Bands rock the stage

WINNING HEARTS

Bands from various colleges performed at LSR college’s annual festival

Tarang, the annual fest of Lady Shri Ram (LSR) College, began with a western group singing event. Screeching guitars, thumping drums and thunderous applause greeted the event ‘Battle of the Bands’ in the college auditorium.

The battle took off on a slightly cold note. The first band, ‘Pratigya’, with Abhishek as the lead singer, failed to impress what seemed like a rather deflated audience with their first song Aas Paas. Their next song Sadda Haq, from the movie Rockstar, didn’t seem to work too well either as the audience left midway. Their interaction with the crowd didn’t pep them up and they had to exit the stage right before their last song, as it was time for the next band to come on stage.

The second performance was by ‘Soul River’, which brought a certain amount of intensity to the stage with their original, self-composed song, ‘Illusions of the Soul’. Their music was a dark yet soulful form of rock and their lyrics had fantastic imagery. The crowd finally woke up when they played their second song, Burn it Down. The strong point of this band was their synchronisation and their solos, which were simply flawless and very well composed. They earned a round of applause and a series of hoots from the audience.

By the time the next band, ‘Incredible Mind Funk,’ came on stage, the audience had undergone a sort of revival – more seats had filled up, and people seemed more appreciative and receptive of the music. They played a mixture of punk rock and jazz, their synchronisation was excellent and the vocalist, Neeraja, simply floored the audience. It was a peppy and fun-filled performance.

The next band ‘Soul’d Out,’ was the most popular and well-known of all the participating bands, with vocals by Chetan, accompanied by Shajal on bass, Abhay on saxophone, Abhijeet on drums, and Bhanu as the lead.  They received a very loud and enthusiastic welcome from the crowd. They seemed to connect with the audience. They built a rapport instantly, and gave a brief introduction to the kind of music they play and the songs they have composed, which they performed as well.

This performance was undoubtedly the most well-received performance of the entire battle. The crowd couldn’t stop clapping and shouting in appreciation and everybody enjoyed the nine minutes that Soul’d Out was on stage for. They completely ruled the event, and created an energy and ease on the stage with their dance moves and general enthusiasm. They were the only band to use a saxophone along with drums and bass.

Their solos were amazing, synchronisation was flawless and vocals were perfect. They left the crowd cheering, clapping, and asking for more. Overall, the very first event of ‘Tarang’ was a well-received and a successful one. ‘Soul’d Out’ won the competition.