Live: Black Lips @ Campus Rock Idols, Pune

Black Lips kicked off their India tour with a headlining spot at the zonal finals of Campus Rock Idols in Pune. Koregaon Park saw a turnout of nearly 1,500 people for the CRI show that saw about eight straight hours of metal and hard rock before the Atlanta noisemakers took stage.

Ian (guitar) and Jared (bass), earlier in the day, had the opportunity to judge Maharashtra’s finest college bands in the regional finals of the event that saw Mumbai kids Rosemary walk away with top honours. The zonal finals of the event saw the three regional finalists from Pune and three regional finalists from Indore battle it out for two spots at the national finals in Hyderabad.

But Black Lips. Head downstairs for the full review, pics and the Indiecision.

As the band prepared their set list for the show backstage it was obvious that they were a little nervous before playing their first gig in India. The audience was, if not wholly unaware, mostly ignorant of who the Black Lips were are what their sound was like.

A terribly obnoxious MC, who sounded like he was having sex like that guy in that scene in Office Space while introducing every band, announced that “Black Lips come all the way from America… get ready for some ’60s, hippie, hard rock like Jim Morrison.”

The very subdued Black Lips took to stage, quickly set up their equipment, introduced themselves with “We’reblacklips, we’refromtheUS, hopeyouhavefun” and kicked off their set. The Pune audience, perhaps still reeling from the metal assault, were taken aback. Though the Lips’ music is pretty accessible punk rock, the idea of watching four white, American dudes singing incomprehensible lyrics to three chord melodies was pretty different. The result – a barrage of plastic bottles thrown on stage as the Lips blasted through a set comprising predominantly material from Let It Bloom and Good Bad Not Evil.

To make matters worse, an announcer got on the PA in between songs saying, “You have seven minutes left.” Like the band was part of the competition they had earlier judged. None of the famed Black Lips antics were on offer save guitarist Cole Alexander playing the guitar with his teeth. And on the ground.

And then, just as soon as it started, it was over. The band, tired and visibly shaken, headed back to the green room.

Indiecision: B

Would the rest of the tour feature more such subdued performances? Find out how the band’s gig at Mumbai yesterday was, in a bit.