Gig Review: Tri West Concert

PrasarPrashar Bharati Broadcasting Corporation of India brought to the forefront a platform named ”TRI WEST CONCERT“ to unite music lovers and musicians alike by featuring bands from 8 states of the North Eastern Region. The name TRI WEST was christened as such, pertaining to the facets of traditional and western music. This one day musical bonanza saw varied genres of music, ranging from soft rock to the likes of extreme metal. Moreover, the bands on the aforementioned occasion created musical mayhem at the U SOSO THAM AUDITORIUM Shillong.

The show began at around 2 30 pm in the afternoon, the minute the chief guest arrived and welcomed. Well, not the main show started though, but speeches from different personalities and the who’s – who of the North Eastern Service “ALL INDIA RADIO”, vague, meaningless to some in attendance – speeches blared out of the loudspeakers, that ultimately led the people lose their patience. You see, the only problem for this, is none other than the length of time taken by one personality to complete their speech. Except for those regular conference and meetings connoisseurs, who are used to spending long stints of speeches that last four hours or even more, this shouldn’t have been a problem.

Shyllong

Nevertheless, the enthusiasm levels for performances that most bands put up were on a high. Local Christian rock outfit “Rock Divinity” was chosen to perform first, their one song performance was somehow decent enough to start off the main event. “Arcane Circles” played a set that wasn’t even close to shaking or moving the crowd, although, did try hard to; this is probably an epic failure, for the boys who came all the way from Tripura to impress Shillongites. Zebra Crossing, a band comprising of musicians (Rangdap, Joe, Gideon & Jonathan) who’ve been around for ages in the Shillong circuit were up next. They started off their set with a Jimi Hendrix cover and rounded off with a khasi song of their ex-band Akhia.

Gideon of Zebra Crossing

Next up, was Alo Wanth a Solo based project from Nagaland. Their set was all about tight, melodic, bluesy shifts and twists, by turns rough and smooth. Local favorites and current Meg Icon Aberrant followed soon after, a surprise performance by a local female artiste, who paid tribute to Whitney Houston, and Shyllong, again another band comprised of renowned musicians and singers, who’re dishing out some classic traditional numbers along the lines of embracing western music as well, this particular outfit took everyone on a musical joyride. Now, back to Aberrant, the boys were all out playing a relentless set, and ended their tight two-song set with, you guessed right ‘Rational Eyes’.

Apparently, it looks like The Verbs are getting ready to funk shit up again! After, re uniting with their earliest bassist Jeffery Z Laloo. What was truly remarkable about them was their alacrity to celebrate a union with a tight set channeling the sound of funk – rock, and a stage presence that was the absolute essence of being a complete package. Alien Gods took the stage next to loud cheers from the crowd, the Arunacahlee quartet went on to present a storming rage of hardcore, monster metal riffs and some serious head banging action. At the end of their set, Alien Gods made way for Manipur’s female fronted band White Fire; the band played an interesting set to loud chanting and hooting from the audience, just because of the presence of the charismatic front woman. Ha-ha 😀 Another band that had a female front woman was Moonwind fromAssam, this band too experienced the same as the former did, and theirs was a set quite mellow, they belted out a Four Non Blonde cover that also had the 200+ voices broke into the song singing along each and every line of the chorus.Sikkim’s Fuzzy Logik, took the stage next and they blazed through their set flawlessly even when the crowd seemed a bit unsure about whether to jump or sing or head bang along with their music. Junk Rock masters Boomarang delivered a bone crunching set, although, their original bassist was replaced by a friend of the band, since he was recently married and is now currently on a honeymoon. The penultimate band of the day was Lou Majaw and Friends. During their set Lou doing what he does best, being a complete entertainer displayed his agility at its peak. Upon hearing the encore, towards the last seconds of their set Lou didn’t want to disappoint the crowd. Hence, decided to play another song, but with a twist ,and this time around all members of other bands too; were called to join him and his band given the last of the performance new insights into high appreciation for the stunning show put up by ALL INDIA RADIO, Shillong.