Yes, I got back home today, a little late, courtesy Mood Indigo at IIT Bombay, which featured a performance by finnish \m/etchul legends Ensiferum. Kudos to IITB for getting them down here.
Brilliant performance it was, but I can't believe why the crowd was SO retarded. What's the point of going in to watch a 'prograam' if you don't have a fucking clue about what's in store for you? Practically the whole of Bombay's college junta was there. These should be ticketed shows to keep the unwanted junta out. There were people doing bhangra, shaadi dance and what not to Ensiferum. Its metal, not indipop you morons. On many occasions, the band expected some of the most popular passages of their songs to be chanted by the crowd... needless to say, they were disappointed and more than amused to see the crowd clueslessly jumping as if they were a part of the audience for Voice of India, Indian Idol or any other one of those similar 555.5 shows. The pinnacle was yet to come.
Ensiferum announced that they were playing the 'so called last song of the evening' - "Treacherous Gods" next (one of their most popular songs). It was almost understood that there was going to be an encore after that song. Guess what happened. The band went backstage after playing "Treacherous Gods", expecting the crowd to chant 'once more'.... but the crowd DISPERSED, leading to the end of the show, inspite of the last sound being announced as the 'so called' last song. I stayed back for a bit after the show to try getting snaps with the band. All of them looked really pissed and stormed outside the venue. Needless to say, this was probably the worst audience they could have got.
Another glitch - We were pretty much among the first 200 people in the queue, but the thoroughly mismanaged queue and entry system made sure that we had to wait for a good FOUR AND A HALF HOURS in queue. God knows where the ocean of people appeared in front of us. We entered after more than half the show got over. There was an elaborate system of U turns and what not to get in. There were very few entry/frisking points for that big a crowd, I hope the organizers take a lesson or two from this (simply increasing the number of people handling the frisking and 2 more entry points would have made a great difference). Thankfully, we didn't miss Ensiferum.
6 comments:
I understand your chagrin and totally agree with the mismanagement part. Even the press was jerked around to such an extent that a Rolling Stone scribe was denied entry for the longest time. Keep in mind, RS was one of the sponsors of livewire.
The Bhangra and stuff is to be expected, man. You gotta expect nitwits to be at "Rock Shows", where all their friends will be there to have a "rocking" time etc. etc. But I guarantee that among 100 nitwits there, 2 or 3 (at the very least) will have gone home with a new take on music.
Where I differ with you is the "so-called last song" part. In London for instance, say at the Astoria, if a gig is 8pm to 10.30, then presumably there'll always be an encore after 10.30. ALWAYS.
But with Mumbai, considering the fact that the too-little-too-late machinery of the city has got security squads packed so tight in the city that you can almost feel them up your ass, the deadline was always going to be an issue.
Secondly, Mumbai music (i refer to real music and not the shit that blares out of clubs) aficionados have sadly had to accept to some level or another that all shows in the city will end at 10. And if they don't, the plug will be pulled on the show. Case in point, I-Rock 2008. So presumably, expecting the same thing, a lot of people filed out.. Also, the house lights came on a few minutes after the band left the stage, so yeah..
Nevertheless, fabulous insights.. really enjoyed the fire in the post. Looking forward to reading more. Take it easy!
First, being at home doesnt mean great net speeds. Not for some atleast :|
And another reason why I hate you now is the fact that you (ALSO) went to MoodI. Damnit.
Oh and one thing I'm glad about. Waves <<< MoodI, so atleast we dont need to bother ourselves with the "huge crowd waiting in line" situation. (Not that I would complain if we have that much crowd :D)
Anyway hope to see more posts! ;)
@Shag - Whatever the case is, i don't fucking care. I don't think the band would've cared too. The LEAST they would've expected would be the crowd to atleast chant Lai lai hei or something... i agree that the circumstances prevented that, but that doesnt change the fact that it sucked to see that happen.. so i have a right to crib.. Actually I shouldnt... saw them live :D
@triad - Don't have any clue about London or other parts of the world, but atleast in India, an encore usually takes place 5 mins after the performance 'ends'. Also, Astoria etc are proper music festivals, MoodI was a culfest with a pro nite.. so that level of adherence to traditional format is not expected atleast at MoodI. I heard that mismanagement of fireworks was another reason why the encore didnt happen. It sucked to see people walk out though, one song more would've taken 5-10 minutes, and I kinda hoped it'd be 'Iron'...
@RaSh - Crowd management will be a HUGE issue at big culfests.. they have a footfall of 60K, and they have IIT Police also (intra campus proper security with sniffer dogs etc).. our campus will stick to mucchad guards trained to sniff people who've hada drop of beer rather than real security i guess
ensiferum :(
only drummer and guitarist were pissed. chick wasnt pissed :), and the bassy was in such high spirits.. so overall they were fine, they wouldnt have expected much from first gig in india
d0000000d they didnt sing some parts.. they expected the crowd to sing.,. screw that... no encore wtf?
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