Udrek

A totally new dimension added to the music making process, interesting all those who aspire to make something on the right side of zero on the decency scale. 'Recording music', yes.
Me and Syd, we sat together to firm his composition, which was roughly recorded on Syd's computer on Fruity Loops. Its a soothing acoustic track called 'Udrek' with the lyrics still missing, hopefully will get finalised by the end of this week. Ashwin Dutt of Dog Ate Disco agreed to do the drums for the track. Lets see how the recording shapes up and then hopefully, i'll upload the track on myspace.

Trainspotter Trainspotting.

Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a starter home. Choose dental insurance, leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose your future. But why would anyone want to do a thing like that?

Sometimes you can't actually describe your philosophies in life, untill you come across a line which is so perfectly framed, compiled and composed.

Kya pak raha hai !

Yes, bored, tired, mindfucked. Why ? No idea.

NP : Megadeth - Holy Wars... The Punishment Due.

THE MAIDEN EXPERIENCE !!!

Event info:

IRON MAIDEN LIVE IN CONCERT
SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME WORLD TOUR 2008
Date:1st February 2008
Venue: MMRDA Grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai
Ticket Price:Rs. 1500 + Rs. 150 Service fee Rs. 900 + Rs. 100 Service fee
Gates open - 4 pm onwards



Iron Maiden landed in Bombay on 29th Jan in their new aircraft Boeing 757, specially made for the tour, and yeah the best part, was piloted by the man himself Bruce Dickinson . Here's what the man had to say

“We've been around the world many times and done some pretty momentous things but this is a first, not just for us but for any band on the planet.

“When we came up with the idea of getting one big plane with all the band, crew and equipment on we didn't realise how complex it was.

“But here we finally are on our 757 which we've christened Ed Force One, with yours truly wearing his Captain's uniform, ready to fly us off around the Globe.

“We're doing 50,000 miles in 49 days and bringing Maiden mania to India, Australia, Japan, Mexico, all round South America and finally the US and Canada. That's 21 concerts, 19 cities, 10 countries and 400,000 fans.

“And we're bringing a Monster of a show with us - pyramids, cyborgs, special effects and a setlist to blow every Maiden fan's mind.

“The UK can see it all in July at Twickenham Stadium, so see you all then. And in the meantime, wish us luck as we set off on our Round The World mission to bring metal to the masses!"

DNA's take :
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1148327

NEWS channel :
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1014030050654293619&hl=en

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBniMHcNR30



Feb 1st came, and people got up early to witness one of the best live acts in the world. Some of my friends had planned to reach the venue at 7 in the morning, god knows they really went or not, i was attending lectures at that time, nerdy but true. I reached the venue at around 4ish to see a massive line for the entry, people were hiding their booze and ciggies in their socks, shoes, undies and all those places only to find that the security guards are'nt strict enough...well the one who checked me was like " please hum log ke saath co-operate karo, ciggerates andar mat leke jao, please" Shit, that guy was begging. I was reminded of the livewire checking then, which is way more strict than these international concerts.I was standing in the 1k line which was way shorter than the 1650 one. Yeah i had bought the 1k pass, couldnt save up more.

After i entered the venue, i was like "FAAAAK, where is the stage?", and then my friend was like "See there" pointing towards the stage which was miles away. 1k stand was really that far away. Ok, that was a bit exaggerated, but then yea, the stage was really far off, nothing close to what i thought the gig would be. It was more like the bunch of people standing away from the venue and watching for free.

Campus Rock Idol winners, NERVEREK were supposed to open for the bands, and shit that was horrible, not skillfully or something, but then at an international gig, please no upcoming acts for opening, people come there thinking all about the main act (Maiden here), so the level is set in their minds, when will DNA stop doing this? god knows. The only part of the band that stood out for me was their bassist, and the vocals a bit, were decent enough. Overall the band got some boo's at the start and some applauds and devil horns when their set got over, quite an achievement for an upcoming band, must say. I-ROCK or LIVEWIRE elims would've been a better place for the band to perform.

Till the time people were still getting in. I was standing at the barricades, yea i was, but right behind at the 1k section (funny joke). The cops were standing right in my front, rather watchmens they were. Well i nicely investigated the place with a couple of my friends, as to how we are going to get into the 1650 section. There was a double barricade which made it even more difficult, and the security people standing in between. They were trying to act totally like those firang policemen at the concerts, like looking towards the crowd and bashing whoever is trying to act crazy and all, after some time, even they sat down taking naps, after all TOPS SECURITY it is, the tag on their uniform i mean.

Then came Lauren Harris with her aweful vocals, now i wonder why the fuck is Steve Harris promoting her. There was nothing special about her rather than her being Steve's daughter and yeah being hot( shit i was so far away couldnt even see her face, only her leather tights shining from that distance). The guitarist was good and the bassist too had a nice stage presence. An Avril Lavigne kinda stage presence, but then even Avril is better. She played a long set and the applause was the most when she said "this'll be our last song".I suggest instead of performing they should distribute Lauren Harris posters, the crowd will be more happy then.

Parikrama came in next, one of the best bands in India they say. They opened for Maiden in Bangalore and got a nice breakthrough, one of the major achievement in their loooooong career, they got to play at the Donnington Festival in UK. Well, didnt expect them to open again, beacause frankly speaking i am bored of them. But then the crowd was exited enough when they took the stage. They played a decent set leaving behind couple of their favourite tracks. Somehow i felt theyre taking things for granted now, after achieveing so much more than they could expect, theyre letting it loose. Well thats the difference between an Indian band and a International one. Quite an ignorabe performance it was.

Aah, now for what people had come all the way from Delhi, Bangalore, North east, pune, bangladesh, where not, after saving cash pocket money, the main act, IRON FUCKING MAIDEN !!!

Ok, wait a minute, they dint come as soon as Parikrama got over, there was a huge gap\delay inbetween, i guess they were waiting for the clock to strike 8:00, or maybe some settings backstage. I was still standing in the 1k stand and now, my aggression was taking over my patience, i dint want to watch Maiden from so far away, and then suddenly i saw a guy cross the barricades and run, which was followed by a couple of more guys. Then the lights suddenly went off, in the crowd, and it became even more difficult for the security guards to manage the crowd. People started shaking the barricades, like an aggression was boiling inside everone there. Then, suddenly, people started climbing the barricades and jumping over, and guess what, each and every fuckin person (even the girls) jumped over, and all that the security people could do was to watch them and run here and there, as to show that they were trying to do their job. Even i jumped, climbed on the barricade, took a pounce, and DASH !! no, i din fall, that was a perfect landing. From there i ran towards the stage, and yeah i made it , hardly a metre away from the stage, fuck that was insane. And then almost everyone from the 1k section had come into the 1650 section. Ahh, bloody cheap Indians they say, i say smart we are...

Ok, now the Stage lights went off, and then........ IRON FUCKING MAIDEN, hell yeah, it was time to \UP THE FUCKIN IRONS/

....and then all i can say is BOOOOM!!! BLASTTTT !!!
The gods took over the stage and rest is history.

An intro of Churchill's speech was followed by their powerpacked setlist from the era of Somewhere in time, Powerslave, Seventh son of a Seventh son, and obviously their all-time-favourite ones. The 30 tonnes of stage equipment that they had brought was worth watching and amazingly utilized.Changing backdrops, intense lightwork, changing costumes(by bruce), the huge (god knows how many piece)drumset ...was an absolute treat to watch. Bruce Dickinson kept on changing his costume to keep the crowd on their heels, and there was something new in every song of theirs. People kept on screaming for their favourite tracks, my god, after every song gets over atleast a dozen of people screaming for Fear of the dark, that was untill they eventually played the song. I wont speak much about the poseurs, because theyre the ones who cause mess around all the time and theyre present at each and every venue, gig, no matter what. Some of them were moshing, aah, i guess they'll sit back and relax when Slayer and Lamb of God are playing. Now the band didnt miss out anything in their act, Steve Harris was as usual shooting his bass towards the crowd, Bruce dickinson running climbing jumping around everywhere, Dave Murray was as usual calm and playing his lead parts effortlessly, Janek Gers swinging his guitar , Adrian Smith had some problems with the sound in between which was pretty much visible on his face, but then he managed to overcome it in some time. Well all in all i expected them to deliver and they did. As soon as they were amidst Iron Maiden, the song, the Eddie finally appeared, the 20 foot long, with a gun in his hand, shooting towards the crowd. The setlist was not unpredictable, but people expected more songs from the Powerslave, Somewhere in Time era( like sea of madness, The loneliness of the long distance runner, caught somewhere in time, etc which never came) but then what the heck, watching Maiden live is like a dream come true. Here's the setlist...

Click on the song to watch the video.(obviously they're bootlegs so dont expect them to be good quality)


The setlist (in order of songs played)
Intro - Churchills Speech (video included in Aces High)
01. Aces High
02. Two Minutes to Midnight
03. Revelations
04. Trooper
05. Wasted Years
06. Number of the Beast
07. Run to the Hills
08. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
09. Powerslave
10. Heaven Can Wait
11. Can I Play With Madness
12. Fear of the Dark ()
13. Iron Maiden [Eddie time \m/]

---- Encore ----

14. Moonchild
15. Clairvoyant
16. Hallowed Be Thy Name



Now, for those who missed the show, obviously there are two possibilities, that either you aint a Maiden fan or you're saving up for the Megadeth, Machinehead, Dream Theater show in March. Whatever the reason, nothing to be dissappointed about, beacuse the man himself, Bruce Dickinson said,

"This is the...first of many times we will return to India..."

So up the fuckin irons.....untill next time. Here goes the video link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ji60Dk6uiU

PARTING VIDE(NOTE ) :P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWQw4fG8RxU

Full Schedule for the first leg
SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME World Tour 08

February
Fri 1st - Mumbai, India - Bandra Kurla Complex
Mon 4th - Perth, Australia - Burswood Dome
Wed 6th - Melbourne, Australia - Rod Laver Arena
Thu 7th - Melbourne, Australia - Rod Laver Arena
Sat 9th - Sydney, Australia - Acer Arena
Sun 10th - Sydney, Australia - Acer Arena
Tue 12th - Brisbane, Australia - Entertainment Centre
Fri 15th - Yokohama, Japan - Pacifico Yokohama
Sat 16th - Tokyo, Japan - Messe
Tue 19th - Los Angeles, USA -The Forum
Thu 21st - Guadalajara, Mexico - Auditoria Telmex
Fri 22nd - Monterrey, Mexico - Arena Monterrey
Sun 24th - Mexico City, Mexico - Sports Palace
Tue 26th - San Jose, Costa Rica - Saprisa Stadium
Thu 28th - Bogota, Columbia - Simon Bolivar Park

March
Sun 2nd - Sao Paulo, Brazil - Skol Arena Anhembi
Wed 5th - Porto Allegre, Brazil - Gigantinho
Fri 7th - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Ferrofcarril Oeste Stadium
Sun 9th - Santiago, Chile - Pista Atletica
Wed 12th - Puerto Rico - San Juan Coliseo
Fri 14th - New Jersey, USA - Izod Centre
Sun 16th - Toronto, Canada - Air Canada Centre