Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Weird
Monday, May 5, 2008
Ride to Pakhal Lake
Back from a very "short" ride as some people might call it to be and not their kinds, but one of the best rides for me. And, for the others too i guess.
Distance covered- 420km.
People and the bikes-
Aditya and Sumana- 350 standard
Govi- 500LB
Dawg- 350 machismo
Pawan- 350 machismo
Prabhakar- Pulsar 220
Manish- 350 standard
To start of with, Govi and I wanted to ride to some place simply because it was quite sometime we went for a ride. The weather being relentless on us, didn't have a much of a choice and time constraints too. Dawg was waiting for a ride for quite sometime too so we thought we'd ride to Warangal 'cos its not too far and a familiar place for Govi and Manish.
Planned to start 4.30 pm, Pawan, Sumana and Myself ended up starting at about 5 pm from the start point. Joined Dawg and Prabhakar at Uppal and left from there at about 7pm ! Reasons being Pawan's bike and My bike giving some initial problems and also, Manish and Govi getting stuck at work. Our bikes had a minute electrical wiring problem which luckily wasn't a serious one. Got the bikes fixed by Raju mechanic at the Royal Enfield Showroom, Uppal. Manish was already on the Ghatkesar road and rode all the way to Uppal just for fun and joined us there.
Once we reached Bhongir, Manish had to get back to the city urgently for some important and he left. Govi couldn't make it cos of the office work. The rest of us continued to ride on from there. The roads were just close to being perfect. It was bout 8 or so and still there was prominent HOT wind blowing and no sign of any cold breeze. Slight cold breeze at couple of places relieved us a bit. Didn't really realize when we crossed Ghanpur, Ramapuram and reached Kazipet, halted there for few minutes. Reached Warangal at about 10 pm and to our luck the hotels were full. Had to look around for a bit and checked in at Ratna Hotel. Freshened up, got some food and other stuff, and we all took a plunge into a night of good long conversations.
It was around 2 a.m and we decided to take a nap for a bit as we planned to visit the Pakhal lake at 5 a.m and possibly get the best sunrise view. I could barely sleep for 15 minutes and we were up again at 5. The 50km ride to the lake was amazing and very relaxing. The scenic view of the lake was astounding and actually defied "PEACE". The splashing sound of the water suddenly seemed liked the best sound I ever heard, yes! much more than the music of slayer and lamb of god! Though it must not be one of the best lakes or even close to being one, it was a nice experience for me. The off-roading here beats the Toopran ride off-roading outright! Steep rocky slopes and rough muddy road could be taken of just like those of concrete are. It was fun riding on those after a long time. I'm sure Manish would 've loved the place just for the road. Was about 11 a.m by the time we got out from the lake and cos of the heat again, we headed back to the hotel straight. All these guys went off to sleep and then the "mad-man" of the ride Govi calls me at 11.30 a.m; "Dude, I'm starting for Warangal now. See you there!" Inspite of me trying to persuade him forget the ride and just chill there cos the heat was just getting worse, the guy didn't listen and started for Warangal. If I'm not wrong, he was in my room at about 1.30p.m. I'm sure he must've smoked the roads with just one break for a couple of minutes. Wonder how he did that in HOT afternoon!
We started at about 4.30p.m, looked at couple of temples, the fort and some other places. Once done with warangal, the ride to hyd was AWESOME. We left warangal at about 6/6.30 and man..I've never knew a 500LB could actually FLY. Read a whole lotta reviews about the bike but seeing the way Govi ripped the bike, it was a treat for the eyes. Earlier I thought 1.2lacs for a RE was a lil too much, but now I don't ve any hesitations in taking my statement back. I was actually getting a glimpse of his noon ride during the evening ride. To my surprise, My bike was at its best until now. I never enjoyed riding my bike as much as I did today. I guess even Govi was surprised a couple of times seeing my bike just GO. And this justifies my statement about this ride being one of the best for me.
Took a lotta "short" breaks while coming back and were later cruising on 60kmph. Reached Uppal at about 9p.m and dispersed from there to our respective places.
Things i liked about the ride - no problem whatsoever with any rider, no issues with any bikes, new member Prabhakar mixing up well, Govi coming there inspite of the heat and also knowing that we'd be in warangal only for a couple of hours more, Probably the best performance of my bike till date and above all, learn't what a 500LB is all about.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
METAL OVERDOSE ! !
I can honestly say that I have not been to as many Metal Gigs as some people, but the ones I have been to have been some of the most memorable moments in my life. The last gig I was at was probably the best ever gig I'd have been to till date. At the beginning of this month and I’m sure your all tired of hearing me talk about that by now.Bangalore! I was there yet again, but this time to see, DAVE MUSTAINE and his army - MEGADETH!.. Past experiences in Bangalore, were good? or may be, too good! No sweat with the climate and the people, and I couldn't ask for more this time!
The troop and I were just gearing up for may be, one of the biggest days of our lives. Rock In India! One of its own kinds, and the very first Rock Carnival in India with two mammoth bands lined up for the night- Megadeth and Machinehead. Thousands of Metal Heads headed to Palace Grounds, hovered over the place and announced their arrival. With seven Indian bands playing on the same day being Pentagram, Junkyard Grooves, Prestorika, Millennium, Thermal and a Quarter, Mother Jane and Casino Blues; would be any rockers delight! Prestorika, Junkyard Groove and Mother Jane were my pick among all the bands. By far, Mother Jane's performance was the best among all the other bands. It was the first time I saw Prestorika perform and I hope to seem them again sometime soon. Junkyard Groove was having a ball on stage. For the rest of the bands, I don't really have an opinion 'cos I didn't hear all their songs. Once Pentagram started playing, I started making my way to the main stage as they were the last Indian band that played before the Gods took over the place. Jumping over people, trying to squeeze every step a lil further I made my way till the third row before Machine Head started playing.
It was about 7.10 p.m, I hit the first two rows just on time and Machine Head opened with - Clenching the Fists of Dissent and just owned the place right away! After a couple of tracks the entire crowd was screaming “Machine Fuckin Head”. Robb Flynn just paused few seconds and said “This is fuckin awesome man!”. I personally heard very few songs of Machine Head and wasn't too keen to see them on stage in the beginning. But, once they marked their arrival, I loved their music and especially the drummer. There was no place to move/headbang/jump/mosh in the first 20 rows. People were pushing/shoving/kicking to make their way to the first row and get as close as possible! It was more like survival of the fittest! I gave up on the crowd once Machine Head finished half of their setlist. I moved back, got some water for myself and was just gazing at the humongous crowd present there. I could see something like a tornado at about 20th row from the stage, the crowd moving to the left,right and centre. After grasping some breath, I started making my way back again to the first row. Robb Flynn was amazed that the crowd kept singing along with him. At the end of every song the crowd chanted “Machine Fuckin Head” which surprised the band guys time and again!.. Machine Head was tight throughout their set and I'm sure they did give their 100% . Rob Flynn belted out some powerful riffs and vocals like he's pawned everyone and he's owns the crowd. . Machine Head showed amazing showmanship and set the stage on fire. For me, they set the perfect ambiance for Megadeth to take over the stage. They finished their set around 8.15pm. then there was a good 20min delay to change the drum kit and the stage monitors. In these 20 minutes I was trying hard to make through the crowd and trying get to the centre of the stage.
At around 8:40 pm, the Sleepwalker intro played through the PA and everyone knew, the moment had arrived. The high voltage scream pierced through the sky and Bangalore made sure that the band realized for whom they are gonna perform. The sweat/pain/thirst/hurt all dissolved and disappeared in few seconds with pure thrash metal going down my veins. The lights went off for that moment and came back on with Mustaine and Co. and the crowd went beserk. Megadeth surely kicked some butt and I was gearing up for what I always heard "Deth
Style".
Megadeth played some songs from Peace Sells, Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction, Youthanasia and Cryptic Writings apart from United Abominations. I hope Mr. Mustaine interacted more with the crowd, thanks to DNA and their time delay. For others and even myself, their music did the talking. Dave looked dumbfounded quite a few times when crowd sang along for most of the songs and mastered the art of back vocals. After few songs was a pause for a bit and then Mustaine said “I think I will keep playing rather than talk”. I think even he realized that the show started off late and the crowd didn't want a miss out even on a minute. I could barely stand on my feet and breathe, I lost my voice and I was so drained out that I couldn't even sing along. But, it was all worth it and I don't ve any regrets. I loved the songs they played and I don't think I've any complains. It took me quiet sometime to realize that Dave Mustaine, the man himself was right in front of my eyes. They belted out as many songs they could. “Before we end this tonight, we would like to just tell you how much we liked being here….And we will be back!” and then the guitar screamed HOLY WARS! I'm not sure if the order is right, but their set was like- Sleepwalker, Take no prisoners, Skin O' my teeth, Washington is next, Mechanix (was a part of a medley i guess), In my darkest hour, A tout le monde, Tornado of souls, Trust, Hangar 18, Symphony of destruction, Peace sells and concluded with Holy wars! The sound was good but not all that great and I was too drained to concentrate on the sound than looking at the man himself!
A lot of people said this is not the same old Megadeth, there is no Marty Friedman and no Glen Drover. But as for me, I'm simply honoured to watch Megadeth live !
Eight hours for pure metal overdose!
"Megadeth! Megadeth! Megadeth!"; I still hear the chant...
P.S- The pictures are taken from the internet and not clicked by me/someone I know.
