Swinging to classic rock
The much maligned Mondays just got a little better with bands from across the City descending at a restaurant with their guitars in hand every week to play at a gig titled Bulls Unplugged.
Bleed, Illuminati, Catalyst, Headphones, Haven, Reclaiming Elephants among others have all signed on to be a part of the act. Bulls Unplugged is a performance space offered primarily to up-and-coming bands in the City. The idea, the event co-ordinator Justine Jude, said, is to support new talent in the City and provide them with a stage to showcase their musical prowess.
The latest addition to the list was Solder who performed at Bulls Unplugged recently. The band made up of Siddarth Abraham on lead vocals and acoustic guitar, Samson Philip on bass and backing vocals, Joel Rozario on drums and vocals, Akhilesh Kumar on rhythm and vocals, Mark Escotee on lead guitar played a mix of covers and own compositions.
Influenced in equal parts by Rock Royalties like Lynard Skynard, The Beatles, and Pink Floyd and Local Legends like TAAQ and Galeej Gurus, these boys say their music swings more towards classic rock even while they enjoy mixing it up.
“Usually, I come up with the riff and send it to the guys and they add to it. Writing lyrics is a collaborative effort. We want to compose more songs and launch an album,” said Escotee.
“And win a Grammy or two,” the band joked. “We like to play our own compositions more. As of now we do 60 per cent covers and 40 per cent own comps.” The band seems to have the right idea, given the fact that they were much better performers while performing their own music as compared to their covers. Their Beatles’ medley, for instance, received a colourful comparison.
Anand, an audience member said, “It was more like a centipede unsure of how to use its limbs”.
In Mark Escotee, a good hand on lead guitar, one saw reflections of a young Tony Das, from mannerisms to facial expressions.
Bassist, Samson Philp teased his guitar huddled in a corner filling his big red boots with grace. The drummer was better on vocals than on skins. Anand thought that, “The drummer should spend the rest of his life singing CCR covers.”
