The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : IIT officials pull plug on rock show

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 31, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

IIT officials pull plug on rock show

Sudhish Kamath

Saarang ends with a whimper after authorities decide not to invite trouble from the law

FANS ENTRANCED: A view of the crowd that enjoyed the rock at Saarang at IIT-Madras on Sunday night. But once past 11 p.m. the show was stopped abruptly. — Photo: Shaju John

CHENNAI : Before Led Zepplica could sing lyrics from Kashmir, "Ooh, my baby, oooh, my baby, let me take you there," they were taken off-stage. They did not get to take the crowd on to the `Stairway to heaven' either.

Two of the best-known Led Zeppelin songs did not get heard, even when the stage was set with the band reputed to be the next best thing to Led Zepp themselves.

The finale of IIT's Saarang began with a bang, ended with a whimper.

Saarang 2006 was sponsored by Airtel.

A Dean pulled the plug with the internationally-acclaimed Led Zeppelin tribute band, still performing on stage.

Apparently, the institute did not want trouble with the law as the show went on for ten minutes after 11 p.m on Sunday night.

Policemen wielding lathis told the furious crowd to go home. Fans dispersed, mumbling and swearing. "We were waiting for `Kashmir' all evening," an angry rocker noted. "They had saved the best for the last."

The helpless musicians from Led Zepplica pleaded for a decent exit. The sound came back on for just a few seconds. The musicians began again but the performance did not last long as the organisers pulled the plug on them yet again.

"The band was told that they have to wind up by 11 p.m. Since they didn't, the Dean asked someone to switch off the power. We apologised to the band but the crowd was obviously disappointed," a student co-ordinator later said.

"In the last few days, the shows had been going beyond 11 and the Dean had warned us in advance. We had to follow the instructions," he explained.

Earlier during the show, drummer Darryl Johnson was in for a scare as a shower of sparks from the fireworks above, made him jump out of his seat.

The band thought it was an accident before they realised it was all a part of the celebrations.

The rock show itself was a dose of adrenaline for rock fans, even for those not hardcore Led Zeppelin fans. The colourful tribute band belted out `Rock and Roll,' `The Lemon Song' and other lesser known Led Zepp covers with plenty of instrumental bits just to show off their near perfect reconstruction of a much celebrated era of rock and roll.

For the Led Zepp magic they recreated, the four-member tight unit surely deserved a better farewell.

Earlier, `Parikrama' got a better deal, entertaining a full-house of 6,500 rock fans with their originals including the popular `And it rained' and other rock-show regulars, `Highway to Hell,' `Yellow' and `Smoke on the water,' with their act on stage literally ending with fire in the sky as the organisers unleashed more fireworks.

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