motherjane at INCIDENT '10 NITK

27th Feb was a day I marked on my calendar a long while back. It was a day I had been looking for a long long long time. motherjane at NITK, Suratkal! It was like 350 kms away but hell, it was MOTHERJANE! My mom was wary of sending me because it fell right in the middle of my exams, two days before my Comp Exam and a day after my Math Exam. What a time for a concert innit? :P

Its actually quite awesome to note that I went for a motherjane concert during my exams during the previous semester too. And I must say, there is nothing that relieves stress and tension like a motherjane concert and a chat with the band. Anyway, on with the show and less of my rants.

I reached NITK at about 2 or so, just in time for a solid lunch on the house. :P And soon, the drum techs, band manager and lights technician moved onto the venue to set up John Sirs kit and check out other stuff, so we headed over and got started and I must say, another guy was setting up the international act, Led Zepplica's drum kit, and John Sirs kit was so much bigger compared to the one he was using. It was abnormally funny how people came around saying "Wow Led Zepplica uses a bit kit", while pointing at John Sirs kit and I would say "Nope, thats motherjanes man" :D :D :D - cool isn't it?

Anyway after a much delayed soundcheck the show actually got under way. I was told by few students of the college that people had been waiting in queues to get inside for over 4 hours. Now those are real janiacs! SALUTE! And the students there had a stall at the entrance where people could get half of their faces painted just like motherjane. I told Suraj Sir when I was driving back to our guest rooms and he was super touched by the gesture. Backstage or something he told me that my friends and I had started a movement, at Hard Rock Cafe when we came with t-shirts that had pictures of us and I felt so proud of myself at that moment and all I could say was "Before 1 Million comes 4" (there were 4 of us who had such t-shirts). But standing in the midst of all of those students who had painted faces and who knew how every song went, I was overtly happy because finally I was with my real brothers and sisters. I was with people who I related to because we all loved motherjane.

motherjanes show was power packed from the start. Their entrance was with their usual Kerala music which never fails to give me goosebumps for a reason I'm yet to find. They started their set with Disillusioned, and everyone around me went into a fit. Me? I was already in a fit. :P I was having the time of my life, I was singing my heart out and though my throat was out completely I still sang out with what little remained. I was shocked when people around me joined me while singing. Wow! What a moment. I had never been with such people before. I was used to standing in the middle of a crowd, me and my friends singing while everyone else headbanged due to lack of knowledge of the lyrics but they still had the love for the music. But these guys around me, they had the love for the music and they knew the lyrics. Simply amazing. motherjane played Mindstreet and Blood in the Apple and then came the song I had been dying to hear live. TRIBES OF BABEL!

Tribes of Babel is a song that motherjane had written for Amnesty International. Its a song about peace and how music can bring about peace. motherjane took the concept of the people of Babel. The story says that the people decided to build a tower so high that it can touch the heavens and thus they would challenge God and prove that nothing is beyond humanity. God decided that if it progressed as it were then there would be no end to their greed and decided to cast a spell on the people. He decided that the people would all speak different languages. Our wars and our fights are all because we say that "He respects a different religion!" or "She speaks a different language" and in our quest for peace we look for similarities and we loathe differences but motherjane looks at peace different. Imagine a world were everyone spoke the same word or every musician sung the same note and no one was different. Boring? Now imagine the beauty of the differences how, the 1st note and the 5th note in a song are similar yet they are different in their own ways. How you and me are different yet we both share something in common. Peace is when we, and all of humanity learn to embrace our differences and appreciate them. We must respect our differences and not shun them away. This is precisely what Tribes of Babel talk about. Catch live streaming of the song on : www.buffetlibredjs.net/peace.html - it is worth it. Trust Me!

Now back to the show, motherjane were soon ripping the place apart with Fields of Sound, Maya, Broken, Walk On, Karmic Steps, Before a Million comes One, Maktub and Soul Corporations. A beautiful mix of Insane Biography and Maktub and all plastered out and laid out well beautified for all of us, their fans. A special mention must go out to that solo that Baiju Sir played. I stood in the middle of the crowd speechless for about 10 minutes and then he switched to Fields of Sound and I was thrown of my feet. That guitarist is nothing short of a GOD! He had the entire 5000 or so students sing out "Saare Jahan Se Ache". India was displayed to the world right there. We didnt need a President or a Prime Minister salute the national flag on national television to fill us with a sense of patriotism all we needed was a guitarist like this playing a tune on his guitar and people all around would join hands and sing. Sing for the love of our Nation! Never seen anyone instill a sense of pride in me like he can. Hats off Baiju Sir! :D

And before I forget, March 7th was Baiju Sirs birthday. Rush to his profile if you didnt wish him yet. :D

Soon after motherjane were an international band called Led Zepplica, a bootleg band of Led Zepplin. I didnt wait to check them out, so you will not be seeing a review on them here. Apologies.

So till the next concert! Adios

amajaniac n so r u

AN ODE TO MY IDOLS - TO MOTHERJANE

14 years ago, on Jan 24th, yet another college band went up on stage as a cover up for a band that failed to keep its promise of playing in their college. No expectations whatsoever were around. Their drummer was the club secretary and they had to this show to get the crowd going. They had had just a week or so of practice and were on stage. Their sound check was at 12 at midnight. It went on till about 5 AM. Soon their drummer crashes at his home and leaves home in 2 hours. Everyone is sleep deprived. Yet they are all nervous as its their first show. I have no clue how that show went, but I have to say this band, in just 14 years, has done miracles that most other bands can only dream of. They’ve touched a billion hearts the world over and will always do so. They’re celebrities in their own right yet remain firmly rooted to the ground and have no air around them whatsoever. A band that has done everything from rocking the most unruly crowd to opening for major international acts like Megadeth to Opeth to rocking HIV positive kids. This band is one like no other. This band is MOTHERJANE!!!

Many people have asked me why on earth I’m so addicted to motherjane. My reply to them has always been “It is written” or “MAKTUB”. I don’t know why that is my reply and I will always keep wondering and never figure out an answer. But come to think of it I don’t think there can ever be a better reply. I’ve never pressurized anyone to listen to motherjane; I’ve only expressed my love out in public. But many a times, I’ve had many people come to me and asked for their music. They’ve come to me and said “Wow! This band is brilliant”. I’ve bonded with men from Java over motherjane, more notable people like Thoriq Arridlwan Aria and Ben Prasetyo. I’ve known these men only from facebook. But Thoriq is one man who was so touched by the music since they played the first note at Java Rockinland. Thoriq is one proud janiac, his display picture right now on facebook is that of him and his friend standing with John, the drummer and Suraj, the vocalist/lyricist. I’ve bonded with men and women and even kids my age, just a tad bit older, even a few younger and the only thing we have in common is our love for motherjane.

motherjane, motherjane, motherjane! It’s the only word that I chant all night and day. If I’m writing an exam, I’m superstitious enough to wear a motherjane t-shirt inside. I play the drums. I’ve learnt for just about a year or so. I dream of making a band and blah blah. And if I said that I don’t dream of becoming a band like motherjane I would be lying. BIG TIME! But I swear to God, everytime I play on a stage I’ll pray to God, yes, but I will definitely pray to JOHN THOMAS, my guru, to watch over me, in spirit, as I play my set. I’ll pray to SURAJ MANI, to be by my side, as I recall every word of his advice that I have been blessed to have. I’ll pray to CLYDE ROZARIO, pray so that I can get his temperament and loyalty to the music that flows through our bodies. I’ll pray to BAIJU DHARMAJAN, pray that I can be truthful to what I play and never forget the path that I have followed to reach the destinations that I hope to reach. I’ll pray to DEEPU SASIDHARAN, pray that not only do I play my instrument with as much love as he does but also that I can carry off an attitude like his on stage.

This band has produced some of the best sounding songs that has ever been made in India. And the most admirable quality about them is the fact that not only are they extremely patriotic, they are extremely proud to be patriotic. They end their set at every show with the words “Jaya He! Jaya He! Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya He!” from our national anthem. Baiju plays his rendition of Vande Mataram, admirably named Metal Mataram by few, during every gig. And each time (I have no clue about the notes mind you) it sounds so different in a way very motherjane. I hope that makes sense but its very true.

motherjane has brought out two albums and one EP in these 14 years. The EP got lost in the wilderness of Indian rock but there albums have been received with so much love and affection from people from all walks of life and their upcoming albums too shall be extremely well received. They brought out Insane Biography in 2003 with their ex-guitarist Rex, he currently plays for Avial which is also a super awesome band. They brought out Maktub in 2008. They released in a way no other band had. They had a web release! Their idea behind it was that they would be close to their fans on this very special day. They believed that this was the album that would give them the break that they deserve and my goodness, has it given them a super huge break or what? They’ve won the AVIMA and they’ve rubbed shoulders with Mr.BIG. They’ve extended their fan base from a few hundreds to many thousands or is it millions. They’ve grown from strength to strength and they shall always do so.

Their contract with Aum-I Artistes states that they must produce 5 albums in 5 years and they’ve produced 1 in 2 years. So we’ve got three years and four albums coming out! JANIACS I SWEAR TO YOU WE ARE IN FOR A HUGE TREAT!

Nelson Mandela once said that he dreamt of a while guy walking hand-in-hand with a black girl and vice versa. I don’t have such huge dreams. But I have one dream that many janiacs that I know will proudly support and stand up and say “Yes! I’ve dreamt of this too”. I dream that one day 5 men going by the names Suraj, John, Deepu, Baiju and Clyde will walk with head held high onto a stage and thousands of men stand up and clap in awe. They’ve just won the GRAMMY!!! They lift up their newest addition to their trophy case and then suddenly boys and girls in black t-shirts with motherjane written on them storm the hall and they sing out proud :-

YOU ARE THE BEAUTIFUL NOTE IN A SYMPHONY OF SPIRITS

A THREAD IN A TAPESTRY OF DREAMS

WHERE EVERY COLOUR BLENDS TOGETHER

LIKE THE DROPLETS, THE OCEANS, THE RIVERS AND STREAMS!!

motherjane is not just the first but the only band I know off that has composed haikus. They’re called the Odes to Life. And they seriously are! What John Keates did in Ode to Autumn in 3 stanzas, Suraj Mani did in the four lines on both tracks. The two odes to life talk about two faces of the same coin, LIFE and DEATH and yet both have a positive ending. I feel that one of the best things about motherjane, which other bands lack, is the fact that each one of their songs ends on a positive note. Take Broken, it switches from such a dire topic to a supremely positive note on the ability of humans to be courageous. I personally love that a lot about them.

No post on motherjane is complete these days without mentioning Eva Dowd, their online promoter. She has helped this band reached out to so many more people than motherjane personally ever dreamed off. Any post that involves me has the words “motherjanes no.1 fan”. I’ve thought of this tag. I’ve been called motherjanes biggest fan by so many people. But come to think of it honestly, I’m just one of them. There are so many out there who are as crazy about motherjane as I am maybe even crazier than me. I’ve had the honor of getting to know a few. Infact I actually want to take up this space to thank my cousin, Raja. He was the one who made me listen to my first motherjane song. Without him, who knows, maybe motherjane might have just sounded like a joke to me. There is one fan. RAJA! Then there is JABRI! There is NIKHIL! There is DAMIEN MARWEIN! (Very few named. Pardon me for omission of any names) There are ever so many and I have blessed with the company of only few of them but I am sure there are tons more out there who will give their life in support of this band. So to all the janiacs out there, here is yet another one of you, raising a toast to all of us who have proudly stood by our one true love – MOTHERJANE! And I’m sure I speak for all the janiacs out there when I say that we will always proudly stand by your side when all of us together CHASE THE SUN!

Here is wishing you a happy "anniversary" / "birthday" once again motherjane! May your songs dominate our souls in all the years that we may live.

AMAJANIAC!!!

motherjane @ Hard Rock Cafe - 24.09.09

motherjane had performed at Bangalore 12 days ago as part of Times of India International Arts Festival. That was in between my exams but this time around, it was after those irritating hours in a small room, similar to a prison chamber, with endless droning hours in front of sheets of paper that you barely understand head or tail of. And this time around, i vowed to enjoy this day like I've never enjoyed any day of my life. The day started with me jumping out of bed with butterflies in my stomach. Because today was the day that I was going to give something in return for all those brilliant notes of music that those 5 fine gentlemen have supplied to me. Today was the day when I was going to give them just as great a feeling as they had given me when they all sang happy birthday to me at Opus.

So before I get to the concert. Let me tell you what this kickass surprise was. And trust me, if you were a part of the crew that gave this surprise, you would have woken up with butterflies in your stomach too. Well here goes. Me and three other diehard janiacs that I know decided to paint our faces and make a t-shirt of our own. This idea came up when I logged on to pringoo.com and decided it was time to buy the motherjane t-shirt. The hopeless choice of colour ranging from baby pink to bright orange inspired the idea of coming up with our own t-shirt with our own faces painted on them. We could flaunt them and it would be truly ours. The t-shirt says AMAJANIAC. This is, in physical sense, the title of one of the songs that Suraj Sir has written. However, to us, it goes way beyond just a song. It represents the collective sense of belonging that we feel towards the band. It represents that spirit that dwells in us. It represents our true selves. It represents us!

We took an entire day to paint our faces and pose for our photographs and everything. I even made pizza and went on to be complimented as being a kickass cook which drove me to make dinner that night. We didnt really bother going to photo studio to get our faces done. We had a one lakh camera in our midst and we decided we'll do all the photo shooting at home. We had a black lamb of god t-shirt for a background, and thats quite an insignificant thing compared to the fact that we kept pillows on the chair and sat on the pillows to make sure our height was just right for the photo, which was on auto-shoot mode. LOL!

Our day turned out to be an out-right sucess, as you may see for yourselves.

JABRI - a.k.a. PRAVEEN :P

HARI - a.k.a ME :P

RAJA

NIKHIL

Well, those are our painted faces and that was just one half of our adventure. We then shifted the photos onto t-shirts and the front said AMAJANIAC and had our face. The rear had the chorus of the song written.

I WOULD UNDERSTAND IF YOU SAID THAT POSING IS AN UNDERSATEMENT

THATS US - JABRI, RAJA, NIKI n ME - JANIACS FOREVER

Now, for the big day. THE CONCERT! I was as nervous as I was when I went for my very first concert. We went to the venue with this t-shirt well concealed. An hour or so before the gig was to actually start, we decided it was time. FOR PAYBACK(refer to my last post)! :P - we called all the members of the band and made sure they could see us all and we slowly removed the shirts we wore on top of our t-shirts and we revealed our t-shirts and the moment they saw it, they were stunned. They had emotions running from shocked to happiness to crying out in joy to excitement to any emotion you can name. It was all there. I personally was extremely happy that they loved it. Mission Acomplished! This was one of the dreams that motherjane had envisioned when they started off as a band and I was really quite proud of myself to have been a part of this. I was proud that I had done what I wanted to do and that feeling is simply unmatched. We then took snaps with the band.

US AND THEM!

Infact, a cameraman from Deccan Chronicle came up to us and asked us to pose for him. That was my first taste of the celeb life [:P].

MOTHERJANE @ HRC - I'M SURE BANGALORE FELL IN LOVE :P

AND THATS CLYDE ROZARIO ON THE BASS

The concert began soon later and we were once again doing what we truely loved. We were watching our favourite men doing what they do best. Rocking! And rocking real hard at that. They played all their songs, except Prison Chains, Shh.. Listen and the Odes to Life. A couple of my classmates came for the concert. One of them came for his first ever concert. It was such a pleasant sight to see him thoroughly enjoy himself, but it came as no surprise, everyone thoroughly enjoys themselves at a motherjane concert! And so will you, if you go for one! [:D]. And thats a decision you'll never repent. I'll even buy you a ticket. Hehe! Anway, signing off folks! [:D] Sorry for the long read couldn't help. [:)]

ROCKING BANGALORE

SURAJ MANI - PASSION REDEFINED

THE GOD OF SMALL STRINGS - if you ask me he is the GOD OF ALL STRINGS

ME n MY GURU - JOHN THOMAS

ME WITH THE BUDDHA ON BASS - CLYDE ROZARIO

And before I sign off, here is a small song that I wrote about motherjane. Its my first song about them and hopefully the first of many to come. Read and enjoy. [:)]

Child of motherjane

We've all had our share of dreams
Blinded by faith and tested by time
But I've got a new saviour
That'll carry me through just that

A bond that I shared
Since I heard the first note
A bond that lingers
In every move of my soul

Each beat, each note,
Every melody is now
A part of me and it shall
Always be

Coz

I am a child of motherjane
A man that stands tall among many
And forever flying towards the stars
To reach his one true love "MOTHERJANE"

The lessons I've learnt
through just your songs
And lessons I shall learn
from nothing but your presence

Your faces feature in all my dreams
And your music flows through all my veins
And I am really blessed coz
You not just show me in yourselves, you
Give voice to all of my thoughts

And

I am a child of motherjane
A man that stands tall among many
And forever flying towards the stars
To reach his one true love "MOTHERJANE"

Looking forward to your comments about it.

Cheers
Hari
amajaniac n so r u

motherjane - sep 12th - @ OPUS

The Times of India International Arts Festival brought together some of the biggest names in the world arts field together in one city. Spread over about two weeks or so, this was one gala event with over 20 artists performing. Out of that 20, I was stunned to find an artist that I least expected in that list - MOTHERJANE.

CLYDE ROZARIO - BUDDHA ON BASS

motherjane played at Opus, Brookefield on the 12th of September, just a day before my birthday to those unaware. [:P] For a janiac like yours truly, there is no better birthday celebration that this one. It had been quite a while since I last saw them live. That was at Le Rock if I'm not mistaken. And for an impatient man like me thats a loooooooong time.

SURAJ MANI - SINGING SENSEI

Anyway, I got to the venue, which I would say fails to fall in the boundary of Bangalore but well, no complains. The show, started off at about 9 or so and my was it a blast from the beginning. They started of with a kick ass rendition of Disillusion. The song has been made slightly heavier and gives it a perfect feel to either headbang like never before or jump and just have fun throughout. The crowd, most drunk, went berserk from the start to the end. Most carried on being berserk even after the show ended. [:P]

JOHN THOMAS - THE METRONOME

motherjane, I've always said is the perfect example of a vortex of energy combined with 5 musically brilliant men combined with a bunch of great gentlemen. Throw in some passion in there and voila, you've got your men of dreams. They played a really good mix of tracks from both their albums. They've got four more albums coming out in four more years and I am super excited. Their next album, as announced by Suraj at Opus is to be titled "Graffiti Without Walls" because music in its truest meaning is really graffiti without any barriers whatsoever. Its the will and wish of the artist to create music in his/her own manner. And its the will and wish of the listener to interpret in his/her own manner, so music quite aptly fits the definition graffiti without walls.

DEEPU SASIDHARAN - SIX STRINGED SPARTAN

The crowd really had an amazing time and I, personally, had a superb birthday in advance. They were many hilarious incidents during the show some of which require personal sight of the situation to really laugh out loud.

BAIJU DHARMAJAN - GOD OF SMALL STRINGS

The crowd was so enthralled by motherjane that it got motherjane to play an encore of Chasing the Sun and the band gratefully obliged. motherjane kicked ass on 12th and after the concert we settled down for a nice dinner. And I was pleasantly surprised when the whole band sang Happy Birthday at 12 o'clock. If I'm not mistaken, I felt my eyes water right there. My that was a really touching surprise and I vowed to surprise them just as much and read my next blog to find out what I and a bunch of friends of mine did to get even [;)]

cheers

Hari

amajaniac n so r u

Junkyard Groove at OPUS

Junkyard Groove last came to the Garden City for a show at the Kyra Theater(just a fancy name to say a pub with sky-high prices) and their set consisted of about four songs and a Folk You encore. They were exceptionally great and it was the first time I heard Feel Like a Knife, Twinkle and Hold. Amazing Songs! But the time slots didn't help one bit.

JUNKYARD GROOVES NEW T-SHIRT DESIGN!

Like a month or so later, news spread that they were coming back again for THREE shows. Two at Opus, priced at 510 bucks each. Bam! Major Setback! But then, I was rather firm that I had to go for it. I knew all of their songs at last and could jump and sing to my hearts content. And Opus is a way better place than Kyra for a JYG Show.

NULL FRICTION

At about Nine, Null Friction from Chennai took the stage and belted about 4 or 5 classics and ended their set with Another Brick on the Wall by Pink Floyd. It was amazing finish to their set and got the whole crowd going. Got me going, at least. Everyone was belting out anti-education lines and that was such a treat for a student like yours truly. :)

Junkyard Groove took the stage by storm soon afterward. With a brilliant set, it completely outclassed their last show at Kyra by a really large margin.

The started of with one of my favourites IMAGINE. Followed by another classic Rock 'n' Roll! Rock 'n' Roll got me high(like literally - cuz i was jumping :P) and JYG was at their bloody best or so I thought. They soon played Let You Go and Been So Long. And then came my favourite JYG Song FOLK YOU!! Amazing Song with Amazing Riff and a super oppurtunity to jump like mad and go crazy.

Precisely what I did! My cousins and me were probably the only ones in the whole Bar who weren't in an intoxicated state. The poor waiter got a heart ache when we said we dont drink and at the end of the night, I'm sure everyone thought I had "Puffed the Magic Dragon"! :P

SLASH REVITALISED

But, I did go high, real high on JYGs music. Who Wouldn't? When the songs that followed an amazing spelled out Folk You were Twinkle and Its OK.

AMEETH! - ROCKER DRINKER n DREAMER

Next up, was an acoustic set of about three songs. This was by only Ameeth. He played Simple Song, Say Goodbye and Please Don't Wake Me Up. The last two being my favourite songs from their EP "Nicer in a Minute".

JYGs EP - Nicer in a Minute

11:11 - Bootleg - JYGs Album

In the midst of Say Goodbye came smthng unexpected where Ameeth decided to improvise thanks to Sids absence and did the solo with his mouth! Hilarious. Please Don't Wake Me Up is a romantic classic that I just love to hear over and over again. If you haven't read the review I wrote about their EP do read it. Its got a review on all of the songs and links to get them.

Then, Ameeth took a break and the rest of the guys came back on. They played a few covers. Imagine by Beatles, sung by Sid and a Micheal Jackson cover sung by Craig. Craig forgetting the lyrics in between was amazing! Honestly, I cannot do any justice to their performance with this post. Their shows are something to behols not read about. The small perks of laughter like Ameeth saying Craig that he almost caught him fart when Craig went real close to his hind and stuff like that is something to watch and enjoy. Anyway I'm still trying my best for those who couldn't get there.

Thats us!

Ameeth came back on after those two songs and they played Feel Like a Knife. Craig, then under humungous peer pressure, raps a couple of lines, which is again absolutely comedy. Maynard then played a solo that took my breath away! Maynard is like a man to worship. The way he moves around on his drum throne is amazing. Supreme Ownage!

After that came a song called Aya Suthila Pee! Amazing song which you may check out by clicking the link below. Hilarious more than amazing really! Had everyone in splits and then came Sid in all his might in Hold. The start and that solo is Hold is a thing to behold. And Sid with his Slash look is ever so cool to watch! We should have an Indian G3 concert with Sid, Baiju and John Antony of Karnatrix. It would be ever so brilliant!

Junkyard Groove unfortunately had to leave and played a supremely distorted Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver. Ameeth was bustling with energy and some of us were screaming our lungs out for them to stay. But all good things do come to an end and so did that show. And so does this post! :P

My cousin and me with Sid a.k.a Slash :)

My cousin and I with Maynard - Man to admire

My cousin and me with Maynard

http://junkyardgroove.net/ - Official Site

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8apPkj67R8 - Aya Suthula Pee Video

http://www.gimmesound.com/JunkyardGroove/ - Gimmesound Page of Junkyard Groove - Download and they get paid