Live: Cassini’s Division @ Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai

Kolkata alternative rock act Cassini’s Division brought their album launch tour to Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai on Tuesday, Jan 15. We were there.

When Shaa’ir +  Func launched their third studio album at the Blue Frog last September (our top gig of 2010), the opening 10 songs of their set featured only two songs from Mantis. The ballsy move reflected a band so comfortable in its own skin that its live act lives and breathes as an organism exclusive of studio releases. Kolkata rock act Cassini’s Division opened their gig on the #fail stage at Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai with a cover of The Cure’s ‘Friday I’m In Love’ and a song that’s not on Ringside View. Coupled with the incredible faux-intensity of the group, and led by a frontman whose vocal posturing was just unnatural, the move signalled a tediousness we’d hoped not to encounter from a band that showed much potential a few years ago.

Cassini’s Division came into Mumbai overconfident and underprepared. Powered by a set of hardcore fans front-of-stage, the band played a nearly two hour-long set that featured the entirety of their debut album, a couple of covers and some non-album tracks. The band’s sound setup was incredibly jarring, this even given the nature of the venue’s terrible over-the-bar stage. During the first few songs frontman Rahul Guha Roy’s guitar drowned out the sound of the rest of the band; the only thing more incongruous in this arrangement being his vocals. Unfortunately for Roy, as limber as his vocal posturing is, the lack of a warmer, more genuine voice in his repertoire betrays a pretense that’s a far deeper problem than just heavily accented vocals.

The music itself is, while largely derivative of a ’90s radio rock sound, efficient in its construction. These sons of RHCP and REM falter in execution; the songs so authentic in their inspiration that at times end up sounding like covers of some obscure, unreleased B-sides of these bands. The college-band pedigree with which they performed actual covers only added to this air of affectation. As a result, even genuinely decent songs like ‘Voivoid’ and ‘Glowworm’ failed to impress on this entirely forgettable outing.

Indiecision: C-

Setlist
‘Friday I’m In Love’ (The Cure cover)
‘Only For A While’
‘Animals’
‘Mr Mishra’
‘Drown’
‘Stay’
‘Caesar’
‘Cut To The Chase’
‘Poppin’ It’
‘Follow Me Home’
‘The Three Horsemen’
‘Imitation Of Life’ (REM cover)
‘Higher’
‘Rumble’
‘Simba’
‘Story Of My Life’
‘Night Without End’
‘Voivoid’
‘Glowworm’
‘Satyr9′

Cassini's Division @ Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai

Cassini's Division @ Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai

Cassini's Division @ Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai