Banana Tunes!!

I'm a little hazy on the details probably coz it's been 2 months since the event. But here goes...

Banana Tunes - Public Issue, Chimera and Artificial Insanity live at Edge, Manipal, 31st August '08.



31st August! My day however began on 30th August. Cleaned the house, Mayukh picked the mattresses up, Faheem, the stamp.. We seemed okay. I had to pick up the band at 3 in the morning, so I decided to get myself some sleep early that night and went to bed at 8 PM.. Tossed and turned till 2. When I finally fell asleep, was woken up by friends who had just returned from one of those crazy parties where they give out neon sticks and everyone gets high. By 3, not an inch sleepy, my roommate and I got into the cab on our way to Mangalore to pick up Public Issue. Deciding to catch sleep when I return I got chatty with Public Issue on the way back to Manipal. We reached home and then went for breakfast. Eventually I got only a couple of hours of sleep.

The sound guy is the most important person at a concert and in our case also the most ignorant. He's always late. This was our first show with him so we asked him to come by 2. He came at 3:30. Set up took a while and soundcheck finally began. Chimera and Artificial Insanity are currently the most experienced bands around in Manipal. We have been rude to them in the course of Banana Tunes and sincerely apologize. As beginners I think the heat of the situation gets to all of us. A little prelude on the concert. We printed 300 tickets and they were sold out 3 days before the show. On the day of the show, we had a restless bubbling crowd and things got quite messy. By 6:45, almost an hour late, the show began with Aritificial Insanity. A little hazy on their performance, as I was walking up and about facing the little troubles that happen and at the same time trying to stay awake. I remember them playing Kill, their own composition, walked in, headbanged and walked back to run errands.

Chimera was up next. I honestly owe the members of this band a lot as they really took time out to help us paint the wall, sell tickets and even put up posters at 10 in the night due to unwanted poster wars which seem to be a major problem in Manipal. They played a good set too. The crowd absolutely enjoyed both the Manipal bands. However, most of them were first years and left before Public Issue took the stage. Still, the crowd that remained had a ball of a time.

Funk band, Public Issue had already played at Manipal in Jan '07 at the regional finals of Campus Rock Idols. But that was only a 20 minute set. Here they were playing a whole one and half hour set filled with energy, funk and comedy. People grooved. There was no line between the audience and the band. That sort of did cause problems, as the whole time I was protecting Handel, the bassist from falling victim to a few drunken girls falling all over the place. But at the end of the day, everyone had fun. At the end of the day I was still awake. The afterparty was peaceful with more music and the other necessary things at parties. We bid a solemn goodbye the next morning and Manipal was back to normal. Until 2 weeks later when we put up teasers. A mass apology to the first years for starting late - This time we'll start on time!