Media Team Co-Ordinator (Club Muzik)
2nd June, 2012 YAC Range Ground, Imphal
Monsoon Beats 2012 is a non competitive rock music event organized and managed by Club Muzik Events under the banner "Rage Against Crime". It was a protest against various crimes related to different sections of the society. Held on the 2nd of June, 2012 it featured Noiseware of Pune, Magdalene of Aizwal and Digital Suicide of Guwahati alongside Rubicons, Cleave and The Wishess from Imphal.
Cleave introduced the event with an instrumental, Overture by Dream Theatre. It was the appitizer.
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| The Wishess |
The Wishess was the first band of the day. They brought forward Metallica with Enter The Sandman and took Back In Black by AC/DC. Thompson's fine guitar work at No More Lie by the legendary Iron Maiden was an eye pick. They ended with an original, We Are Stronger. Bishi Thounaojam, vocalist of the band never had a better gig till date.
A countdown from five and Rubicons sprang out among the haze of the deep stage lights. The band is a unique figure of friendship and family bonds. Baby, the lady behind the mic was strong and confident alongside her brother Shivraj, the lead guitarist. Reaching out with Crush Crush Crush and That's What She Get by
Paramore fans roar out their singer instinct to the familiar tunes. My
Favorite Car was the band's original before winding up their slot with Let The Flame Begin by Paramore.
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| Cleave |
Cleave began their day with Princes of Arabia, one of their most exclaimed composition. Bipin's 7-String was a flame thrower with prickling swift melodies in Incepting Me Own. The band was a fitting tribute to some of the forgotten genres of metal rock. Cheering noises of "Cleave, Cleave" including
few sweet voices around proved the band's popularity and familarity in
this part of the country. A rush of adrenaline as the drum and the vocal
picked up in Instently Silent. It was a tonic experience.
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| Rubicons |
The alternative, experimental and various-rock depicting Digital Suicide was the first prime time band of Monsoon Beats. Denial Lathangsa, the vocal-guitarist of the band was on fire in his signifying Khaki uniforms. Unexpected and unknown to the Imphal crowds
they clear up all the doubts of being just a rock band but good band.
And not that they play originals but plays them carefree. Deepak Borah's distorted bass tone and Ratan's well timed punches thrashed the fans towards the front barricade. Watching the band: Never under estimate a three piece band.
Digital Suicide started with Digital Life, then Ninja and followed by Third World Superstars.Democrazy was their next pouring out crazy sparks of social messages. Their last was the funky Overdrive. Daniel doing the solo parts at Overdrive with his knees on floor was a cherishing memory to carry back home.
Meeting the band after the show it was the superb hospitality of Imphal which rings up first on their mind. Monsoon Beats was their first visit in Imphal (Manipur)
and they couldn't have had a better time, the band commented. Though
the crowds were not familiar with their originals they sang and danced
along till the end, a very positive response from the fans present that
day. The band quoted, "Sadly we couldn't see much of Imphal as it
was a short trip. But as soon as we landed in Guwahati the band was
absolutely sure that we need to visit Imphal again very soon."
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| Digital Suicide |
A message from Digital Suicide: "We
are three guys who are proud of our land, our nation, our art. Violence
and insurgency has left our beautiful land, once peaceful region
shattered and disturbed. We have seen lives of innocent friends and
families snatched away before our own eyes. We need to rise our voice
yes, but not at the expense of our brother's and sister's lives. We
don't just want to limit our message to our songs, we believe the youth
is the only way out for us to get out of this mess. And the modern,
educated youth needs to be united. We want to form a huge collective of
young, proactive, dynamic, artistic, creative young minds of our North
East India region who can take a vision forward and inspire generations
to come. We truly believe our music and our band is a tool for us and we
plan to get involved with like minded individuals, organizations, even
the government and keep bouncing fresh innovative means of spreading
awareness and information about our roots, our potential and our future.
We will raise our voice with our guitars and not guns this time." An amazing band the North Easterners are blessed with.
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| Megdalene |
Next was Magdalene, one of the biggest fan following band in the country. Starting with Life Beyond Death the
fans were forced to sing along with the band. They were melodious,
elegant and well experienced in the true sense of the word. Along with
good tunes, stylist guitar works and breath taking music videos they
were regarded as the best melodious band in the entire North East region. Victor,
the guitarist-manager of the band announched a band's DVD in the making
and are on process of collecting materials starting from the Imphal's
gig. The band's photographer which they brought with them had a hard
time not to miss out any special moments.
The second set list of Magdalene was a cover. But the fans were for something else. With screaming request for Save Me,
a very popular original the band was unarmed to listen to the whole
crowd. The entire crowd took out their cell phones and did the waving
torch in Save Me. An unforgettable sight with the volunteers having a rough time controlling the fans trying to break pass the front barricade.
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| Noiseware |
Earlier Magdalene's flight was cancelled due to bad weather on the 1st of June. As a result they reached Imphal on the day of the event. In another story the band left a guitar at Guwahati airport which was planned for Monsoon Beats.
Later on the day the drummer left the bass paddles inside the transport
van. Luckily they were recovered by the organizers before the show.
Though many a luck not favoring the band forImphal the band
didn't show any sign of restrains while performing on stage. The fans
got what they deserved. Along with a musical history of more than a
decade they shared their experiences and similarities among Manipuris and Mizos. "Hope North East becomes a peaceful and well developed region in near future." commented Victor while meeting the band.
No
more muddy mospit, no more crowd surfing and no more headbanging, it
was the moment of the headlining act of the day. Sickled with 8-strings Noiseware began reaping with their original, 23.
The crowds were unarmed as they see the beast roar in front of them,
everyone was star-struck. This first ever full 8-string band of the
country rippled Imphal City with electrifying djent noise,
heart storming compositions and power stage act. The band was a clear
example of how a tight rock band sounds on live acts.
But everything was short lived as their slot was cut short to only two songs due to restricted concert hours. They wind up Monsoon Beats 2012 with Smooth Criminal (@21:37
hr.). Disappointment erupted among the fans but were all in vain. Some
even stayed still almost half an hour screaming, requesting for one
more.
The band's full set list for Imphal was Intro, Eightware, 23, G String, Neec For Sleep, Maut Ki Ungli, Flicker and Smooth Criminal. As stated by the band they were pleasantly surprised by the hospitality and the level of professionalism CLUB MUZIK EVENTS showed.
Sharing the event as a thoroughly well thought and executed one with
all the artist being treated really well ensuring their comfort the band
carried back plesent memories of Imphal. With a strong believe that the
fans make the band and not the other way round they are always on the
go to do things in a special or a different way for the fans. The small
hiccup being that the band couldn't play the full set planned for Imphal
and they deeply disappoint themselve for the fans who must be wanting
more. A make up on the next gig in Inphal is imminent was a promise from
the whole band members. Well nothing is real untill its gone.
Few surprises we came accross while meeting the band were:
- Though formed and based in Pune (Maharastra)not a single member of Noiseware is a Maharastranian.
- They listen mostly to pop, dance, trans and Bollywood music apart from their mainstream metal dose.
- The band is the country's first complete band powered by 8-strings.
- Kaushik Sinha, manager of Noiseware who accompanied the band on Monsoon Beats is a Bishnupriya, who has a very close historical link to the Manipuris. He was basically from Assam, now living in Pune.
Pointing towards social awareness the Club Muzik Events contributed 10% of the ticket sale amount to two children homes each in Imphal East and Imphal West districts
of Manipur. It was a great response from some of the prominent social
and youth organizations of the state in associating the event as an
awareness campaign against various crime happening in the country.
No any untoward incidents were reported during the event under the jurisdiction of the Club Muzik Events.
With not even a single armed security personal seen inside the venue
the fans enjoyed the evening without any uneasiness. It was an event
with no any hiring from outside state, with no any financial drain from
its native. Though the whole event is a sponsored one the organizers
made it a low profile. Free from any political or organizational
attachments, without draining anything to outside state in organizing
and with no any mention of sponsoring firms Monsoon Beats created a great example of economic consciousness to the citizen of Manipur.
It was a showcase of Mannipur's best in sound, stage lightings, video
crew, online streaming, truess stage structure etc., all of it's own.
The Club Muzik Events thanked
the fans, bands, co-ordinators, supporters, licencing authorities,
partners and everyone who helped in making the event an extravagence.
Name: MONSOON BEATS Theme: Rage Against Crime Date: 02/06/12 Venue: YAC Range Ground, Imphal Bands: The Wishess (Imphal, IN) Cleave (Imphal, IN) Rubicons (Imphal, IN) Digital Suicide (Guwahati, IN) Magdalene (Azawl, IN) Noiseware ( Pune, IN)
Sound:Hills Sound Reinforcement, Senapati
Lights: KISS Keishamthong, Imphal
Stage and Truess Structure :TREN
Official Photographer :Himat & Munindrajit
Videography/Crew : Herojit Thoudam, Imocha Okram, Kennedy, Mahesh Chettry, Toman Yumnam
Live streaming crew: Biyondi Ksh, Boris Oinam, Kahaopou Riamei, Uttam Ch.
online partner: www.MetalBase.in
live streamed @ www.RockMusicManipur.in
event organized and managed by CLUB MUZIK
This review can also be found at https://www.facebook.com/clubmuzikevents
Photographs of the Events can be found here
Photographs of the Events can be found here
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