We’re all a little red-eyed from playing Mumbai last evening and gearing up for this evening’s gig at St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bangalore.
7 PM. Entry free.
Anushya Badrinath has shot some amazing pics of our gig in Mumbai.
TAAQ – Shut Up and Vote – Mumbai – © Anushya Badrinath
TAAQ brings the Shut Up and Vote tour to the capital
The capital. Power center with no power cuts. Karims. Gulatis. Great gigs. TAAQ quite infested this joint between 2006 – 2007, playing some super shows in the colleges, pubs, etc. Delhi’s always been good to us!
Bruce at the Shut Up and Vote tour, Delhi
Staying at the Tata Tea guest house, while crew (who, btw, are beginning to look more like the rockstars than us) stay at a place called (see? see?) ‘Rockland’. Manage to catch up with old pal Hebbani Raghu Rao Venkatesh (of CNN IBN Anchor fame) and his lovely wife Anu at their home in Noida. Thanks for that great dinner!
Rzhude in full flow at the Shut Up and Vote tour, Delhi
Pragati Maidan is such an amazing place; last we played here must’ve been for GIR, way back in the late 90s, at the Hamsadhwani theater. Lal Chowk is also a striking location – the pics will speak for themselves. Sachin’s sound and lights were spot on, and everything came together just right. Changed the set list a bit; threw out the medley and put in Jupiter Cafe and Sanity instead. The jams were cooking! And there was a bunch of folks in front who seemed to know all the licks and lyrics… nice!
Rajeev skins 'em at the Shut Up and Vote tour, Delhi
Post gig Colonel’s (overpriced) Kebabs and Swagath Pomfrets later, we’re ready to move on.
Must be quite a trip to do this kind of thing 200 days a year.
Tonight, be there in Mumbai. We have a huge stage, full power sound and the works in terms of lighting and multimedia. And it won’t cost you anything except the train fare.
If you miss this one, you’ll rue it. We know Nerul isn’t exactly Near-ul, but it ain’t Far Out either. Please note the correct address of the venue:
Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology (RAIT) grounds (D Y Patil Academy campus), Nerul, Navi Mumbai.
See you there tonight!
Happy Ugadi to all of you in Bangalore. We’re coming at ya live on Saturday evening at St Joseph’s College of Commerce Grounds. 7 pm onwards. Entry free.
The Shut Up and Vote tour has come to Mumbai after a scintillating gig in the capital.
So all you Mumbaikars and Bombayites, whichever side of the nomatophobic divide you may subscribe to, get yourselves over to Navi Mumbai.
Mark your calendars – 7 PM on Friday, March 27
Venue:
Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology (RAIT) grounds, D Y Patil Academy, Nerul, Navi Mumbai
Entry free.
Sob kuch theek taaq
Calcutta (er, Kolkata) felt like we went back in time by around 40 years. Everything’s old and has a quaint feel about it. On the other side of its quaintness, even the traffic, honking and road rage is played out so realistically in true barbaric form, unlike Bangalore where the same scenes are enacted by formally dressed yuppies driving their mid-sized luxury cars (my great self shamefully included).
Rajeev at Shut Up and Vote, Kolkata
Been to Cal a few times before but this was the first time at college street and its many narrow gullies. What an amazing place! You know, I’ve never got it when people speak about their favorite cities and how they are absorbed and soaked in the character of these cities, etc. (pretty much like how I don’t understand auto buffs who speak of how their vehicles handle and hug and kiss the road so well, etc… what the!!! ).
Bruce at Shut Up and Vote, Kolkata
Anyways, I think Calcutta did it for me this time. It drizzled a bit as we were rushing back from Bhojohori Manna to Presidency College for sound check. It was a mad drive back.
Calcutta may not save me, but together we can cry 
It’s the closest to my idea of the real real reality of an Indian city. To me, in the end everything boils down to being some shade of grey and Calcutta has the most shades to choose from.
So as Calcutta handles amazingly well, and gently hugs and caresses the road, we move to the next big city on our tour – Ny Dhilly.
adios
Rajeeb
About the gig: Suffice to say it happened!
TAAQ takes the Shut Up and Vote tour to Kolkata
TAAQ kicks off the Shut Up And Vote Tour at IIT-Madras, Chennai
The heat. The dust. The burden of the beast… Chennai is a true ‘Look At Me’ situation. Love it!
IIT OAT – the last time we played here was at least eight on nine years ago – when the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior was docked in Chennai’s port, sounding a clarion call for ‘No More Bhopals’. Was a great gig then (will always remember this one moment: everyone in the crowd was given a candle and asked to light it at the same time… never seen so many stars in the audience like that before – it was stunning); and last night was no less.
Rzhude on bass at IIT-Madras, Chennai
Soundcheck doesn’t quite go according to plan; there’s some conference going on and the Dean keeps ringing us to say ‘Oldein’ (travelers on B’lore buses will know that distinctive sound). But it’s all looking good… the backdrop, the lights, the stage.
Chennai band Greyshack open the gig and get the crowd going with a high-energy medley. We get on after a quick AV and intro; start with Shut Up And Vote and crowd is already roaring. Nice!
Rajeev on drums at IIT-Madras, Chennai
Saw a few Walkie-Taaqies in front singing along to Paper Puli, Look At Me, etc. One Small Love was one of the highlights; used good friend Angshuman’s Taylor acoustic (need more work on getting it to sound right, though) and played the video on the AV screen. Happy lads, kudos! Every pair of hands in the audience spontaneously came together when Rzhude drew that smile on… It was a great moment.
Bruce on guitars and vocals at IIT-Madras, Chennai
Wrap up with Humpty Dumpty, Chameleon and finally, Motorbyckle, complete with sound effects.
Good Gig! Hope we got folks to at least start thinking about the message. Make a date with us – the tour is coming to your city, or at least close!
On to Kolkata now.
Ciao!
TAAQ performs at the Shut Up and Vote tour at IIT-Madras, Chennai
‘Shut Up’ has already ruffled some whiskers.
High up in the blogosphere, a certain journalist has taken exception to two parts of the song title: ‘Shut Up’ and ‘Vote’.
His first blog post, titled ‘On Dumb Editors… and Dumber Rockers’ accused TAAQ’s anthem of being ‘exceedingly stupid’. We popped in to say our bit. Over the last couple of days, the conversation did hot up and today, he has a fresh new post where he snipes at TAAQ again.
Sauvik Chakraverti writes:
TAAQ confessed to having composed their song “Shut Up And Vote” in response to a “brief.” In journalism, we call this a “command performance.” As I said, this song is not from the heart nor from the mind. It is just an ad jingle – and a rude one at that. It cannot work. You cannot compose a jingle that says “Shut Up And Drink Coca-Cola.”
Our response: You can (in a bottle or in a can). And lots of people are doing that. But we won’t. And not just because we like our cola with rum.
A command performance, indeed! You wish!
Let’s get this straight. The Jaago Re One Billion Votes campaign is a citizen initiative spearheaded by the voluntary organization Janaagraha along with Tata Tea. If we were singing this anthem for a particular political party, the blogger’s accusation would hold water (or cola, or whatever). But what’s dumb about speaking out along with like-minded, progressive citizens, and what’s dumb about persuading young people to participate in electing our leaders?
Now, Mr. Chakraverti comes across as a reasonably intelligent, articulate sort of chap but, like many of his kind that we know of, his views are clouded with pessimism and this, in our observation, is nothing new to this creed of non-participants. And that’s what we tried to remind him about.
Go to the coffee shops and watering holes and pot parlours of the world and you will find plenty of them – bottom-feeders that drink deep but taste not the spring of citizenship. What we have exhorted the youth to do through this song is participate in the electoral process, to exercise their right as citizens. That, Mr. Chakraverti, is a necessary first step. Before crying foul, before finding fault with the system, or even before poking holes where none existed.
Through this song and through this series of concerts, we urge the youth: Do not stand back and submit to pessimism and inertia. Participate as citizens. Idle debate is no good unless you have exercised your right to bring in change. Ok, you know and we know that the system sucks. You know and we know that even this time round, we cannot do away with corruption. You know and we know that the usual suspects may share power again. But all of that said, your inertia is not a fitting response. It will take us nowhere and will only leave us more frustrated at the way things are.
We’ll write another song for the cynic and the pessimist and the non-voting beefburger (haven’t we, already?). When it’s time.
Until then, shut up and vote.
Et tu, Mr. Chakraverti!
The Shut Up and Vote Tour
You have already previewed ‘Shut Up and Vote’ on YouTube. Now, coming soon to your city, or a city near you, is the ‘Shut Up and Vote’ tour, part of the Jaago Re One Billion Votes campaign. This is an initiative of Janaagraha and Tata Tea.
We will play in five cities to get the youth together to stand up, shut up and… vote!
It’s interesting how some good folks in the blogosphere are already dishing out their cynicism and quasi-intellectual gibber about the campaign and its effectiveness. They yap about India and China, about the economy and their parsimony, about the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games, about Padma Shrees and Padma Laxmi. But hey, just for a minute, get off that high horse and do something, people.
And well, about our song.
Some of the comments on the music video made a big deal about language: some viewers thought the song ought to have been sung in Hindi. Heh, we’ve heard that one even before most of you started to Rock On! Our piece of advice: Try that in Chennai, my friend, and you’ll spend the rest of your years picking splinters out of your rear.
But seriously, language is a non-issue. If you have English newspapers and magazines, English TV news channels, and English theatre, if you can fill your bank application form in English, and sign your name in English, why Bollywood-ise our world?
Go to the neglected Northeast (we have) – English works there better than the officialese of Hindi. And then, we have always maintained that English – thought, written and spoken our way – is an Indian language, and that stays.
For those who haven’t heard us before, we urge you to listen to our songs a little more carefully. Potatoe Junkie, Humpty Dumpty, Cynical World, Galactiqua, Sevenish, The Steal, Chameleon… scratch the surface of these songs and you’ll get to the heart of the messages we have been spreading for the last 13 years. To that list, Shut Up and Vote is one more addition.
So, come and watch the concert. It’s the first step you can take before you use your index finger to make a difference.
And while you’re at it, we’ll practice what we preach.
Here’s the schedule:
MARCH 20: Open Air Theatre, IIT Madras, Chennai
MARCH 23: Presidency College, Kolkata
MARCH 25: Pragati Maidan, Lal Chowk, Delhi
MARCH 27: D.Y. Patil College, Mumbai
MARCH 28: St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bangalore
Be there!
On Sunday night, we set the controls for the heart of the sun by playing tribute to Pink Floyd.
An interesting aside: If you thumb carefully through Nick Mason’s memoir Inside Out – A Personal History of Pink Floyd (Phoenix, 2004), you will learn that Floyd’s first single was called ‘This Is It‘.
Really!
Of course, we had no idea when we cut our album. But the fact that it was launched in March of 1967 makes for an eerie and happy coincidence. A coincidence that will make itself felt this ides of March.
Organised by Globosport and sponsored by Seagrams, this series of eight tribute concerts to great artists by different bands have been unfolding in Bangalore at Take 5. We take on Floyd on Sunday night, March 15.
Take 5, Indiranagar (above Cafe Coffee Day, 100 ft Road ).
8 PM onwards.
Entry free.
ERROR REGRETTED: The latest issue of our newsletter ThermalAndAQuarterly wrongly mentioned this was a Rolling Stone Tribute gig. In fact, the show is sponsored by Seagrams and organised by Globosport. We’re really sorry about the mixup and for the hard feelings we may have caused. Hope nobody was hurt.
As for us, we need to catch up on sleep.
Got in last night – minus one Gibson guitar. Jet Airways managed to lose it in between Chennai and here… they finally tracked it down and sent it home the same night – so some kudos there. Full story coming soon, with pics etc.
Shut Up and Vote is an anthem we composed and performed for the Jaago Re! One Billion Votes campaign, a joint initiative of Janaagraha and Tata Tea.
The campaign vests the onus of change on educated urban young voters. The music video, shot by filmmaker Rani Jeyaraj for Jaago Re!, sounds a wake-up call for India’s one billion people to unite and bring about change in the quality of governance, which can become a reality only with the active participation of the youth. Through voting and electing quality leaders, the youth can strengthen the roots of Indian democracy.
So put that index finger to good use – shut up and vote!
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