When the Gods manifested …

Pinch me! I’m yet to believe myself that i’ve seen Gods, the Gods of metal! Every one who was present there at the palace ground has this feeling, i swear. Let me give a brief account of the day, when Gods alighted, enthralled the pious throng!

We started our journey by 12 noon, braving the traffic through the  MG road, cursing each traffic signal! Kaushik was skeptical if we were a wee too early, the thought which was refuted when we realized the presence of iron maiden t-shirt companions all around us. Oh yeah! we (Riju,Bhasi,Kaushik & me in bikes and Midhun, Kishore, Raja, Nikhil, Nithin chetan,Pramod etc guys too) were also in iron maiden t-shirts! After an enormous amount of lingering through the traffic, we made it to our destination. The journey made me sing in mind, the song The Man on the edge..”The freeway is jammed and is backed up for miles, the car is an oven and baking is wild, nothing is ever the way it should be, what we deserve we just dont get you see…” The place was crowded and we could see people who have even spent their time since morning! What really caught my attention was the huge female population. Most of the girls reminded me of withces, no offence meant, might be their black dresses, jwellery and even dark lipstick gave them a black-magic appearance. All of us aligned ourselves in the long queue. After about half an hour, by 3 pm, as they had mentioned in the ticket, they opened the gates of heaven. They had made a narrow passage for controlling the flow of audience into the ground and for ease of administration which failed to serve its purpose. As soon as they opened the passage, people started rushing in, creating uproar, screaming, abusing and pushing their preceding people.I cursed those nutters who havent even heard of the term maturity. I regretted for not wearing my shoes when i lost a part of nail from my right toe and it started bleeding. Though I had expected a full dusty environment (Palace grounds as always), to my surprise, i could learn that the whole place was covered by mats. People gathered at the front of the stage as closer to it as possible. Stage decoration was still going on, lights glowing once in a while, fixing ladders etc. Each time a head turns up on the stage, one time the electrician, next time the decorator, the crowd screamed ‘Maiden’ ‘Maiden’ Though initially it irritated, i found myself joining the crowd – herd mentality, may be. They had turned on Radio Indigo through the sound systems, which kept the audience away from the hot sun and the hubbub. Kaushik and I were totally astonished by the lady standing nearby who kept on singing any song that was played through the radio. She along with her friend was singing even Judas Priest songs. She was cursing the radio when they played Def Leppard, she cried out loud – “Oh No! Not Def Leppard today, please stop!” I really respect her taste! I’m desperate that i couldnt get any contact id from her or her companion, though we talked for a long time. At around 5:30 pm everyone became active at the sight of FTN on stage, the band which won the campus rock idols! Poor Guys, they didnt have any takers, among the 18000 people who were anxiously waiting in the sun for the gig to start. They were playing new age metal, which was very much unsuitable for the real metal heads, who started booing, throwing bottles, abusing and i believe given a chance the crowd would’ve even tried manhandling! When they realized that their own comps failed acceptance, they tried switching to covers, which again failed. FTN summoned on the sight of a guy who was lifted by his companion imitated ‘hanging’ with his own belt. It brought laughter to the irritated crowd. With obvious disappointment and defeat in their faces, FTN went to backstage.

Parikrama entered the stage causing a loud applause and sudden change in mood. Vocalist said – “This is the first time we are playing in front of such a crowd, the most unforgettable day in my life, opening stage for Iron Maiden” (not the exact phrase) They could handle the crowd nicely. The violinist of the band mesmerized the audience with his speed runs and metal-like leads that was perfectly blended with the heavy backing rhythm. The band was performing a ‘JugalBandhi’ when suddenly the crazy guys on the left made a human wave pushing the guys towards their right. A lot of people almost fell down, if they did, they could even have lost their lives. I received a nice stamp on my wound in the toe. After a few seconds of confusion, the guys at the right retaliated by pushing them back. Though it sounds very simple, you should’ve experienced the same to understand how it feels! Suddenly the music stopped – the vocalist made an announcement that injected relief into the multitude. He said – “Guys, you are here for listening to music. I’m telling this for your own dear lives. Guys on the left dont push towards your right and guys on the right dont push towards your left. People will get crushed in between. I’m here for the same reason as you are (a small pause) to listen to Iron Maiden. So stay where you are, enjoy the music!” (not the exact phrase) Many thanks to him! His announcement did help. They played for nearly an hour or so.

Lauren Harris entered the stage, next to Parikrama started playing crappy music, though the guitarist was greatly talented. He looked like Zakk Wylde and his style of playing was exactly the same. Though I really liked his performance, had to give a second thought, when Nithin Chetan commented about his imitation as a foolish approach and none should imitate some one but develop their own style! Yeah kind of thought-provoking statement, that was, indeed. Crowd tried to boo them away from stage, waved their middle finger up in the air whenever Lauren screamed “throw your hands up in the air”  :D That was a funny scene! After some more time of irritated waiting, audience were happy that Lauren’s band stopped playing!

We waited for not more than 10 minutes when suddenly the stage was under light – crisp tone of guitars, heavy Steve bass – yes! they were on stage, performing the song A different world! Nobody seemed to be listening, everyone was jumping and prancing around, incredulously, screaming “Iron Maiden” And i sang in my mind – “And I felt I was in a trance and my spirit was lifted from me…And if only someone had the chance, to witness what happened to me!!!” Once the song was finished, the screams and yells echoed the whole ground! Then came the song “These colors dont run” “…for the passion…for the glory, for the memories…for the money…you’re a soldier..” After this song I decided to move to a side as I was again and again suffering stamping on the wound. I struggled and procured some water and got ready for the next song.For each song, they had a different display, the corresponding album cover, at the screen on the stage. After one more song from ‘A matter of life and death’ they played these songs in order – ‘Wrathchild’, ‘The trooper’, ‘Number of the beast’, ‘Fear of the dark’,'Run to the hills’, ‘HBTN’, ‘Two minutes to midnight’, ‘Evil that men do’  The crowd response was simply amazing, I’ve never seen such a crowd, save in videos. I was overwhelming with joy and excitement, when i sang along with the crowd for each songs. Bangalore ROCKS!!! The sight of some guys canoodling their girl friends and guys nearly unconscious out of drugs were causing a disgrace to the faithful metal heads, but the latter hardly had time to pay attention. The obvious smell of weed/grass endured in the air, throughout the show, though the faint breeze tried to drive it.

I screamed out my vocal cord and banged out my brains! The crowd roared when Bruce yelled ‘Scream for me Bangalore’ after each song. He announced “You all waited 17 long years to watch us perform, but now it will be just another 17 months for us to come to India again” (not the exact phrase)

I’m desperate to have missed taking photos and videos, people have posted a lot of them in Youtube. Thanks to each one of them!

 If anyone asks me “Tell me about an incident, very important to you, that happened in your life” or “Which is the most unforgettable day of your life” I’ve the answer – “March 17th, 2007, Palace Grounds, I saw the Gods, the Gods of Metal, They lived in front of the multitude, an agile  Bruce running around with his mike, Steve shooting the people with his bass, Dave Murray and Adrian smith pumping the leads and Nicko McBrain ruling the drums”

Thanks for reading! Come join the relegion, the relegion of rock! Hail the Metal Gods, see them live, listen to their divine anthems!