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Chennai rocks at Metro show
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The DJs kept the crowd on its feet and asking for more on the final day of The Hindu Metroplus Lifestyle Show at Nandambakkam
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Powder In The Ashtray: enthralling performance
FROM CAKES to cars, The Hindu Metroplus Lifestyle show had it all. And as pleasant surprises, it offered lots more. One of them was music. After Nevell Bovee, we found it difficult not to club music with the other "great material wants of our nature" - food, raiment and shelter. On the fourth and final day of the show, music or what Bovee called "the fourth great material want" was there in abundant measure.
As the evening sun shone in patches of red, the clouds were at their mocking best. They would suddenly coalesce to form a dark sheet and threaten to break into a downpour. And the next moment, they would scatter into small powder puffs and float around independently. However, they did make good their threat, but not before Powder In The Ashtray had completed the first musical act of the evening. Do not be misled by the name. These new kids on the rock turf are not powdery soft, as their band name may suggest. They play rock that is as hard as a boulder. At the show, it would have been obvious even to the most superficial observer that these guys were, to borrow a phrase from Bryan Adams, "On Cloud Nine". For, only the previous day they were adjudged the best college rock band in the city, at the "Campus Rock Idols" contest. In keeping with their mood, the now "famous four" went on an "Aeroplane" ride, on the steam provided by Red Hot Chili Peppers and then flew on the wings of the Eagles to "Hotel California". They also told us they would be "Staying Alive" (Bee Gees) though they are living as dangerously as a "Smooth Criminal", courtesy Alien Ant Farm. Along the way, these four guys (Vishal on vocals, Siddharth on lead guitar, Jitesh on bass and Rodney on drums) proved that they can stand on their own eight legs (four multiplied by two, if you have not guessed it) by rendering their own number, "Again". Though made in the rock mould, this song had patches that emitted a warm, vibrant sense of peace. Finally, when rain had these kids running for cover (literally, to shield their kit), they seemed to have succeeded in bringing disparate styles into their performance. Thankfully, the clouds cleared up in no time. And the stage was set for three Disk Jockeys to rock the crowd. And did they rock!
DJs rock the crowd
First to operate the mixer was DJ Charlie from The Pasha. He ignored genre boundaries and provided a captivating mix. Announcing that "It's The Time To Disco", he went on to play the electrifying "Chandu Ke Chacha" and "Bakri Ban". When he was half way through the funky "Calinda", fireworks exploded, lighting up the skies. The audience were on their feet, enjoying the scintillating fireworks that outshone the canopy of twinkling stars. When the pyrotechnics were in full swing, Charlie creatively played a hypnotic Tribal House track that was replete with metronomic beats. It went well with the action in the skies.
Something obviously got into the crowd after the fireworks. For, they were grooving to the next number "Koi Kahe". Swarms of people invaded the stage to boogie-woogie. The grown-ups were warned off the stage ("It may give way") and only the children were allowed to stay. And these kids danced the night away like nobody's business. DJ Karan of Flame Le Club continued the good work by playing a range of popular numbers that transcended language and styles - "Dil Legai", "Kokorako" (from "Gilli"), "Yama Yama", "Superstar" and "Mahi Ve", to name a few. In a short while, he accumulated a good number of fans and had to keep one hand on the CD mixer and the other on a piece of paper, scribbling his cell number.
Popular tunes
And DJ Kunal of Hardcore Event Managers once again put his main belief into practice - "You can and should play anything as long as the crowd wants it". He sent them (crowd) into a frisson of pleasure with popular Hindi, Punjabi and Tamil numbers. His "Black Eyed Peas" (Elephunk) and "Adalante" (Sash) lingered on in the listeners' minds.
Crowd on cloud nine... at the lifestyle show
He was particularly successful in keeping the children dancing on the stage ("I am playing this Vengaboys number for the kids," he announced) for as long as the rain god allowed him to wield the CD mixer. It took the power of a downpour (at 9.30 p.m.) to stop the music.
But no one had reason to complain. For, by then, they had had savoured mouthful of delicious food and earful of entertaining music. In short, the evening was a fitting finale to a grand show.
PRINCE FREDERICK
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