I heard Deep Purple in the late 70s - thanks to my sister who told me of this album called 'Deepest Purple'. Ever keen to expand my knowledge and range of western music I got hold of the record and had it taped on a cassette.
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| Off to Bandland! At ESI Bus stop! |
When Katalog played the music at our college concerts and played Smoke on the Water you could make out it was an instant hit and I was in seventh heaven. So when i heard that Deep Purple was performing in Bangalore, I told Anjali, who I had promised to take to her first rock concert, that we should give it a shot. She agreed and ended up getting much more - turned out to be a festival of sorts spread over two days with performances from the Goo Goo Dolls. Deep Purple. Amyl and the Sniffers, War on Drugs, Thermal and a Quarter, Parikrama, Parwaaz, the F16s, Skrat etc.
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| Anjali and me - pic Abhi |
I called my nephew Abhishek who lives in Bangalore and who has an ear for music and bands having been the Cul Sec at IIT, Madras in his studying days, and he was game. He booked the tickets, bus tickets and pretty much organised the entire thing. Turned out it was a trip of many firsts for me.
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| Entering the Bandlands |
For starters, going in a sleeper bus which my nephew booked. KSM Travels berth bunks looks very classy and are quite comfortable - except that they are about 6 inches short for me so it wasn't the best of nights. Anjali slept like a log.
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| Rohan Joshi, Anjali and the half eaten burger |
We woke up at Bangalore and got off near Abhi's house at about 930. Some nice Udipi breakfast, some catching up and nodding off into a nap, and we were good to go to the venue which was about an hour and a half away!
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| Bands doing their thing |
The skies looked pretty dark and we stopped at Decathlon on the way to buy me a poncho - but I never needed it anyway. The drive took more than an hour and a half and we made it just in time to catch the end of Parwaaz's performance. The layout was nice - spaced out - two stages some distance away. Lots of food stalls, beer and alcohol, places to sit, merchandise. You could top up cash into your band and use that to buy stuff. Very cool indeed.
Anjali and Abhi braved on and went into the crowd while I stayed at the back like I normally do and enjoyed the music. Parwaaz had a nice sound to it. Anjali had told me that she was hoping to bump into Rohan Joshi who is a well known stand up comedian, someone she says helped her keep her sanity through her Board exams - and lo - he was right there in front of us and she ran to him, half eaten burger and all and chatted up with him. Talk of manifesting stuff.
Then there was The War or Drugs which I found rather predictable and monotonous. Skrat was loud and then there was Goo Goo Dolls - apparently their first time in India. Its a band from Buffalo New York and they played with a lot of energy and commitment and Anjali told me what I realised when i watched Roger Waters 25 years ago - that we must do our work with the same dedication and that's what transmits to the audience. 'Iris' brought me back memories of soft rock albums and it was a big hit. We ate all sorts of stuff - shawarma, popcorn, french fries, drank juice, lemonade etc.
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| The second, smaller stage |
Anjali had a good time, walking off and exploring the place on her ow which she normally does. I sat in a corner on a bench while Abhi and Anjali went into the crowd when the bands played and returned. It was like one bad would pay for their time and by then the next band would set up the other stage and off we were.
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| The same one |
We were worried about getting out of the melee which normally happens at the end of every concert but thanks to an enterprising bunch of guys who took down the bamboo barricade behind us we could get away almost instantly. A lovely drive back home - took an hour still,some pizza and we were done for the day.
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| A sense of the place |
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I woke up early. Overcast sky. I sat in the balcony and wrote some stuff, read Huma Qureshi's 'Zeba', chatted with Abhi. We knew Anjali would not wake up anytime soon so we ordered some stuff from A2B - including a combo breakfast for me. More and more chatting and catching up and it was time for a spot of lunch and head back to the venue.
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| Coffee at Udipi Aathithya |
The crowd was much bigger today. Lots of grey haired people, many grey haired couples too, young girls braving the cold in fashionable clothes, solos dancing away, people getting drunk and behaving all funny. Like this bunch of three friends who were before me - one boy and two girls, maybe late twenties - the girls were high and getting higher and the boy bore the brunt of their affections and their anger - well directed kicks and well meaning slaps. Some groups with their shady smokes. A small fight between two drunken gangs. Bunch of local boys looking at the hip girls in their shorts and tank tops. People buying more food and drink than they can eat or handle. A dog that wandered in and would not let go of a lady who was feeding it. Young couples with very young kids, a few infants in their strollers. A playful mom who went missing from her young kid and appearing just when he was about to cry - that kid is going to have a tough childhood it looks like. A very nice set of plastic loos that looked like some alien stations - interesting to note how each one chose their station.
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| A secular group watching |
I bumped into two people - one person who I could not place but who told me he met me during the writing of MVS's book, and another was Satish, our senior from the MBA college, who was always a bit of a rebel - he told me we should organise something like this in Hyd. There were a few others I knew in the crowd but we never met.
I think we made it to Parikrama, then the F16s which was surprisingly good, Amyl and the Sniffers, Thermal and a Quarter, and finally Deep Purple. The lead singer is 78 and he looked it and somehow doddered through the show. The big moment came when he sang 'Smoke on the water' and everyone sang along and luckily Anjali got that on video.
We left a bit early to beat the crowd and once again got out pretty easy, headed home, had a drink, ate more pizza and crashed out. Anjali got herself a Deep Purple T shirt.
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Overall very satisfying. I think Anjali had a fairly decent experience at her first concert. But for someone like her, going with a bunch of her friends would be great fun!
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The next day was chilled out. Since Anjali forgot her Aadhar card we had to download her Aadhar on her phone and then download Digiyatra which I found to be brilliant. No more carrying your Aadhar etc if you are on the Digiyatra airports. Scan your boarding card, scan your iris and you are through. I went out to meet friends - was a fun meeting at a chilled out place called the House of Commons. I did another first - took the Metro to get to Byapannahalli. Anjali and I then went to the Forum Neighbourhod mall which is a stone's throw from Abhi's house. Its one of the cutest malls ever with a Crossword, a super eating place with some lovely food. The vibe was brilliant and we voted that it was the best.
Anjali and I wandered around the airport until way too late - ate a turkey sandwich, drank coffee and rushed to our gate just in time. Got a cab and headed home, ordered a lousy biryani from Blue Fox (never order from there) and crashed out.
Thanks Abhi for a brilliant experience. I don't think it would have been half as much fun if you weren't around. We should do more such in the future!
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