The Indian Music Disaster.

Seemingly, Goa isn't what it used to be. From being the retro colored, nature infested haven as seen on videos from the "Goa Hippie Tribe", it is now a tourist spot. Another liquor capitol, another large pub. The people of Goa are stuck between the richness of selling all the alcohol and letting go of the happy-go-lucky we're friendlies here to help attitude. The ones in their 20s are shrewd capitalists. They don't want a friend for life, but are more than happy to provide you with one for the night, at a price of course. Whatever your trip, they know someone who knows someone who can get it for you. Sometimes you get busted, sometimes conned. They'l disappear and so will your buzz.

The problem with all this is it attracts the wrong bugs. People presume that Goa is another sin-city. We found many mumbaiyas and bangalorean studs on the beaches wandering around in desperate need of a high, anything but what you get in the shops. Don't be mistaken, these aren't your cat-hunting crack addicts you'd find lurking in alley-ways in your city, these are the people who've never tried any drug and Goa is the perfect setting for it. "Arre, yaar! Hum Goa mein hain aur koi bhi chemical try nahin kiya hai. Ganja bhi nahin mila!", a statement i overheard on the beach. What ensues is a lot of drinking and then the lets-ask-random-people-for-stash. Very rich.

But there are largely undiscovered parts of Goa that calm the nerves of peace-trippers and keeps the local bikini-brigade far away at the commercial beaches(rather giant-pubs).

Yet, the name of Goa resonates a carnival spirit and we were invited to be a part of the Indian Music Conference, organized by Spotlight Events. The people who worked on this event are all very charming and in their own right lovable. Yet, they lacked the know-hows of what exactly a rock band is and what a rock show must have.

To start with, the band had been separated and put in 2 different flights about an hour apart. Adi and Anand missed their flights because of that very reason. Taking the blame for our actions, the rest of us boarded the flight while Adi and Anand decided to take a bus to Goa and join us there. The flight was quite nice and our fellow-passengers happened to be Thermal & a Quarter.

Upon landing, we ran into the members of Skinny Alley and Pink Noise. Transport had been arranged to take us to one Rio Hotel, where we were to register for the festival. Apparently, they presumed that all us had missed our flights(because they didn't know we were on 2 different flights) and had to make other adjustments for us. While they organized, Skinny Alley offered us beer and the hotel took an hour and half to make our sandwiches. Finally we boarded another cab to The O Hotel, 4/5 star accommodation. Somehow all the delays were forgiven at the sight of the bed and the bathtub in the hotel room.

More confusion ensued upon Anand and Adis arrival the next morning. They still hadn't told us what would be happening on our gig-day. A random call, told us there's a cab on its way to take us to sound-check. The cab had been waiting a few hours before someone decided to inform us what cab number and that it had arrived. I had lost patience couped up in a hotel room in Goa and rented out a bike and made my own way to South Anjuna. The rest of the band took the cab which dropped them off about a kilometer away from the venue, because the cabbie was refused permission to go through the market to the venue. They were asked to get out and walk with all the equipment to the Cafe Looda.

Upon arrival, we were quite happy. The Cafe was already full. The flea market had thousands of people walking by and the stage had a clear view of the ocean, the beach and eventually the sunset. The drum-kit hadn't arrived and it was already 2o'clock. We were supposed to start at 4. At 3 a junior kit arrives. At 3.30 we were still waiting for cymbals. Thats when i realized there were no amps on stage. Just as my blood began to boil i realized we could probably compromise because all guitarists have good enough fx-processors. A minute later, i realized there were only 2 monitors on stage - 1 for the drummer and 1 for the rest of us.

This show was fucked. The guy who was supposed to be handling our show, clearly said that i should take up any matters with someone who wasn't at the venue.

Lets trackback a bit, a few weeks before we left, i was working on a little some quite seriously with a friend who was also quite seriously involved in what we were doing. I received a phone call from an organizer from IMC who made me run to the nearest internet connection and within no-time send them a copy of our tech requirements. At the moment i was on-stage, i wondered why was i rushed when they were really going to make their own assumption of what we would require on-stage - 2monitors, a mic and a junior drum-kit.

We were clearly disappointed and i was especially annoyed with the organizer at the venue constantly complaining about how late we are and how this whole sound issue is somehow our fault. Add this to heavy problems with electricity. All of this resulted in quite a miserable set. Noone really knew what was going on and it was quite a funny guessing game. We somehow managed to go on for an hour and half, partially because we were already there and the chances of getting a stage next to the beach and a slot at sunset seemed pretty bleak to us. Yes, we were being self-centered and stopped giving a damn about everything that was wrong on-stage and just jammed on.

Once we were done, we all unloaded our frustration with a few beers and some food. Eventually caught hold of the organizer and gift-wrapped a piece of our minds to him before heading back to the hotel.

Adi and Anand had still not been given accommodation and they just decided to crash at hotel O with us. They left early next morning with the cab that would drop them at the airport, only to return because their flight had been postponed without any warning.

The rest of us spent the day walking around candolim and sinquerim till we got threatened by the organizers to check-out of the hotel. No cab provided to exit.

We hitch-hiked to the train-station and caught the midnight train to a beach town in Karnataka. We didn't bother getting back to Goa for our fancy return flight and just made our own way home after one very disappointing show.

"what use is your flight and your 5-star hotel, if you don't give musicians the sound they deserve."


I hope the next conference will make more sense than this one.