College Days And Beyond…

Heyy Everybody, 

The last few weeks have been quite busy with work related to the album promotion, so I haven’t really got a chance to write anything. But this weekend has been really cool and I’ve been chilling out. Well, a lot of people have been telling me to write my experiences of going and performing at various places. So this time I thought I’d write about two shows I recently did at two places completely new for me!..:)

 One of the best things about doing live shows is that you get to travel to different places all the time! After playing at Agra and Baroda in February, I was quite excited when I was invited to perform at Sibsagar, Assam and then at Thapar College, Patiala (Punjab). Both places are known for their love towards music, so it was all the more exciting!

Day 1:
I left for Guwahati with my manager on the 11th of March. Accompanying me were Shael Oswal and his manager. Shael is also an artiste with Universal Music and has released 5 studio albums so far. (I later found out that he has a good fan following in Punjab!). Zubeen Garg and Anamika were also gonna perform at the show with us.

We reached Guwahati a few hours later. On our way from the airport to the hotel, we passed Dispur (the capital of Assam), a number of schools and colleges and also some nice local markets. The weather was warm and sunny and the beautiful “countryside” look and feel of Guwahati was becoming quite captivating. I began looking forward to our next day’s journey to Sibsagar.

We did a quick press conference in the evening for the local newspapers and TV channels and then headed for the studio of BIG 92.7 FM, where I had a live interview along with RJ Hansraj & RJ Nirmali! It ended up being one of the best radio interviews I’ve done! Firstly cuz we were live for almost an hour and half. I had my guitar along and played “Om Namah Shivaya”, “College Days” & “Manzil” from the album! I also played one of my favourite songs called “Black” by Pearl Jam after a really long time! We spoke about my album, live shows etc and I also dabbled with a bit of Assamese!..:) The best part of the whole thing however was the number of sms’ we received from youngsters saying how they were enjoying my songs! It was great fun!

I wrapped up day one with a great jam session with the local band. We were set for the next day’s show! 

Day 2:
The drive from Guwahati to Sibsagar was 7 hours long! The highlight of the journey was the Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary that we passed through. I got to see the famous one-horned Rhinocerous & also a wild elephant! (Been ages since I saw a wild animal! The last one I saw was way back in school - in the principal’s office!..:P) Anyways, the other splendid thing about Assam is its world famous “tea”, which I kept having throughout the journey. Extremely fresh and strong…I wish I had brought some back with me! Damn!

Finally we reached the venue at Sibsagar. The crowd was looking good and I went out on stage and performed songs from my album. We played “Om Namah Shivaya” & “College Days” and a few covers. It was a high energy set. After the show a lot of youngsters came backstage and it was great to see that they loved College Days & ONS! Assam has a great culture for music, especially rock and I thoroughly enjoyed playing there. (Check out Orkut for the pics from the show!:
(http://www.orkut.com/Album.aspx?uid=15628024972379277121&aid=1205500861)

Finally, on the drive back to Guwahati the next day, I couldn’t help but notice the innocence and simplicity on the faces of the people in the countryside - something which you will never get to see in a city like Mumbai! Visiting different places in India also tells you how diverse this country is and yet there is a common thread running between all of us! Its really amazing!..:)

Anyways, I am really looking forward to performing once again in Assam, this time maybe at a college fest! Cheers to all you people out there in Assam who sent such wonderful messages on the radio and then on Orkut & Facebook! Love you guys!..:)

That’s it for now, will write about the Patiala show soon and also something else that’s really exciting! So keep checking out this space for more!..:)

Cheers & Keep Rocking!
 - Gaurav 

Filed under: College Days And Beyond