A storm to hit Kochi soon

KOCHI: For the music aficionados of Kochi, get ready for an adrenalin-pumping session of live rock music! ‘Gathering Storm 2011’ will take place on December 27 at Merchant Navy Club in Willingdon Island. It is being organised by Moshpit concerts. A similar show took place last year as well, which got a rousing response from the city’s music lovers. The Gathering Storm concert will begin at 11 am and will last for eight hours.  14 bands from Kerala and Bangalore will take part, which include ‘Black Letters’, ‘Darkest Red’, ‘Beastial Murder’, and ‘Kaav’ from Kochi, ‘Trend Kill’, ‘Grass Hoppers’, ‘Alchemy Eclipse’ and ‘Blind Fate’ from Thiruvananthapuram, ‘Mushroom Lake from Thrissur, and ‘Back Water Blues’ from Alappuzha, and ‘Dhwesha’ and ‘Dark Desolation’ from Bangalore. Diverse music genres such as blue rock, reggae, post punk rock, experimental instrumental, psychedelic rock, thrash metal, heavy metal, death metal and metal core will be bought together. “This is the first time in Kerala that such a wide variety of genres are being brought together for a single music festival,” says Arun S Kumar, the drummer of ‘Kaav’.A major highlight will be the presence of Baiju Dharmaraj, one of the best guitarists of recent times, who gained fame as the lead guitarist for the rock band ‘Motherjane’. He will be giving a solo performance.‘Moshpit concerts’ is a creative platform which offers space for contemporary, rock, experimental and metal bands to perform live and spread their music. It was formed last year by Arun along with three other music enthusiasts, Vivek, vocalist of ‘Warhorse Chained’, Saleesh, and Hakim. Says Arun, “The band music scenario in Kochi is inconsistent. There is no dearth of bands, but the problem lies in the fact that the musicians do not get a platform to showcase their talent. We have formed Moshpits Concerts for serious musicians. As avid music listeners, we knew that one or two bands cannot sustain a show for very long. Usually, by the time the audience gets into the groove, the performance is over. ” The ticket price is Rs 250.parvathy@ newindianexpress.com