I Wish I Had a Band!

The stage is set. 'Metal-Trap' is about to perform with a set-list that if religiously headbanged could break your neck. Metal-Trap is - 'two guitarists, a drummer, a DJ, a bass guitarist, and a vocalist'. And just before the band is about to play the Orion Intro riff, someone wakes me up. It was a dream, and 'Metal-Trap' was my own, dream band.

Yes, I wish I had a band.

Bang your head against the stage
Like you never did before
Make it ring Make it bleed
Make it really sore
In a frenzied madness
with your leather and your spikes
Heads are bobbing all around
It is hot as hell tonight
Adrenaline starts to flow
You're thrashing all around
Acting like a maniac...

Whiplash!

Whiplash - Metallica [Album Name: Kill 'Em All]

The lines above very well describe what you generally witness at any concert with a heavy metal band on the stage, performing. It’s a song 'Whiplash' by Metallica, one of the creators of Thrash Metal, from their debut album 'Kill 'Em All'.

Days before, I thought about writing about this wish of mine, but then I had some other important topic to write on. And now when I'm left without a topic, I thought writing back the memories will help. After some time to any particular post, that post is then all about memoirs.

It was some August 2004 evening, and I was very excited to witness my first rock concert. I don't remember that date (We don't remember dates, we remember moments, right?). This first rock show was the 'Rock Idols', and I didn't know anything about what the local bands would play there. I was expecting nothing else than some 'Kaanta laga' tunes (because that's what people here consider as rock) or some Summer of 69s - that's where the chicks shout out loud, and in their opinion Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi and allied bands are the only rock acts alive. But I was wrong. Though the first few bands were only good, not so disappointing, there were some bands, which really took the covers to a new level. I never expected any band to touch a heavy-metal cover here in the city of Indore. But a band from Nagpur named 'System House 33' delivered the goods right away with some stunning covers of Korn, Metallica, Pantera, and Sepultura. The worst thing about this part of the show was, the Indori public threw away the crumpled papers while the band was playing on stage because the songs made no sense to them. What a pity, you Indore crowd. And then it was band from IIM-Indore which played two great covers of Iron Maiden, and Metallica. Fortunately, they weren't ill-treated by the crowd (may be because they hailed from Indore). At last it was the band from Nagpur who came out as the best band, and won the regionals here in Indore. Has Heavy Metal ever lost to any other genre ever? No!

Listening to this form of music, and watching the bands play the same live on the gigs I downloaded since about last 2-3 years, I always wished I had a band. It was at Rock Idols we guys (Me, Akshay and Ankit) made the deal, "Yes! We're going to practice guitars and gonna have a band soon." Soon we were to add Anshul for the drums.

I was always in favor of naming the band as 'Metal Trap'. I'd always favor a metal band, never a need of a DJ, or keyboards for the same. But how could you cover Children of Bodom or Slipknot then? But ours was still a metal band, adding a DJ won't change it to 'Nu-Metal' at least in my case. And if our band was about to play some day and if you have 11 best songs to choose from the heavy list, my case would always be:

1. Orion [Intro] - Metallica
2. Master Of Puppets - Metallica
3. Primal Concrete Sledge - Pantera
4. Raining Blood - Slayer
5. The Clansman - Iron Maiden
6. Surfacing - Slipknot
7. 11th Hour - Lamb Of God
8. Orgasmatron - Motorhead
9. Arise - Sepultura
10. Hangar 18 - Megadeth
11. Battery - Metallica

That's one heavy dose.

Akshay and Ankit had little experience with the guitar earlier, I had none and was a novice, and they chose me for vocals. We practiced the vocals and the bands' riffs by downloading the guitar tabs from the internet, and it worked. We could now play the various intros we watched our favorite bands play in the live performances videos. But yes, not with that perfection. We finally started going for Guitar classes, but this did not last long. It was studies that always pulled us far off, from what we wanted. And then there was no 'Metal-Trap'. It was a studies trap then.

I still have some recorded songs we practiced, some of my friends have heard it over the internet and I believe they don't sound that creepy.

You may address us the way hackers address a novice - as a script kiddie, yes! We were guitar kiddies. Metal-Trap is no more. I thought the day I'd be selected in some company via campus, I'd straight away get to guitars, but instead I straight away ended towards CAT preparation. No complaints. But it’s still a wish. Will I ever have a band of my own?

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Word of the Day:

panache

Pronunciation: (pu-nash', -näsh')

—n.

1. a grand or flamboyant manner; verve; style; flair: The actor who would play Cyrano must have panache.
2. an ornamental plume of feathers, tassels, or the like, esp. one worn on a helmet or cap.
3. Archit. the surface of a pendentive.

Synonyms:

1. dash, elan, flair, panache, style, elegance
   usage: distinctive and stylish elegance; "he wooed her with the confident dash of a cavalry officer"
2. panache, plume

Usage: a feathered plume on a helmet.