It made for a perfect musical gig with some hard-hitting, qualitative rock music, youngsters sporting funky chains and tees, head-banging and singing along at Hard Rock Café in the city on June 14.
The show-stealers were the band members of Point of View (POV), Dubai-based political rock band, which was recently on a five-city India tour with one of the lead guitarists of the Guns N Roses — Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal — to promote its latest album titled Revolutionize the Revolutionary.
Known for its impactful lyrics and rebellious youthful energy, this is the first official visit of the band to India. “This might be our first visit as a band, but we are undoubtedly attached to the nation as three of our band members are from India. I have my roots in Mumbai; guitarist Royden Mascarenhas is from Bengaluru and drummer Chiradeep Lahiri is a Kolkata boy. It is like a homecoming for us,” shares the vocalist of POV, Nikhil Uzgare.
Unfortunately, Ron could not perform for the Delhi audience (due to health issues), but the show was a power-packed performance with more than 12 well-known artists jamming together, including the jazz duo Adil and Vasundhara, Surojit Dev (Them Clones drummer) and members of Parikrama among others.
“Performing with POV and other contemporary musicians was a great musical experience and we mostly performed impromptu. Hopefully, if we have enough budgets and if luck favours, we will also try and rope in a celebrity musician like Ron for our next album launch,” shares singer Adil.
Although the turnout was average, the energy level of the youngsters was high as rock anthems including GNR hits like Sweet Child Of Mine, Stairway to Heaven and Knockin’ on Heaven’s Doors were played on popular demand.
Subir Malik, one of the leading members of Parikrama, says, “POV put up a good show with a few songs from their debut album like Revolutionize, Déja vu’ and Living On The Edge among others. It was like a big music family coming together.”
Talking about their association with Bumblefoot, Uzgare says, “GNR performed in Abu Dhabi in 2010. I was completely swayed away by this guitar virtuoso, Ron Bumblefoot, who was playing all the difficult guitar solos and was going crazy on stage. He was clearly the show-stealer and an underrated giant on stage. Out of sheer excitement, I messaged Ron on his Facebook page and to my utter surprise, he responded!”
The bond that started over the networking site gradually turned into a firm bond. Ron’s social networking etiquette is immaculate, according to the band members. “We started talking over emails. Somewhere during those conversations, music was exchanged and we casually asked Ron if he might want to come down to the launch and he agreed,” shares the drummer of the band Chiradeep or Chiro as he is known.
Ron’s association with the band has been a catalyst of sorts, say the band members. “Ron has no qualms about promoting the music he loves. He openly promotes us and with social media being such a fast-growing mode of communication, his endorsement has given us the respect and love of a serious music loving audience,” shares Uzgare.
Appreciating the Delhi audience for the warm welcome that they received, Chiro concludes, “Delhi audience is appreciative, aware and educated with regard to the music they listen to.”