Festival Of New Noise II at Pune

With the Mumbai gig scene whiling away into hibernation, coming by a gig worth its trouble had become an arduous task. So when I heard of this gig in Pune I finally found an excuse to get out! So I left good old Mumbai and went to the land of colleges(and metalheads) a plenty, Pune.

On reaching Zaha, the venue I was greeted with supreme disappointment! The whole place was smaller than a basketball court and had a cloud of claustrophobia looming about it! The ensuing sound check however, made it was quite evident that the place had proper speakers. So sound shouldn’t have be an issue at all. After squandering in a roadside Dhaba and killing a lot of mosquitoes in the parking lot, the gig got underway at 7 PM .

The bands list at the gig was as follows:
Dropout Society
Unbound
Vyzasa
Silver
Depths Of Suffering
Blackhole Theory

Dropout Society
Genre - Alternative/Punk Rock

Well, I really don’t know what to say about this band. The sound was simply set too loud and at times bordered on ear-shattering levels. So I couldn’t really make out much, but they still managed to slip in a transgression or two. They covered Backstreet Boys which earned them the wrath of majority of the male crowd but probably got a portion of the female crowd (and some male) grooving.(the amount of resistance spent in stopping myself from ending this scented with a zillion !s could have powered a small city for a week) They mercifully graduated to Punk rock, which really isn’t my mug of beer but the people who like punk appreciated their performance.
Songs to watch out for : Time for a change.

Unbound
Genre - Classic Rock

Unbound did a pretty good job of keeping classic rock alive that night. They did 3 covers, sad, because I expected them to play more OCs. The crowd grooved to some good old Led Zeppelin. Tejas’ vocals was good. ‘Pirates My Name’ was my personal favorite! Nice song with a pretty good intro and a killer lead in the mid! A worthy Led Zep followup.
Song to watch out : Pirates My Name.

Vyzasa
Genre - Extreme Death metal

Vyzasa were tight on the night!(pun intended) They got the crowd moshing and head-banging in an instant! They covered Death and Arch Enemy and also had two killer OCs, Fearophobia and God Shaped Hole. That was my money’s worth right there! Manish was on fire! He recently had surgery on his leg, but he was standing and kicking some serious ass! Visibly in a lot pain though. He managed pulled off one of the best solos I have ever seen by an Indian Metal band!

The only glitch in their performance was when they had to stop playing Fearophobia as they didn’t set the vocals on the monitors right. Before the gig, one of the band members showed my keen friend some attitude. Proper interaction with fans is extremely vital for locals bands trying to make it big! Drop the attitude or you guys will definitely lose your following. It would be a shame for a band of this quality to lose fans like this.
Songs to watch out : Fearophobia, the solo in this track was insane!

Silver
Genre - Experimental rock

Having played abroad at Taiwan, Silver’s experience shone through! They were definitely the highlight of the night. The crowd grooved to an all originals setlist. Rishi and Savio owned the show, with Mahesh doing the cheerleading bit of the act! Their Stage presence was immense and the band made sure there never was a dull moment throughout their performance. The crowd sang along to most of the songs. At the end, the crowd screamed encore, and Silver obliged with High On Fire.If you want to go see a band live and have a real good time, then this is precisely what the doctor ordered.
Songs to watch out : Feel The Heat , Silver Kiss , High on Fire.

Depths Of Suffering
Genre - Polyrhythmic Metalcore

This was Depths Of Suffering’s last gig with the current line up. They started off with bang- a high octane Slipknot cover. Their performance was definitely charged up with Snehadeep going insane on the vocals. Crowd favorites were Vasectomy and Hypercube. It seems that their time slots were messed up as they finished quickly. Even though it was short, it was fun while it lasted.
Songs to watch out : Vasectomy, Hypercube.

Blackhole Theory
Genre - Death Metal

They weren’t there in the advertised line-up, but it was a pleasant surprise to see them there, even though they played for a paltry 10 minutes.

The gig was amazing! The lighting was good! The sound was even better! The kind that one would expect of a club. The lights coupled with the music were certain enough to set off an epileptic seizure. The bands that played here were of different rock/metal genres! So there was a whole lot of variety to look out for! People who came to have a good time got their money’s worth! 150 bucks definitely well spent and a gig worth travelling for!