gig review : Dinner is a Lie tour 2010 (Bombay leg) featuring Albatross, Devoid and Nervecell

Witnessing a good metal gig unfold in front of you can get you back in shape. Dinner is a lie tour had Indian metal bands Albatross and Devoid launching their albums and Dubai-based Nervecell breaking bones. After not finding enough people to do so in Bangalore and Hyderabad, I am sure Nervecell was disappointed by the live metal scene in India until they came to Bombay for the last leg of the tour. More than four hundred interested metalheads landed at Blue Frog for this indoor gig.

Blue Frog has been a host to many a gigs that have happened here in the near past and is a venue that leaves you satisfied. Thanks to the free mints at the entry.

Devoid

Alright, the gig was to begin at 9 p.m. and it started half an hour after that. The venue looked pretty filled and the opening band Devoid was to take the stage. An album launch can be a great high and the proud members of Devoid stood there while the intro to their album was played. Song after song the band played their entire album in order. With their original guitarist Keshav present, the band put up a strong show before the current guitarist Sanju completed their set. While Devoid belted their originals the crowd forgot the fact that there is a tomorrow they have to live for. Getting the otherwise wasted bouncers back to work, there was a maddening response to Devoid complete with crowd and stage surfing. And that is so metal. Sound-wise the band was really tight and on the console was Fali Damania who will be thanked more than once here.

albatross

Albatross was next. Debuting in Bombay is quite a task and that showed in the band’s performance. The band played the entire Ep along with a cover song which was Ozzy Osbourne‘s Mr. Crowley. The crowd reacted a bit coldly but the band did get heads bobbing towards the end. Tightening up is all that is needed as no band has ever owned a crowd on their debut.

It was time for the headlining band and Nervecell‘s monstrous members left little space for any non-sense on stage. Making metal instruments seem small and cute because of their personalities, the moment they began I bet even a blind person would have known where the sound is coming from. They were brilliantly brutal and tight and they made it clear what it takes to tour with bands like Deicide and Suffocation.

Nervecell

This is how their setlist looked like :

Flesh and Memories
Human Chaos
Existence Ceased
Demean
Vicious Circle of Bloodshed
Bolt Thrower cover
Demolition

Very loud, these lovers of old school death were impressed by the response they got. Naming Bombay as the metal capital of India was one thing while asking metalheads to mosh unrelentingly and still watchout for each other was another. Many woke up to the beauty of thrash death metal, and credit goes to Nervecell.

Thanks to Gigbox for the gig, Blue Frog for the venue equipped with some great acoustics and light arrangements, Ayan De for the spectacular visuals on the screens, Sahil Makhija, Demonstealer Records and Fali Damania. The sound contract for my marriage as well as my funeral goes to you. All in all it was a fun gig and an experience that will be remembered for the longest time. It is gigs like these that actually make me want to live longer.

[All the saliva-dripping pictures included here have been clicked by Pratika Prabhune (bass, clean vocals – Chronic Phobia)]

Here’s a video of Nervecell playing Demolition at Blue Frog, Bombay.