Hello!!
How is everybody doing? I hope you are enjoying exceptional health and rocking out to Antariksh’s songs everyday! September was an amazing month for us and October seems to be coming out even better. Our ‘10 Years of Antariksh’ Tour has been programmed for Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore! We are super stoked to play some mad gigs for all of you. Talking about gigs, I had a very interesting experience during our last show at Gurgaon. A memory I will retain for long. It was the fact that I didn’t play the gig at all! Sitting with the audience I enjoyed Varun, Josh and Shrikant perform our amazing set. Well, I did clap, sing along and take multiple videos to make up for my absence on stage. If not for drumming, I got paid to be the best audience for the day!
The Mad Rains!
To begin with, Delhi NCR received an apocalyptic downpour! Well, pardon my exaggeration, but for us Delhi folks, it felt that way. Roads turned into little streams of water while the traffic waded through it! The Sun God probably took the day off, went for a swim and here was Delhi taking a hit off His pool splashing! Antariksh had a high tea gig the same day. The client had chosen an outdoor venue without covers and you guessed it, high tea was now a late supper event. All of us reached the venue considerably on time given the roads blocks and Uber cancellations! And now the great Indian Rock Band had nothing much to do, but sit at a restaurant talking, laughing and eating sandwiches, coffee and pizza. I admit we musicians have a great life, barring the time we waste trying to maintain The Indian Standard Time.
Drummer Chucked?
Clock struck 9 in the evening when we realized we hadn’t done a formal sound check. Let alone a check, the drums were yet to be set up! Instead there was a comedian and a couple of well-decked ladies playing the violin to entertain a dimming crowd. The event organizer ran to us with NEWS. They were giving us ten minutes to line check before we started playing. The guys smirked at me. It meant the drummer had his day off.
Delightful audience
Through the back door, into the performance hall, Shrikant and myself walked into a handful of people waiting with dinner plates. Interestingly, they looked indifferent towards the dying night and weren’t in a hurry to get home. Our great horror of playing to the walls finally eased out. In fact, it was a very informal and easy setting. Everyone felt relaxed and the sound check was painless without people crying to wrap it fast. I had my phone ready and captured all I could of the band doing its thing!
Gig is good!
The rest of the night was great. Our audience, a little too small, yet captivated, was enjoying themselves and singing along to us. The Chef specially loved it, video called his wife to make sure she wasn’t missing all the fun! I was running around capturing little snippets of my dear band mates and definitely blocking them from the viewers. They might have hated me for it, but I couldn’t care less. That is what you get for not allowing a drummer to play his gig! Lol!!!
Come join us?
All the hassles were slightly bothersome, but it was a great night of getting together and having some good fun. Owing to the constant rain, our ride back home too was pretty much an adventure! We did eventually reach and slept well. Not Varun though. He had to fly to Mumbai next morning and catch up with unfinished business. Ohhh..talking about Mumbai, we are there on the 20th of October for our ‘10 years of Antariksh Tour’ at antiSOCIAL Lower Parel! And also Bnagalore the next day at Fandom. You must come for these. I promise to play the drums here. No kidding! Delhi folks, you are welcome to join us on the 16th of Oct at SKOL! (get your tickets here) These gigs are close to our hearts as we play our original music for you. Some incredible local bands also join us at each city. We will have a blast I promise!
