Live: Black Lips @ Climate Solutions, Bandra Amphitheatre

After their shaky start in Pune a few days earlier, Atlanta punk rockers Black Lips arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday with the baggage of a nervous tour beginning and the threat of plastic bottles. Fortunately for them, the Bandra Amphitheatre provided a sit-down audience of only about 200 people who, though unenthusiastic, were also unarmed.

Their set was part of the Climate Solutions Road Tour gig that saw performances from, among others, Solar Punch, Rosemary and Swarathma. 

Take the jump for the full review, pics and the Indiecision.

The Lips looked far more relaxed than they were in Pune. They weren’t jittery and made sure that they took things slow this time. Where in Pune they closed their set with ‘Bad Kids’, here they started with the single, albeit a little off tempo.

The audience was listening. The band visibly improved in confidence as the set progressed playing material from, as three days ago, Let It Bloom and Good Bad Not Evil. They even felt good enough to pull off ‘Hippie Hippie Hoorah’, something they looked far from trying in Pune. Cole (guitar) got into it playing his guitar with his teeth and jumping around. Ian (guitar) got into it with frequent on stage banter. Jared (bass) got into it with some beaming smiles and Joe (drums) got into it with a drum stool that stayed put.

It was great to hear people in the audience sing ‘O Katrina’ with the band, even if it was just the chorus. By the end of the gig the Lips had reached a tipping point. As the Groovebox noted, the next 15 minutes would have been relatively more mental. Two dudes at the front of the stage even shouted for an encore.

The rest of their tour is predominantly at club venues which, admittedly, suits them better. Hopefully, they’ve built up enough confidence to throw some famed Black Lips shit down there. 

Indiecision: B+