When I first heard Live Banned a few years ago, I figured here was a band looking to have some fun and set themselves apart from the more serious bunch of bands playing metal, blues and progressive rock. Their antics were hilarious, their mash-ups of iconic rock and metal riffs with mainstream bollywood music even more so. Quite honestly, I never figured them to be a band that would actually put together an album.
Yet, here I was at the listening party of their soon-to-be-launched debut album ‘If you park here, your tyre will be air out’. Phew, that’s quite a long name. We have been getting exposed to some of the original tracks of theirs over time (songs like Auto-tune and the recent Death Dance). But in the underlying fun and quirky antics of the band, comes what I felt was a pretty serious album which was addressing some very contemporary urban problems through songs such as ‘Art is dead, artist is dead’ and ‘Fast fast’.
The tunes are fairly original and the lyrics do have meaning. And the band actually plays instruments. (Unlike some people who press buttons on a computer to generate repetitive noise and call themselves musicians). It’s an ambitious album. While the band has a loyal fan base who would buy the album, it will be interesting to see how the larger masses accept this brand of music. The launch is happening on the 1st of August at Vapour in Indiranagar. All the best to the band. Put it.
On another note, what’s up with the crowd at Bangalore gigs? As far as a performing artist is concerned, the crowds seem to be getting progressively dull. Most people come in and choose to just sit and sip their beer. This is irrespective of the type of music being played. The exception being for overpriced EDM shows. If this goes on, pretty soon, bands will no longer bother playing at Bangalore. And we’ll have to endure mockery like the folks in Delhi faced when Metallica chose not to play there.
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