Gig review Ruia High Voltage
Mumbai University sucks all right. Call me a whining dog, if you will, but how could you possibly justify 35 days of exams which leaves me with almost 4-6 days for every exam. And in any case I study only 2 days before the exam. (Hey, I’m just being faithful to my tribe.) I was going nuts with all the tension flying around. Thankfully, Ruia’s annual fest couldn’t have been at a better time. And with top notch bands headlining, I just couldn’t give it a miss. Just what the doctor ordered.
Necrosis were first, and I was told they are famous for their Slayer covers. Heck, even their bass player looked like a Tom Araya-me-too. But what you see is not what you always get. Don’t get me wrong, their musicians were spot on, only the vocalist disappointed. I mean, someone go tell that chimp, Tom Araya shouts, doesn’t screech, for heavens sake. It sounded more like Lamb of God or worse Cradle of Filth. The drummer too, I must add, wasn’t quite in the groove. The covers were good, but the OC’s were not.
Every song sounded like a collection of riffs, and there was no flow whatsoever. Vocals weren’t very much on the pitch and the lead parts bored me to death. Like a Wiseman once said “When you follow a chord family, you get a nice song. If you don’t, you get a Demonic song.” Now I fully get what that means…One more thing I would like to mention were their rather funny song titles “Spirits of the Mystic Mountains”. Right, we have only hillocks in Bombay and a Plateau at best in Matheran. DR really curdled my brains, or “dimaag ki dahi” to be Bombay-cally correct.
The only saving grace was Viru’s drumming, which was spot on and thunderous to boot.
Sceptre were up next and you could feel the anxiety go up by a mile. Did they deliver, this time around? Hell, yes! Read on to know more.
The first track they played was an inch perfect cover of Slayer’s Stain of Mind. And to my surprise (that’s a bit of an understatement actually), Teemeer (vocals and lead guitar) dedicated that song to me!! Guruji, you’re the fuckin best! Only problem was, the chicks(or everyone else, for that matter) didn’t know, “I” was Satish. Should have rather said “SatishSays dot Com”. Would have got me some traffic. Er. he he.
Corny jokes apart, Sceptre showed the kids, how exactly Slayer is covered. Blood curdling screams, perfect drumming and sync in the band, the jaws had to drop.
I screamed my lungs out and lost my voice in the very first track itself! They proceeded to play some of their originals and some Metallica covers (One, Fuel and NEM). You should have seen the girls screaming during Nothing Else Matters, everybody sang! If anyone’s questioning their logic of doing Metallica, you should have seen the crowd reaction. It was a college gig after all. They topped of their set with their hugely popular anti-smoking metal anthem, Charred. There was a 4-way wall of death, and I just wish I could have jumped in! But then I’ve got exams to give, and swollen body parts are not a very pleasant thing. Everybody enjoyed their set, and if not for Sceptre, I am sure half the people would queued up for a refund.
Vayu were the last band to play for the evening. I was seeing them after a real long time, and 2Blue’s voice was re-assuring to say the very least. Ravi Iyer too was all-guns-blazing with his guitar and wowed the crowd with his skills. I loved their Pink Floyd covers and all was well, when the mike suddenly started going off every few seconds.
2Blue had enough of it, smashed the mike and the band evacuated the stage. Shame, they couldn’t play their complete set. Some classic therapy is always good after metal.
That was the end of the gig and a really worthwhile day. I must congratulate Ruia’s organizing committee, for I heard, it was your first attempt at a rock gig. Not bad at all. Do try to focus on giving better sound, next time around. Get a proper sound engineer or something. The vocals and the guitars did get a bit drowned out by the drums at times. Do this much and I’ll put you guys on my “Gigs-to-attend-list”. Kudos.
SatishSays dot Com rating 7/10
December 23rd, 2007 at 10:08 pm
i really feel u slhd hav also mentioned the wannabes ..or the metchul chicks in the front row…
moreover i guess the mayb the bassist of Necrosis who was short n had specs.. was sitting in the first row which was meant 4 guests was really not intrested in the bands performing later n was more intrested in his chick..
i would hav loved 2 c vayu playin a bit more but 4 bloody sound engineer they also covered led zep’s immigrant son n ozzy’s all time classic mama m comin home …
overall a good gig .. waiting 4 mood-i !!
my rating would b 6/10
December 23rd, 2007 at 10:29 pm
Errrrrrrr………Satish…………u r a WHINING DOG!!!
December 23rd, 2007 at 10:43 pm
@ mandar ….
indeed
December 23rd, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Deadly review man.. You sure have a way with words. \m/
December 25th, 2007 at 1:23 am
Great review man!
I’d give it a 5 on 5!!! That’s ya best post in quite a while!
As far as the gig goes, sad to hear that Demonic Resurrection fizzled out.
Should have been there. Damn these MU exams!
December 25th, 2007 at 7:20 am
Thank you for the good words Angad and DD. Such kind comments keeps me going ahead.
December 26th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Couldn’t agree more with you. The gig was good, your review even better.
December 26th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Finally I got to read the review.. Dude u got a way with words.. truly.. M waitin to see you on stage!!!
December 26th, 2007 at 6:08 pm
And btw STAIN OF MIND was dedicated to everyone who had come all the way fm Thane, Kalyan, Mulund, etc and other far off places.. incl and especially you.. see u guys in the next mosh-pit!!
December 27th, 2007 at 8:55 pm
Hey I was a part of the organizing committee for the gig…thanks a ton for this review..this was indeed,the first gig our college has seen in 33years of its existence!!wel definitely try our best to put up a better show next year..
thanks for all the constructive criticism and encouragement..
December 28th, 2007 at 9:33 am
dude i dont agree with ur review of necrosis….the vocalist is awesome if u dont like growling vocals that dosent mean nobody likes em….they made their own version and i thought it was awesome but the best performance of the show was by vayu imo
December 28th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
hmmmm,the review sounds good ‘cos i missed almost the entire show,people made me sell passes.But this was our first time and thank u for such a positive review
December 28th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Well, i ws a volunteer 4 the event n sceptre was indeed mind-blowing. I disagree though abt DR, liked them much better than u did..n anuja, ruia is 72 yrz old n not 33
I cant deciede whos the best, but enjoyed the gig..There were a lotta wannabes out there though..cant help it, can v?
Congratulations to the core commitee n heartfelt gratitude 2wards all the bands.
December 29th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Rahul, what the vocalist of Necrosis was doing was “throating” and not growling.
And I would like to know, since when have Necrsosis have become so big that they do “things in their style”
I didnt even know about them before the gig.
December 30th, 2007 at 11:51 am
hey prateek out der i WS one of d “metchul chicks” :p hehe bt whtever dis is abt d review…well i wsnt aware of d fact tat this ws ruias first attempt at a rock show kudos 2 u…yeah better sound wud have helpd i misd DR n necrosis so no comments der…thankfully i seem 2 have caught d better part of d show…sceptre ws gr8 n left me wit a stiffneck their rendition of nothing else matters ws incredibly moving(hey m a girl i can use such language)…vayu calmd me down…extremely professional…incredible drumming skills by gopal and 2blue ws amazing on d vocals…thou al dos interruptions certainly pissed me off…all in all an incredible show n d review voiced i suppose d thoughts of everyone present there…
December 30th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
IMO… DR was the worst band of the day.. mebbe it wasnt their day.. Sahil being an sound engg could have devoted more time for the sound check..
Necrosis should work on their “slayer antics”
as far as sceptre and vayu satish said enuf…
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Hey!! Satish That’s one killer review there..
On a whole i would like to say that even though there were a few mess ups the gig was good nough..
And trust me we will get better with time.
is just that Ruia has seen a rock show for the first time since it came in 2 existance…
For all metal fans out there Xpect a more Heavier,More Brutal and More Ass kicking gig the next Year..
Cheers \m/
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Heyy there…pretty accurate!
btw..i know who u are…so alteast SOMEONE in the crowd knew who the song was being dedicated to..:P
pretty decent gig i thought too,…that too for the first attempt…sound could be better ..yes…nd we could really do with a bit more of vayu…
i can never really get bored of their mamma im coming home