It’s my bad luck that I had to miss Absentia and Owned. So, I will keep it short and true [according to word of mouth]: Absentia was mind-blowing and Owned was even better. I entered through the old wooden door of BCSIC Auditorium, only to be greeted with tons of people on their feet when Poraho was just about to start their set. The band entertained the get Amped 6 full-house to their groovy, alternative numbers from their new album – all mellow and precise, even the “Jhakanaka”.
Poraho’s soothing set was followed by the new frontiers of metal, blooming after their debut album with rage and precision, Minerva. Gone are the days that this band start and finish their set with the long “tribute”. This band brought the whole house to its’ feet by presenting the new album numbers, like God of War [only this because this is my favorite], demonstrating one true example of accuracy and riff dynamics. Minerva was followed by Mechanix. So, the house came down for some thrash madness.
The band started off with their debut track, Dhruboshor, headbanging and spiraling down to Kaalo Bikhhov to Oporajeyo, after which, the band came down from the stage, content with their heavy performance. And when you thought you had enough metal, the train just left the platform for a wreckage. Trainwreck started off with Now You’ve Got Something To Die For, by Lamb of God and ended with Hourglass. The performance was the grooviest of the evening and with players like Mark Don and A.K. Rahul with their tightness, you sure are in for total drainage of energy.
So, after the Trainwreck at BSCIC Auditorium in Uttara, Karnival rushed to the rescue their originals like Montropaat, and throwing in a Radiohead cover of “The National Anthem” as well. Due to some technical difficulty they had to stop in the middle, but it was all fine and dandy when they resumed. The band left the stage revitalizing everyone, for what was coming up next DEMANDED energy.
Powersurge’s first ever Uttara gig, and the audience were all up in the feet, with their devils’ horn in the air, all ready for an evil mosh. The band started off the madness with Auprostut Juddho and ended with Mithher Aggrashon, throwing Cancer in the middle and bringing the whole down. Notable is their cover of “..And Justice For All”. The band finally believed that they were ready to play this track, and after long years of practice, they were finally able to get it right.
Powersurge was followed by good ol’ Hans Martin and his taste of the country blues. Hans Martin is a Norweign guitarist who was visiting Bangladesh for a guitar workshop, scheduled the day after [November 2nd] at EMK Center. Following Hans, up came one of the most critically acclaimed band of this generation, well-known for its’ stage presence and at its’ peak with Montobbo Nishproyojon, Arbovirus. The band started off with Keu Karo Noy, and much to everyones’ surprise, threw the all-so-popular Omanush as their second track. The band progressed to do tracks from both of their albums, like Roder Kinaray and Shikarokti, ending with a Limp Bizkit cover of Take a Look Around, mashed up with jaalo Aagun Jaalo, burning the stage with their tight performance.
After a half-hour recess, when almost 10 men were altering the drum kit, up came the headliner of the gig with their new line-up, Black. While a lot of people stayed back to see how the band is progressing with replacing Jon with Ashifur, a good chunk of the audience went home, even after Ashifurs’ persistent efforts of asking people to be patient. Finally, when the band started off with Abar, the whole house sat back and enjoyed while the masters were doing their magic. A rough 40 minute performance was comprised of all the famous and Black numbers, mixed with a few new ones, finishing it off in their signature style, with Tumi Ki Shara Dibe.
The organizing and time-management of the gig was top-notch and Get Amped successfully managed to make this gig look like a music festival, rather than a normal gig, which is essential. Bands come and go in almost every gig, the feeling of celebrating music is important, and that element was achieved.
