Medusa live at the Blue Frog!

Vocalist Raxit Tiwari did mention at the start of their gig that this was an important and special day for the band, but it was only after a few songs that he announced that this would be the last gig they would be playing under the name of Medusa.

Like everyone else at the Blue Frog that night, I slipped into a few moments of silence until we heard the next sentence. Tiwari stated that for their upcoming album and every gig hereon, the band would perform under the new moniker of ‘Sky Rabbit’.

Their set opener was one of the first songs they wrote as a band, ‘Daddy Loves us All’ which sent the crowd into instant nostalgia, and the chronological order continued as the band played the ever-popular ‘Anti-Coke Ganpati’, a befitting number for the current festive season. And as visuals of the band’s new image were screened, guitarist Rahul Nadkarni buttoned the groovebox and Sky Rabbit ran through tracks like ‘Swimmer’, ‘Try’, ‘I Become I’, ‘A n B’, ‘Hilltop’ and ‘March’.

There was also a cover of Joy Division’s ‘Ceremony’, which seemed to fit perfectly with the rest of their set, seeming like a tribute to the new wave pioneers. One look at the members left no doubt in my mind that they were having an enjoyable time throughout their hour-and-a-half long set.

And the set wouldn’t (and shouldn’t) have been any longer. At times, part of their signature sound (especially the stick-work by drummer Harsh Karangale) seemed to repeat itself and this should be something the band would hope to prevent in future sets. Barring that, the energy of Medusa/Sky Rabbit fluctuates well enough to suit the mood of their songs. ‘Maybe Is Open Tonight’, ‘Over the Rise’ and ‘Sweet Smile Diving’ are drenched in melancholy, and executed perfectly.

One rare sight fans were treated to was that of an encore, something that I have never seen the band oblige to previously. So, even though they didn’t even have any songs left – as Raxit had pleaded – keeping in mind that this was a historic gig of sorts, the band performed ‘Anti-Coke Ganpati’ for one last time as Medusa.

Photo credit: Naman Saraiya : http://flickr.com/naman-saraiya : @namansaraiya