Thursday, January 17, 2013

Show Review: Junkyard Groove at HardRock Café,Bengaluru


I remember seeing Junkyard Groove for the very first time in 2005 at the IIM-B festival and it’s good to see that Ameeth Thomas is still as entertaining as the first day. While the band has undergone some changes (everyone else quit), Ameeth Thomas has been getting stronger and better as a performer. And that ease came across in today’s disappointingly short but fun set.

Ameeth 'I grin'Thomas
 
The show started almost 40 minutes late, which isn’t a good thing at HRC because I tend to drink more beer. The band started with ‘Imagine’ and went on to do crowd favourites such as ‘Folk You’,’Rock n Roll’, Pearl Jam’s ‘Animal’ and more. Before the start of ‘It’s Ok’, Ameeth pointed out to a girl in the audience for whom he wrote the song. Slight chick-flick ‘Awww’ moment, but the damsel was hitched to another man. Thankfully, a Milas Kunis-Timbelake ‘Friends with Benefits’ flash mob was averted.

Ameeth points to girl for whom he wrote 'It's Ok'


The show was abruptly stopped thanks to the progressive police policy of Bangalore to close all live acts by 10:15. The crowd (myself included) was clearly disappointed at not getting to hear other numbers like ‘Say Goodbye’ and ‘Twinkle’. The entire set had a total of about 8 songs only. The most disappointing bit was that the band did not play any new material. While the live show still rocked, they may soon fall into the category of Indian rock stalwarts – Parikrama’ who have a predictable set list with barely any new material.

Performing 'Folk You'

The line-up for Junkyard Groove had one surprising change. Naveen Thomas (who also plays with Galeej Gurus) was missing, and was replaced by former Junkyard Groove guitarist Siddarth Srinivasan, who I thought had formed Captains of Hook, with former Junkyard Groove members. (Sounds like a certain Guns’n’Roses on a small scale…. Anyone remember Velvet Revolver?)

"This isn't 'Captains of Hook' !??!?!?!"

Sajith on Bass

Closing comments – entertaining show, but a terribly short set with no new material after all this time. The drums were a little too loud and drowned out some of the vocals.

Junkyard Groove




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