North Eastern Rockers Day 2 Review

Reviewed by: Nima Norbu Lepcha


15th May, 2011: My neck was still paining courtesy headbanging of Day 1 of North Eastern Rockers – 2011 but no regrets seriously. The performance standards were set really high by the bands of Day 1 which featured the likes of What Escapes Me, Sinister Violence, Cynical Recess, Dark Murder Scheme and Circles End. The performing list for Day 2 was as well very impressive and unlike the previous day, which featured no local bands, today, there were two bands from Sikkim as well. I reached the venue well ahead of the time and today there was nothing to complain like the previous day. The Alpine Attitude had made sure that everything fell in right places. Now it was on the part of the performing bands to give their best and create hell of a show which they did more than expected. The footfall in the early hours of the show compared to Day 1 was somewhat less, probably due to late start of the show the previous day, but this hardly made any difference to the enthusiasm and zeal of the first band of the day. They were Burnout Syndrome from Kolkata.


 I checked for the time and it showed 4:50 PM. Burnout Syndrome took to the stage. These guys are really dedicated to their music. I heard that one of their guitarists was not at the best of his health but despite this he not only performed but he never let down the energy of the band. Other bands who complained about sound, technical difficulties, etc. should learn from these guys. There are no excuses when you are onstage. "Rebirth", one of their originals played by Burnout Syndrome was the most impressive one. When they started this song, I was kind of lost. A must listen track (highly recommended). Burnout Syndrome gave a perfect start to the evening. By the time they finished, a modest crowd of around 500 plus had housed in.


 NER – 2011 featured a list of 12 bands and among them, there was only one punk rock act and next was their performance, Da Primitive Future, from the hills of Darjeeling. Well, when these guys took to the stage, their presence was really impressive. They did look like a punk rock act. They started well with their originals and the crowd got to the feel of some punk rock. However, this band probably has not performed on big platforms like NER which showed clearly in their performance. "If I get to pick one, then he is surely the drummer of the band". Fantastic playing and great energy. He was wonderful to watch. All in all, the band played some good originals.


 Purple Asparagus, from Kolkata was next in the row. The crowd came to life when these guys climbed the stage, well may be because, they had a female guitarist. But on a serious note, it was really something to watch this band perform. All of a sudden, this band started to play something I never expected. Their sound is a mix of funk, rock and some blues too. But the show belonged to the lady with the guitar. Well I was expecting her to be in the support frame but woah, she played some cool riffs and will I have to say that crowd cheered for more. She is a real inspiration for every girl who plays or wants to learn guitar. Coming to the performance of the band, they played their originals and was the only band to use some wah-wah in their sound. It was nice for a change. I am sure the cameraman had some hard time to capture the vocalist in his frame. He used the stage well and even got off the stage once. The band has got a strong rhythm and bass lines which adds to the variation of the sound of the band. So far, for me, Purple Asparagus were the best of the night.

Future History Photo by Siddhartha B Gurung

So far so good, 3 bands were done and the night was young and was going to get brutal as two bands from Sikkim itself were still to perform. The first were the Psychotic Suicide from Namchi, S. Sikkim. I was watching them for the first time and so was the crowd. But the crowd hooted for the guys really well. The band did some of their own stuff. I must say these guys had some good energy going in their performance and had good coordination, but like some other band lacking experience of big stage, Psychotic Suicide too lacked to go with the flow. The open string feedback from guitars that too from the low ends was disappointing. Bands should know such basic stuffs and technical know-how. These guys need to stay focus and learn some stage presence. But the guys did put up a great show and crowd enjoyed them.


 The final performer of the night was Future History, a metal outfit from Gangtok itself. Crowd started cheering even before they entered the stage. It was probably their debut performance but the band consists of experienced lads. The minute they started their first song, the crowd was ripped apart. Gangtok experienced "it’s first ever mosh pit, all credit to Future History". The crowd got so wild that the barricading was broken into pieces. I could see guys from The Alpine Attitude calculating their loss caused due to the broken barricading. A human chain, consisting of Sikkim Police had to be created as barricading. But chances were subtle to control the aggression of Future History. If a word can describe the performance of Future History, "Aggression" would be most appropriate. The band continued to play their originals which they delivered with extreme power and crowd never stopped to headbang. 20 minutes time was never enough to experience such thing and the crowd were left asking more. But time limits forced Future History to concede in.

It was done for the day and as expected today, hardly anyone left the venue until and unless the results were announced. "Future History" being the locals were the favourites of the crowd and it was not very surprising that they were selected for the finals. They had really performed awesomely. The second band was as I had expected, from the city of joy, Purple Asparagus!!!. The music of this band is refreshing and today they performed really well. They deserved the final slot. So there we were. We had the four finalists for North Eastern Rockers – 2011, who will compete for the prestigious title of North Eastern Rockers and a cash prize of Rs. 1.00 lakh. I was hoping to catch up with some of the guys from The Alpine Attitude for some feedbacks and peep in for the finals, but these guys are really hard to catch. Anyways, final day was still there and I was looking forward to it. Watch this space for review of the finals. "Thanks to The Alpine Attitude" that we got soul to rock again.