Mumbai bands Scribe, Zygnema, Providence and Goddess Gagged played the defunct Tulip Star Hotel in Juhu on Monday, May 2. We were there.
- The Tulip Star Hotel in Juhu hasn’t been a functioning hotel for some time now. More popularly known in the rickshaw-driver community as “Juhu Centaur”, the venue does however continue to host a flourishing wedding business. With decent square footage, a central location within the city and excellent sonic insulation, it also makes a surprisingly appropriate location for outdoor gigs.
- Ah, college festivals. There’s nothing we love more than self-important kids wielding walkie-talkies solving more crises per minute than Jack Bauer on speed. The gig was part of the first college festival held by Pace, a franchise of coaching classes that is now apparently also a college. Props to the kids for making the gig free and open to all. Although, it was a bit weird that I had to “register” with name and phone number twice. Weirder still was the curious case of the three separate pat-down searches – the kids seemed to enjoy that a little bit too much.
- What seemed to be a sizable production budget was largely wasted by mismanaging the split between stage and lights. Skipping trussing in the front for scaffolding in the back meant that the stage was heavily back-lit. It’s quite a feat to have eight scanners, four moving heads and a bunch of LED cans and STILL have terrible light on stage.
- Goddess Gagged kicked things off, and unfortunately were a little flat on the night. Providence and Zygnema followed with fairly efficient performances. Zygnema may be the first Indian band to carry their own branding, pitching two ‘Z’ standees on stage before their set. They also had excellent stage management and what seemed like a tightly rehearsed lights presentation. Kudos to them for putting so much work into their stage act, but when the guitarist’s post-gig ritual includes dismantling standees, things might have gotten a bit out of hand…
- Scribe finished things off with a stellar set that exuded a practiced confidence. Vocalist Vishwesh K showed off his immense versatility, even pulling off an entertaining rendition of the Lostprophets’ ‘Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja’. De rigueur for recent Scribe gigs, ‘Buddy’ once again turned into a mental, on-stage moshpit. With their terrific lyrical depth and a stage act that is an excercise in orchestrated insanity, the band is easily one of India’s top metal acts today.
For a full gallery of photos from the gig, head over to the NH7 Facebook page.
Photos by Kunal Kakodkar
Vishwesh K of Scribe @ Tulip Star Hotel, Juhu
Zygnema @ Tulip Star Hotel, Juhu
Sunneith Revankar of Providence @ Tulip Star Hotel, Juhu
Goddess Gagged @ Tulip Star Hotel, Juhu
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