On the road with the Goddess

Ten days, seven cities, ANURAG TAGAT chronicles the reunion tour of Mumbai alternative metal/post-hardcore band Goddess Gagged

September 12, 2016 03:12 pm | Updated September 22, 2016 07:04 pm IST - Bengaluru

From the first show on the tour, in Kolkata, this photo is with city band - What Escapes Me.  PHOTOS: BY AUTHOR

From the first show on the tour, in Kolkata, this photo is with city band - What Escapes Me. PHOTOS: BY AUTHOR

You only realise how strenuous a tour is once it is over and you are sitting in your room again, wondering when your next flight is. Turns out, it is not for weeks, so you get back to your (long put-off) deadlines and more importantly, the comforts of a regular sleep cycle.

In 10 days, Mumbai alternative metal/post-hardcore band Goddess Gagged travelled to seven cities as part of a tour series called the 2Stroke Tour, which usually hosts two touring bands. This time, around the tour group was made up of the five-member pranksters and irreprehensibly-skilled musicians from Goddess Gagged, 2Stroke co-founder and showrunner Uddipan Sarmah (who had just arrived fresh from another artist’s Malaysia tour) and me.

I followed the band around, brandishing a camera and thankfully, they didn’t get tired of me. The band was on its first set of shows since 2014, when they went on a hiatus. It, however, didn’t look like they were reconnecting with each other. The de facto manager and bassist Krishna Jhaveri, vocalist Siddharth Basrur (the responsible adult with a punk-kid inner-child), guitarist Arman Menzies (whose jokes I was told to stop laughing at, for fear that I was encouraging him), drummer Jeremy D’Souza (who probably spent the most time sleeping on this tour) and guitarist Devesh Dayal (the somewhat nit-picky ace axeman) were probably never out of touch in the last two years.

The comfort levels between them only showed what a well-coordinated band they were on each of the seven shows, which started in Kolkata on August 26 and ended with a rousing homecoming show in Mumbai last week, on September 4. Sarmah personally wanted to see Goddess Gagged back on stage again, but more than that, there is his music business sense prevailing. Here was a reunion tour of not just any band, but one that drew audiences from all quarters – whether they liked rock, metal or progressive or even electronic music.

It also gave Sarmah the willingness to experiment with different opening acts – from the experimental metal stylings of What Escapes Me in Kolkata (which drew over 200 people) to indie rock band Dossers Urge in Shillong and space rock band Gumbal in Mumbai. Every supporting act drew their own crowd, whether old or new, and also played to Goddess Gagged’s dedicated followers who had shown up.

Speaking of dedication, it wasn’t exactly a joke that Devesh made about them being “a T-shirt factory that also plays gigs”. Over the course of the tour, Goddess Gagged sold nearly 250 T-shirts and tanktops they especially made for the tour. After all, they had an average of 200 to 300 people show up for their shows, barring the two North East shows in Shillong and Guwahati, which drew about a 100 people.

In Bengaluru, they played at the Humming Tree to what was already a highly hyped show, with ticket presales hitting nearly 100, and the band performing to over 400 people.

Despite a few sound glitches (that found their way regularly into their shows on the tour, for better or worse), Goddess Gagged played a very special show – not just because they’re favourites over here ever since they won Strawberry Fields band competition in 2010. They had vocalist Sunneith Revankar, from metal band Bhayanak Maut, who had contributed growls to their album Resurfaces , join them on stage to nail those very songs he’d sung on to perfection. Goosebumps galore when Revankar shred his vocal chords on ‘Modern Machines’.

The format was this – you fly in, go straight to the venue for soundcheck or check into your hotel room/place of stay, and then there is that long wait. The band either slept through this or spent it sitting around at the venue, reenergising themselves with food or just laughter. Krishna, who also plays for Mumbai rock band Indus Creed, progressive rock/metal band Skyharbor (with Dayal) and instrumental metal band Pangea, had an entire production suitcase that ensured they were ready for any contingency. He fixed drum thrones, snare drum stands, guitar amps and more.

Perhaps at the opposite end were Arman and Jeremy, who did their share of toiling to ensure a smooth sound check and carried equipment around, but were more or less least stressed, knowing that any situation – whether it was food coupons or getting a taxi to the airport – would be sorted.

Devesh, who ran the band’s backing track on stage and was subject to several creepy Snapchat videos by Arman off stage, was a virtuoso on stage, rarely finding himself distracted. Meanwhile, Siddharth, was being the powerhouse vocalist he’s known for. Whether it is his commercial work with Bollywood or ad jingles, the singer brings his A-game to Goddess Gagged. Off the stage, he is a fun-loving kid who loves this band beyond the moon.

Uddipan as well, by the end of the tour, knew exactly why he loved Goddess Gagged. He wasn’t just happy that they’d made his tour break even or earn a profit, but that they strengthened his faith in picking the right bands and changing how tours work or which indie artists can tour.

From the chant of “I will be/Holding on” on ‘Preliminary’ to the delectable voice sample going “Bouncy bouncy/Ooh such a good time” as an lead-in to the breakdown on ‘Handmade Waterfalls’ and the light-headed unreleased song ‘Elation’, Goddess Gagged had every crowd in the palm of their hands.

Off the stage, on the road, they probably had this elation turned down to mostly low-key, because they were too busy enjoying each other’s company. Here was a band that probably realised exactly how big their fanbase had grown while they were away, from kids calling them gods to first-time listeners becoming fans for life. And that’s probably why this wasn’t just a one-off. Looks like the T-shirt factory (that loves making scatological jokes, just so you know) that also plays music will be back again in the near future. This tour’s proven that.

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