The Great Gig (In Hard Rock Cafe)

Thursday was one of the greatest evenings I have ever had. Me and goru headed out to Hard Rock Cafe to witness the performance of Think Floyd. Of course expectations were high as it was a Pink Floyd tribute band and we had been waiting for over a week for this. Add to that the un-certainty that we may be thrown out because we were not a “couple”. The band that night chiefly consisted of
ABHISHEK MATHUR : GUITAR & VOCALS
ANINDO BOSE : KEYBOARDS & COMPUTERS
CHINTAN KALRA : DIRECTOR, BASS & VOCALS
SUROJIT DEV : DRUMS 

NICOLAS GIORDANI : SAXOPHONES
ROHIT KULKARNI : GUITAR & VOCALS
VASUNDHARA : VOCA
LS

Let me tell you that Chintan Kalra (of Parikrama fame; pictured above) not only looks like Roger Waters but sings like one too. In fact you can think of him as a bulkier waters or a thinner Springsteen. Anyways, the guy was a showman!!
The gig was to begin at 9:30 but started at 10:30. We were apprehensive because we thought the gig starting late meant a smaller playlist (boy were we wrong). As expected, they began with Shine on you Crazy Diamond, playing all parts perfectly; complete with a Sax solo by Nicholas.
Next came Astronomy Domine. When you go to concerts with bands playing, you expect commercial Floyd songs mainly Coming back to life. Never though did I expect them to play songs from Animals. But they did!! Next came Sheep (at which point I went mad) followed by Dogs (completely Hysterical). They even played Echoes (both 1 AND 2 goddamnit!!) They followed it up with Poles apart from Division bell and the compulsory Another Brick in the wall (all parts) and mother and other songs.

Next came a short break (at which point I realize that they haven’t played a single song from Dark Side of the moon!! When they next came on stage, after a song, my ears are treated to the familiar heart beat.
They start out with Speake to me/Breathe, and play every single fucking song of the album. Time was awesome with an added solo but the greatest surprise of the evening was the great gig in the sky featuring vocals from Vasundhara. Well, I had never thought I would see an Indian woman perform this song live, but she did!! When she began singing, the crown went into hysterics. No one could believe the voice on that girl. She sang the song perfectly with her voice reaching highs and lows un-imaginable by a normal singer.
After that came Money and Us & them (again with Nicholas on the Sax), any colour you like, Brain damage and eclipse. The band finished off with Wish you were here at around 1:30 morning.
By the end of the concert, our throats were completely seized up and we were in a state of shock. Next morning, I could recollect events from the previous night like a dream. Couldn’t believe whether it was true or just a dream. All in all, it was an experience of a lifetime. It makes me shudder to think what would have happened if we had witnessed an actual Pink Floyd performance.
Turn offs: Girls wearing revealing clothes “sitting” on the front row, blocking the view and talking amongst themselves while the band performed. For me, it was sacrilege. Would prefer concerts in a less formal atmosphere, maybe at an open ground.
Another turn off – guys fetching drinks for these girls, pushing their way around while the band was playing, blocking views and disturbing the trance that we were in.
PS: We also learnt about the three “P”s in life we should all yearn to attain!!

7 thoughts on “The Great Gig (In Hard Rock Cafe)”

  1. Pingback: Great Gig Part-2 | An Insight into my Hindside…
  2. Pingback: Return of the Gig!! | An Insight into my Hindside…

Talk to the dawg, yo

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.