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Official Gig Poster

Rolling In The Music Rush

Bangalore has been hosting increasingly frequent musical events on an almost daily basis and weekends are now often filled with a varied range of live music choices for the audience. With Karsh Kale playing on the same day, Rush was one of the many indie gigs happening last Sunday December 8. With a rock vibe of 6 different local acts, the show happened at Ion Bar and Lounge on Brigade Road, a venue not too appreciated for its sound systems. The bands that played were Asleep in a Rifle, The Yellow Car Theory, The Astronauts, The Getting Laid Project, Traces and White Mug.

1. Asleep in a Rifle is an experimental rock band, from the renowned music school, World Music Center in Malleshwaram,Bangalore. They describe their sound as stripped down, atmospheric, progressive music and were playing their first major gig, with an incomplete line-up. With a missing drummer, the tabla/keyboardist had to fill in for some songs. Some nice ideas and original music were a good way to open up the evening’s set. The band lacked tightness, but got crowds grooving with a cover of Lazarus by Porcupine Tree, validating the success of their first show, with potential to grow more.

Asleep In a Rifle

2. The Yellow Car Theory is an alternative rock band from Bangalore. With a few original compositions and a slew of covers under their belt, they’re slowly rising up and playing more shows. They were a fun loving trio who played some alternative/emotional rock covers. Two capo-d guitarists with some peaceful acoustic patches, a tight drummer and surprisingly, no bassist. Their cover of Coldplay’s Fix You was only partially well received, but their energy on stage was quite enjoyable and they were pretty vocal off-stage too.

The Yellow Car Theory

3. The Astronauts were an explosive four-piece set up. A much deeper bass tone saw the evening entering a louder realm. With some RHCP covers, their version of Lift by Poets of the Fall saw the semi-drunk crowd swaying to their tunes. Their original composition was also hugely popular. Having played at Bangalore’s ScoreNights and a few other key venues, this gig will add to their repertoire as a quickly growing hard rock act.

The Astronauts

4. The Getting Laid Project came on as their usual three-piece, but with an entirely new set-list of four songs. Pushing their concept of ‘sexual rock’ a notch further, these tighter compositions were more hard-hitting and show great scope for live performances. Offtime signatures and catchy riffs provided some insight into how the band is going to sound in 2014.

The Getting Laid Project

5. Traces, a progressive rock outfit, played three tracks, with a reworked version of their original composition ‘The Rebirth’, making it longer with varied rhythm patterns. Unorthodox basslines and high-reverb delay patches, mixing in with some very powerful singing promptly turned the night’s gig into a darker and more psychedelic zone. Playing their original, ‘Coy’ got the crowd grooving and it seemed like they were merely jamming. A great set.

Traces

6. White Mug closed off the night with some powerful rocky numbers, the most prominent of which was ‘Hold On’. Their stage presence was quite commanding, especially the bassist who was jumping around with the beats. Having played some pretty big shows in the city now, they look all set to start playing across the country in musical festivals.

White Mug

All in all, it was a good evening for the local rock scene as musicians from different bands could meet and gain perspective of new sounds. The total crowd turnout was pretty bleak, with individual fans coming to support individual acts, but the vibe of a great rock show was most certainly present.

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