Pentagram At IPEC: What Really Happened

On Sunday, March 27, Mumbai electro rock giants Pentagram played Udbhav 2011, the techno-cultural fest of Indraprastha Engineering College, Ghaziabad. In one photograph from this gig, frontman Vishal Dadlani sits at the edge of the stage, drowning in a sea of outstretched arms as cheering college students reach out to touch him; a swarm of kids wielding digital cameras photograph the band, surrounded by flashes, irons high and fists pumping the air. Pentagram have always been an easy act to like at college festivals, with a universally appealing brand of electro rock that doesn’t have to be familiar to be enjoyed. Last month, they played to 6,000 fervent fans at the Asian Institute of Management and Technology in Guwahati. Photographs from the IPEC fest show at least a few hundred of students in attendance, and they definitely don’t look unhappy. A student proudly took a home a volunteer t-shirt signed by all the band members that night, with a message from Vishal Dadlani – “Thanks for that IPEC show! Kickass!” But as it turns out, live music isn’t necessarily only about the audience and the performers.

These are the facts; a chronology of events represented to us via eyewitnesses, the event manager and the band.

The college initiated communication with the band’s management about a month prior to the gig, but decided not to book them at that point as the faculty was keen on booking a Hindi music act. However, a week before the festival, the college festival representatives got in touch with Pentagram’s management to book them, and the interfacing event management company deposited an advance as confirmation. A list of band members and crew members with their flight and accomodation requirements was sent to the event management representative, along with additional security clauses and details of local travel. This was agreed upon and confirmed over a phone call, and the full amount for the band’s performance was remitted to their management well before the gig.

The local transport from New Delhi airport was not arranged as per the initial agreement, following which the band arrived at the hotel and were asked to wait before being given their rooms. Five single rooms for the band members and Naveen Deshpande who was managing lights had been agreed upon. The event manager approached Randolph Correia (guitars/samples) and questioned the requirement for each band member to be given a separate room, advising them that it would make more sense to share. However, the rooms were finally allotted as per the terms of the agreement. Also confirmed via email was the statement that “all bills except tobacco and alcohol are to be covered for by the organizers,” which would include meals ordered through room service. The bill for their meals amounted to a large sum that the organizers later refused to cover, and had to be paid for by the band themselves.

The event manager maintains that all facilities were arranged as per the agreement. As for providing the band with lunch and dinner, the organizers claim to have arranged for them to dine at the hotel buffet. The band claims this was not communicated to them, and the terms of the agreement would have included food ordered via room service in any case. According to the event manager, in direct contradiction to the agreement, the photographer and lights technician were brought along unannounced. A press conference was held prior to the gig. Dadlani, an eminent music composer for Bollywood, was the only member asked to be a part of it. Before the band’s soundcheck, it emerged that there were problems with the drumkit, which eventually had to be replaced. According to the band’s manager, the equipment provided was not up to standard, including an underpowered bass cabinet – a setback which would greatly affect Pentagram’s bass-heavy set. This further delayed their soundcheck.

The stage was arranged with a long red-carpeted ramp leading through the centre of the crowd, with a fireworks display arranged all the way down, lining the ramp – which Dadlani objected to as it was unsafe. There was a VIP seating section up front, and the college students were standing behind this section, segregated by bamboo barricades into separate areas for boys and girls. The gig was scheduled to start at 8pm, but began only at 9pm – which further irked the college authorities. According to the band manager, insufficient security had been provided. Members of the press were trying to jump onto the stage, and had to manually be removed by the manager.

During the gig, Dadlani shouted to the crowd, “You guys are fucking awesome, it’s fucking amazing to be playing in Ghaziabad for you guys.” The band played a set of their original material, punctuated with Dadlani’s commentary on society, encouraging self-empowerment and rebellion against corruption. In keeping with the theme of their music and lyrics, he spoke directly to the students of standing up for their own rights and inciting a revolution amongst the youth. “That’s the spirit of rock ‘n roll – rebellion and revolution. And I could see that it happened, I could see their faces lighting up,” Dadlani told us afterward.

The gig was exceptionally well received by the college students, with the exception of a few polarized opinions (a specially created Twitter account to tell Dadlani his band was “a shit of crow”). A student we spoke to, who was involved in organizing the event, was emphatic that “the show was fantastic, full of energy, the whole crowd was ecstatic. Many new fans of Pentagram have emerged, including people who weren’t into rock music to begin with.” He also speculated that the college faculty were starting to feel alienated at the lack of Hindi music. “I had informed the convenor that the band would only be playing their originals, in English. However, he was under the impression that once the band arrived, they would be talked into playing a few Bollywood numbers. During the gig, the general ideas the band expressed, albeit using abusive language, were that the youth should be responsible for what they do. They don’t need to be told what to do. Politicians would be in service for 5-10 more years, we cannot let them dictate our lives.” Most of the faculty members left midway through the set.

Stirred by Dadlani’s strong sentiments, the crowd broke through the barricades separating boys and girls, and came up front and merged into a large mob. However, when a faculty member threatened to stop the show, Dadlani asked the students to segregate themselves again – which they voluntarily did. After the gig, the organizers demanded an apology letter from the band. “You cannot perform in an educational institution and speak like this, use words like ‘motherfucker’. The band was paid to come and perform here, it’s not like they came here for free- they cannot show the college disrespect in this way. We have all that misbehavior recorded on video, yet we are not approaching the media,” the event manager told us.

The band refused to provide any such letter initially, and proceeded to make their way back to Mumbai. Transport was to be provided from the hotel to the airport by the organizers, which was not arranged. The organizers then refused to pay the room service bills, which had to be paid by the band themselves along with transportation to the airport. The band’s manager and light and sound technicians later reached the airport to find that their return tickets had been cancelled. Naveen Deshpande’s (lights) ticket had been cancelled minutes after his boarding pass had been issued, and he was not allowed to board the flight. These tickets were then paid for out of the band’s money. Upon contacting the event manager, he stated “as per my knowledge, no tickets have been cancelled. There was some confusion regarding Anirudh’s (band manager) tickets, as he refused to travel on Go Air and insisted on Kingfisher Airlines, but no tickets were cancelled.”

The reason cited for the apology letter, according to the event manager and the college authorities, was Dadlani’s use of abusive language and effective disrespect for authority, “despite repeated warnings”. The organizers are willing to release a reimbursement for the cancelled tickets only upon receipt of the apology letter.

Here is Vishal Dadlani’s apology.

I, Vishal Dadlani, vocalist of Pentagram, have been asked by the authorities of Indraprastha Engineering College, Ghaziabad (IPEC) to tender an apology for my conduct during the Pentagram concert there on the 27th of March 2011.

Hereunder is my sincerest apology.

I wish to apologise sincerely to the students of IPEC, who were present at the Pentagram concert on the 27th of March 2011.

I said a few things which were deeply offensive to the authorities present.

Perhaps it was my supposedly “foul-mouthed” rant against corruption in our system. It could also be what I said against the crooked politicians and policemen of our great nation. Maybe the staff was upset about my telling the kids that because they were young, and had more time to spend on our planet and in our country, they should take charge, and make the positive changes they wished to see in our nation, themselves.

Possibly, another very offensive part of what I said was that I believed the kids were cognizant enough, awake enough, to know what was wrong and what was right, and so, as long as they were safe and responsible, they need not do as they are told to by the system, and must in fact, trust their own instincts.

I must confess, I also asked for the VIP section to be removed to the side, and for the kids to be placed right in front of the stage.

Not just that, I also committed the heinous crime of asking for the removal of bamboo barricades between the (separate) boys and girls sections.

I even said, on stage, that it’s a wonder we ever hit a population figure of more than 1.2 billion people, because in some parts of India, boys and girls are separated by bamboo.

I must have made a horrible mistake in saying these things, because the college authorities have since threatened me with blackmail (“We’ll send the tapes of your abusive language to the media”!), then refused to pay some of our hotel bills, and then cancelled the flights of some members of our tech team.

Like I said in the opening line of this letter, this is a letter of apology to the students of IPEC.

I wish to apologise for the fact that your college has been unable to provide you better, more open minded, and perhaps more literate faculty-members.

I wish to apologise for speaking to you in the language of the street, using words that possibly many of us, (possibly including some members of IPEC staff), and certainly I, use everyday.

I wish to apologise for not being a hypocrite.

I really want to apologise for the condescension and patronising attitude of the college authorities, who think they know so much more than you or I.

That’s what this is really about. A bunch of power-drunk office-holders, exercising their might over your minds and over our collective freedom.

I’m sorry, students of IPEC, that your college is run by such a prudish bunch of wankers. And I’d like to say, with all DUE respect, that they can osculate my posterior (kiss my ass, for those faculty-members who aren’t literate enough to understand).

I write to all of you with the fondest memories of a fun night, and the deepest regrets for any inconvenience my outspokenness may have caused you guys. Stand up for your rights, and what is right.

- Vishal.

Have an opinion on what happened? Leave a comment below and let us know.

Photos by Rishabh Shukla

Pentagram @ IPEC, Ghaziabad