye". A highlight is Anirudh's arrangement, which makes good use of sarod, guitar and ghatam. All musicians get their space and the fusion is seamless. Captured live in the studio in Saubhagya Saxena's video, with a guest appearance by model Vrinda Chadha.  Utsavi Jha/ Kaise Kaise Label: first.wav Rating: *** 1/2 Singer Utsavi Jha has been releasing songs for the past four years. After 'Piya' in April, she ...
Read more