Here we have the (sometimes biased, sometimes infamous, sometimes downright unpalatable) Tour Diaries ... or The Perils of Travelling with The Division. Aspersions cast on us by Rahul are to be disbelieved out of hand.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dhanaulti Rocks Music Festival - 2005

by jBoi on 14.11.2005

 

01 November
On the road again. The Rajdhani Express to Delhi shudders dangerously as it speeds along manically, and we muse on how in the midst of life we are in death. Only Rahul enjoys the journey completely as it is sanitized and remote from the thronging masses. This is the way to travel, says he. We disagree completely. We are on our way to play at the Dhanaulti Rocks Music Festival 2005 to be held on the 4th, 5th and 6th of November at Dhanaulti, Tehri Garhwal, Uttaranchal.


02 November
A bus has been organized from Delhi to Dhanaulti, but it leaves on the 3rd, so we spend a pleasant day at Patparganj, where my sister and her flatmate stay. A long walk around CP and Gol Market, a little singsong, and lots of kebabs and rum, make for a late but pleasant night.


03 November
We catch the bus in the moist and balmy evening, and head off through the traffic via Gurgaon and Meerut. There are three other bands traveling with us – Advaita from Delhi, Aliens from Vizag, and Grungy Morphins from Darjeeling. It feels amazingly good to be traveling with a bus-load of musicians. The stuff one only gets to read about. We have bagged front row seats and soon strike up conversations with members of Advaita.

 

 

04 November


It transpires that the bus will be taking us only till Dehradun, from where we will have to shift into a smaller (??!!) bus. We pass floodlit Haridwar past midnight. The changeover in Dehradun is very cold and is made at an ungodly hour. Members of Aliens admit that they did not come prepared with warm wear to handle this. I inadvertently remark that from here on its straight up and very much colder – a prospect that seems to worry them greatly.

We reach Dhanaulti at 4.30 am. The cold is absolutely exquisite. As we chatter and shudder, Andy, of the Andiji's Evolving Restaurant fame (why not come inside and eat?), looms through the darkness. Andy is tall, with blonde dreadlocks and eyes twinkling from under the brim of his Stetson-style hat. He regards our rigor amusedly and remarks, "Rather fresh, wot?” to which we find no suitable reply, but instead look mutinous. We find rooms with great haste and call it a day.

We wake at midday and Ludo @ Andijisbreakfast at Andiji's, instantly falling in love with Charlotte and her homemade crusty bread. On moseying around, we find that Dhanaulti is basically one main street with lots of hotels, motels and restaurants. The festival site is on the edge of a wooded area – replete with grassy slopes and a border of fir trees. Uphill from the festival site is the potato farm – a vantage point for viewing the snow peaks and other activities. It seems that some of the bands scheduled to play today are not going to be able to. Plus the snare drum has gone AWOL – but a replacement is on its way up. The opening ceremony consists of longwinded, poxy bureaucrats intent on their two minutes of fame and screen time, followed by Andy's two prophetic words, Let's Rock. Survanaasham, local favourites, come on first. Aliens follow but are unable to proceed due to the extreme cold. They are followed by Advaita – a young band from Delhi, whose music we absolutely dug.

We are scheduled to play on the 6th, but are asked to put in a small acoustic performance, after Parikrama, which we do, playing an REM cover and four originals.

 

05 November

 

Saturday witnesses a Garhwali performance – song and dance accompanied by a local band. Mussoorie rockers Silver Rain give what is probably their last and possibly finest performance as a band, before going out to answer the call of duty to the country. Menwhopause deliver a cool, earthy, original set. The hillside is dotted with bonfires. Then come the day's headliners, Parikrama, who unleash an hour and a half of incredible covers interspersed with a couple of their compositions including But It Rained. What an incredible stage act. Their performance is accompanied by a scintillating fireworks display.

Inebriated locals interrupt the proceedings as the penultimate band of the day, Vishnu, are in the final stages of their performance. A lousy and potentially dangerous scene ensues, with Andy herding the locals and soothing visitors. Nakshatra, the last band to have gone up on stage, decline to play, understandably. Thus ends Saturday, on a not so pleasant note.


06 November
Sunday. I wake early and drink a couple of chais with Akshay, who will be handling the sound today. A long walk and many plans later, we return to the village. A now-suitably clad band of Aliens perform their set of covers and originals. Prithvi comes on next with a half hour set of hard rock.

And then it’s us. In the dying rays of the sun we perform an all-original set. It takes us a while to adjust to the sound and the cold, but the audience whoops and cheers with each song. We are especially warmed by Andy and the lovely Charlotte, and members of the Parikrama team, including Chintan and Dilip, who have stayed back. Caesar draws particular enthusiasm as do Only For A While, Fake, Voivoid and Stay. We are asked to perform Caesar once more as an encore – we feel quite chuffed about it. Way cool! We pack our gear feeling quite international, instead of like a small band from Calcutta. Lots of people come up to us and tell us that they really like our sound and lyrics. We do too, guys!

Orange Street is next. With musicians playing over the texture bed of a GrooveLab, their electro-fusion rock is a treat to watch. Prestorika follows with an original set of hard rock with metal and progressive influences. Then come the crazy metalmeisters from the Queen of the Hills - Grungy Morphins from Darjeeling. Strange how you can tell a band that lives and believes in a lifestyle from one who has put together an act. These guys are the real McCoy. Sikkim metallers, Still Waters bring up the close of the day and of the festival with a combination of covers and originals.

We head back to Andiji’s for a much needed cuppa and to thaw. The bus is supposed to head back to Delhi at midnight and will take a good 12 hours, and Rahul needs to catch the train from Delhi at 5 in the evening. So we decide to cut our losses and hire a car, which is an expensive proposition – but what the heck!! Meanwhile, we return to our rooms to pack our stuff.

 




 07 November
 

When, by 12, the bus has left and we haven’t, we begin to wonder. So we head back to the warmth of Andiji’s where countless cups of coffee later, the car arrives at 2.30 am. We pile our gear in, and following fond farewells to Andy, Charlotte, and Siddharth, we pile in ourselves. The twisty road makes some of us feel quite ill, but the jewel-encrusted Dehradun signals the beginning of the plains.


Final Entry
It is over - for now. But there will always be another Dhanaulti, and lots more bands. As we pit-stop at Haridwar in the first light of the dawn, it seems the auspicious thing to do. There is no turning back for this band.

And then dawn breaks.


(Photo Credits go to the rock lawyer Abhishek Tewari and Lena Bose. Thanks Abhishek and Lena)


<< ALSO VISIT ANDY’S SITE AND READ HIS REVIEW >>

 

 

 
 


 

JRO Tour Diary

by RGR on 31 August 2005


13th August

After weeks of preparing ourselves for our first tour outside the East, we are officially on the road. But even before reaching the station things begin to rock. Eddie our pointsman at Chennai calls to say that Cruentus - the band from Nepal - scheduled to play after us, have missed their train due to a late connecting flight, so could we please handle it? At the station, Sukanti and Ludo sort out matters and yes - both bands manage to catch the same train!


14th August

We’ve already been on the train for far too long in my opinion. Others in the band, led by John, have decided that irritating me and making sad jokes are the best way to keep grooving. The view outside was often very nice and I kept showing off telling the guys I could identify which state we were in by looking at the scripts on platform signs. They, however, were skeptical of my skills at differentiating Telugu from Tamil and kept sniggering. For those who think life on the road is cool, let this be a warning. I have decided I prefer air travel.

Eventually we reach a damp Chennai where Big Eddie gives us a warm welcome and whisks us away to the comforts of The Park. John comes down with a horrendous cold, but that doesn’t stop the party. Cruentus are a fine young bunch and we have an excellent time … rock ’n’ roll in all its avatars!


 15th August

Monday dawns. Independence Day. We wake late (and grumpy at having missed out on breakfast). Eddie arrives during lunch and hustles both bands into getting ready to leave.

A wild auto ride later, we arrive at the famed Unwind Center. Eddie takes Cruentus’s trip by showing them a tiny coffee shop and telling them that this was where they had to play. Needless to say, they all looked rather worried. The actual auditorium was a fine spacious place, great equipment, a friendly crew and a great Swaroop and Mack.

We soundcheck and go out for some chai. Amazing city, Chennai, but no one seems to want to drink tea. We walk half a klick to find ourselves a tea shop, where, like good Bengalis, we spend a good hour. All of us, that is, except Ludo, who was busy procuring provisions for the aftermath.

We arrive to find local prog-rockers Nerverek regaling the audience with an almost all-original set. It was good to see that the Indian rock scene has begun to mature.

We follow with a set of originals and two covers. The first two songs Only for a While and Drown didn’t really rock out the way we wanted them to. By the third song, though, we were hot. Our version of Nirvana’s Lithium got great response. After that we tore through Voivoid, Stay, and Mr Mishra, with every song drawing its fair share of cheers. We also played REM’s Imitation of Life, originals like Higher and Caesar before closing the show with our rap-rock assault vehicle Urban Phenomenon.

Cruentus followed with a bone-crushing hour of undiluted evil. They’re certainly the most impressive black metal act we’ve seen in the subcontinent. Curiously, the band members are between 17 and 20 years old. Their music, however, could induce serious paranoia among veterans of the genre.

We meet Mr. John Christian, Director of Unwind Center, and the brains behind JRO - a warm, genuine and fun guy.

Back to the hotel. Our hardware bag clinks pleasantly. A quick dinner and were off to party with Cruentus… gathering Eddie en route... till 4 am. It has been a truly amazing experience for us.


 16th August

We’re up at 7 and after a hurried breakfast, we catch the train home.

A conversation between John & Rahul on the train:

Rahul: (pointing at a stand of young eucalyptus trees) What are those trees?

John: (without missing a beat) They’re called thin-talls.

Rahul: (incredulously) Really? Is that what they’re called? I never knew that.

Strangely, return journeys always seem to end quicker. We’re fairly happy with our performance and hope that well be back soon to play more gigs down south.

 

 

 
 

Darjeeling Carnival

by RGR on 27 November 2004

 

Our band Cassini’s Division has been invited to take part in Darjeeling Carnival, the biggest annual jamboree in the hills of north Bengal. The other members, John Bose (bass), Sukanti Roy, (guitar) and Ritoban Das (drums) are raring to go out there and take our modern rock sound to a new audience. It is a sunny afternoon at Sealdah station and we are ready to rock…

 

8.11.04

After what seems an inordinately long train journey, we arrive at New Jalpaiguri Station groggy-eyed but full of enthusiasm. It’s 4 am, time to kill sleep and an hour with some strong cups of coffee. Our guitarist Sukanti’s fluent Nepali helps us land a comfortable Tata Scorpio ride to Kalimpong at discounted rates. We take in breathtaking views of the Teesta by the light of dawn along the way before morning mist cuts short our tryst with eye candy.

 

Kalimpong, 7am

We decide that after the gig is through we’ll do a spot of publicity for coffee and the second part of a proverb “…early to rise”. But that can wait, first we have to find our pointsman Akash. The effects of the coffee are beginning to wear off and we need some serious shuteye. We troop into the hotel and creep into our beds.

We forget to set our alarm clocks for lunch wake-up but our empty stomachs prove reliable. Akash decides to make us feel “truly at home” and rushes us to Mashima’s Hotel for some machher jhol-bhat. We’d have preferred momo and thukpa, but…

The rest of the day is given up to checking out the venue and threatening the sound guys with dire consequences if they fail to make us sound like Deep Purple! In the evening, we watch Funeral Fire from Darjeeling deliver a thundering set of heavy metal before leaving to party with the band members of Reincarnation who are also staying at our hotel.

Midnight, everyone is a little wasted and before long we are deep in the land of Nod.

 

9.11.04

D-Day. Not quite Normandy, but the band battle must be won. The organisers rush us to a nearby restaurant for a breakfast of toast, coffee and micro omelettes (the smallest we’ve seen in our lives). All the guys in the event committee are singing Don’t let me down. We promise them we won’t because we’re not in the brick or tomato collecting business. A quick tour of all the “reputed convent schools” follows. Some of the principals don’t dig rock & roll too much, but they all like Bono. “We’re just like his band U2, social conscience and all that,” I tell them, with as straight a face as I can pull. They love it, and promise to send the kids for the show in the evening.

We’re back for lunch and I put my foot down, it’s gonna be Tibetan or no food. The organisers don’t understand. We tell them we have enough of Mashima’s cuisine at home and we don’t like to feel at home on tour!

It’s 4.30 pm and time to get our sound check done. An hour later, we’re sure those who come to hear us will not really need to pay a visit to the ENT guy the next day. The risk of brain damage has also been considerably reduced, re-mixed whatever.

It’s 6 ’ clock, the MC calls us on stage, a senior bureaucrat welcomes us with traditional Nepali khadas (scarves) and it’s time to kick off. The first song ends, the applause is deafening, the atmosphere is electric.

It’s new for us because the audiences back home tend to be much more passive. By the time we come to our show closer, a cover of Dylan’s Blowing in the wind, I can hear the whole audience singing along with gusto as fireworks blaze into the night sky. After the crescendo, there is a minute’s silence before the audience erupts in cheers, claps and whistles. I try to get off the stage but have to wait patiently as there are a number of kids asking for autographs. We’ve just proved yet again that Rock & Roll ain’t noise pollution!

 

10.11.04

We take in some of the town’s attractions, sleep in the afternoon and party the night away.

 

11.11.04

Early morning drive to Darjeeling through some beautiful landscape. Catch the sunlight shimmering on the Kanchenjunga an hour before we reach Darjeeling. Check into the hotel, grab a quick bite and head for sound check. To our dismay we discover the venue is built of tin, just not right for good acoustics. The sound people, who’ve come from Calcutta, try to be helpful (“anything here sounds noisy”, says one). The venue soon fills up and it’s time to take the stage.

We play two Cassini’s Division songs through a haze of tinny echoes. We think we’re sounding awful. The audience cheers. I tell them they are beautiful people with an amazing ear for music!

As we run through our songs, the temperature keeps dropping, the tempo keeps rising. Soon it’s time to close the show and once again Blowing in the wind does the trick, this time with guest vocalist Prerna from Kalimpong joining us for a “long jam” that ends with the audience cheering wildly. Our ears are about to pack up, but we’re happy to have rocked the carnival with some unintentional psychedelia!

 

Final entry  | 12.11.04 and 13.11.04.

We do the usual touristy things, hang out with musician friends and play two hotel gigs for a “posh” audience of up-market tourists, from Calcutta to South Korea!

Finally, it’s time to go home. Fans wish us well in Darjeeling and we descend through banks of clouds, making our way to Siliguri, from where we’ll catch the train to Calcutta.