Monday, August 15, 2005

666+1

The previous post about independence day was my 666th post. That's the ode to unlock my mobile if anyone ever gets their hands on it. I am pissed with Mumbai Mirror right now, because it reports absolute lies. I always used to trust the fact that that news is exaggerated, but not modified. In one article I saw Mumbai Mirror telling blatant lies. I am sure not to trust the rest of the paper, and come to think of it, all other papers as well...

I am just going to compare what was reported by Mumbai mirror to what really happened.

1) Vishal Dadlani taunts the audience with cuss words
They got part of this right. Vishal only did that because of the unresponsive audience. He began to taunt heavily towards the end, but he pleaded a bit, by telling things like "we came here to play for you." The audience was unresponsive, and didn;t like his attitude one bit. He used the words "bunch of pussies" and "I'll fuck your mommas" a lot.

2) Rock fans in a state of frenzy respond to the Pentagram lead vocalist with an attempt to ransack the stage. They tried to jump the barricade while the organisers failed at crowd management.
Absolute bullshit. Rock fans were in a state of frenzy, but not one of them abused the barrier. I was right there in the front. All of them demanded that the organisers come out and speak to them. They were angry not because of the cuss words used by Vishal, but because he threw a bloody ten kilo mike stand into the public, which was reporte in the next frame.

3) The police gets into thea ct. The people were essentially enraged by Vishal throwing a microphone stand at the gallery. no one was injured however
This is the part that hurts the most. I actually saw, and thought it was too cruel to photograph this kid who was bleeding profusely from his forehead, nose and one cheek, Two of his friends carried him and shouted for help. A section of the crowd responded and carried him out of the stadium. Most people at the back wouldn;t know what the hell was going on, and would believe the Mumbai Mirror's version of the events.

4) Within minutes the stage is turned into a graveyard with all the equipments destroyed. The dais wears a deserted look as the rock band is escorted out and people indulging in the mayhem are kicked out of the stands.
Another load of crap. the band was booed off stage. The Public went out cheering anc clapping that the rotten show was over. They actually applauded like hell while going out, and shouting slogans like "pentagram ki maa ki chut." No one was kicked out, everyone left happily. More importantly, no one went on stage to ransack the equipment. The band members were afraid that someone would do this, and therefore took out their own equipment. The picture in the paper was probably taken after this happened. The audience did not do one bit of damage. I know, because I was right in the thick of things.

5) It's all over and no once can tell there were about a thousand people rockig to music just a few moments before the venue is compeletely cleared out
I guess they got this part of it right.

Frankly, the music was not as good as Xaero or Them clones, but better than the rest. I was one of the few approciating his music, not knowing that he was hated in the rock scene. I donno... I am a newbie here. Randolph actually had to hold him back from coming off the stage and hitting people. I guess he just shouldn't have acted like such a kid. The crowd began to enjoy making Vishal progressively angry.
The crowd hated PDV too, and they started playing covers that the crowd liked. In fact, they chanted "MC BC" with the crowd, and blended it into their song. I guess it was a pretty good trick they pulled off.

2 comments:

Goan Pao said...

666 + 1..WTF man youve gone one up on Satan...
BC MC...man I love that chant..I remeber parikrama singing to that chant..they had a special song that went with it called Loudar..god all this stuff bout rock concerts get me nostalgic..
about the mirror article..this is a guy/gal trying to portray the rock community in India as a violent lot. They like to portray a ghastly image of rockers when I think all that rockers in bbay want to do is get a high and chill to cool music...

Shame on the Mumbai mirror...but I guess if they hadnt made up the violence nobody would have read the article...sensationalism attracts..

Anorion said...

Oh man, I was totally convinced by my own harebrained theory that sensationalisation always brings the core issue into focus. whenever anything been blown out of proportion, people actually talk about the issue and this makes a difference. You just gave me an example where focus is shifted from the issue. Damn.