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One day, I’m going to get Mr. Umesh to round up all the roadies and take a group pic (with slates hanging down from their necks, of course). And then interview them to find out what they think about being TAAQ roadies, or whether they have ceased to think altogether.

But we know it’s not an easy life. Here’s Slickthief’s account:

Just when you think everyone’s happy and having a nice time, mizter Rzhude would place his demand for stuffed turkey and roast duck calmly on the table at seven in the morning. Every nut and guitar pick would have to be accounted for. I’d have to keep pesky irritating egoistice (sic) photographers out of the band’s face. Then make a scene with rascal waiters who make a break through stage to fetch some beer and make a scene again when they return. What fun!

And you thought roadies were starry-eyed…

Please join us in wishing Bruce Lee Mani a very happy burpday.

It’s been a long winter and a rather hoarse start to 2007. Each of us in turn was laid low by a very persistent and angry flu, our voices locked away for days. But the good news is that we’re back on the run. First stop, the far north.

Three gigs coming up:

Chandigarh, Feb 10: First time in the city of Le Corbusier, chicken tikka, awesome lassi and, of course, in more than one sense of the word, kudis. The PEC fest is where we’ll play, and if you’re something of a (air)hop away, make it.

Delhi, Feb 11: Cafe Morrison plays host to us this time. Look out for a full set of new originals and some surprises.

Delhi, Feb 12: We stay on in the capital to play at St. Stephen’s. As once promised, this is a long-postponed rendezvous. What a way to begin the week – you Stephenians have chutzpah!

Coming up soon – more gigs in Bangalore and another in Cal. It’s going to be a hectic season. Meanwhile, see you tonight in Chandigarh. Check with the organisers for all schedules, please. Don’t blame us later

Hi there everyone, I am back again, after a fairly long hiatus, as they say. A special hey hey to Mister Guru McDarshan, who is painting the town in all colors of the visible spectrum!

As a die-hard Thermite, I have a very big complaint against them. Well, not a complaint exactly but a rile factor. I always argue with the band that their very superior musician skills always drown out their equally fantastic lyrical penmanship.

As a case in point, I refer to this line… Wishing for Magic

I’m just an ordinary Joe

Waiting for Godot…

And I say, wow, did you get that? It worked on so many levels for me!

The band says… naaah, no one pays too much attention to the lyrics anyway, although we’d like them to. Well, I beg to differ… many of us would like to know what exactly you’re all saying and what the heck exactly are we humming anyway? So I thought I should let all of us know what some of the new and unrecorded songs are saying. Hence … Waxing Lyrical

Check out the super gritty

Chameleon…

I don’t have the time

There’s water in my hourglass

And the sand is in my eyes

 

I don’t have my mind

There’s flickering lights in my head

And my reasons are all lies

 

Today is just the same old same old

Too many teeth behind those smiles

And I don’t care about the stories told

If it means more, more, more,

More frequent-flyer miles

More secretary smiles

More…

 

*         I’m dangerous, I’m your best friend

            I’m a colour-blind chameleon

            I’m moving up, I know what’s going down

            I’m just an urban

            Super human

            The consumer and the consumed…

 

I don’t have the reasons

I lost them in the fire

Of my ambition to be

Something far far away from me

 

I don’t have a saviour

I’m too smart

To be taken in by

Your incense and your prayers that your round-trip to heaven

 

Today is just the same old same old

Too many teeth behind those smiles

And I don’t care about the stories told

If it means more, more, more

More frequent-flyer miles

More secretary smiles

More…

 I’ll catch you singing those lines in the next show. Meanwhile more lyrics to wax about…

We continue with the list of our heroes who make the band look so great…

• Leo James David aka Leo

True to his name, he is our leonine, fierce bearded Head of Security. One look at his super muscular body would discourage even the thought of making trouble. Leo makes us all feel totally pathetic when roadieing – as 5 of us struggle to lift a power amp, Leo coolly hoists an entire top on his back and walks away. Lifting 36 kg bags for 8 hours a day makes a Leo out of ordinary men. For all his musculature, Leo is a surprisingly nimble dancer. You should catch him do the “caterpillar” to How Can I get your Groove. He is also a learned philosopher and inspired the song “The Steal”

• Tanmay aka Tank

Tank is obviously big and not necessarily muscular. Tank’s crawling CPU speeds inspired Bala and Arun to coin the “plugpoint” concept. When Tank doesn’t get the joke even after a few years, you electrocute yourself in frustration at the nearest socket and scream – Plugpoint. Other Tank-inspired variations include “Transformer” and “Substation”

• Vaibhav aka Vav

Vaibhav is a short, suave and portly gentleman who has served honorably on the Thermal rolls. He is always mentioned in the context of the inseparable Tank-Vav duo. Vaibhav (sometimes Bow-Bow) is known for making really funny jokes in totally unexpected situations. Bark on brother.

• Sanket aka “Speedy” Gonzalez

Sanket is a super sweet super mental kid who earned the sobriquet “Speedy” because of his super quick guitar soloing. It is another matter that we could never hear most of the notes. For most part Speedy is timid, amiable and thoroughly likeable. But let him see any Thermal DNA under threat, and he becomes a snarling killer rat. You can meet him in cyber space sporting the smart sounding tag “Jonathan”, because “Bruce, who will want to speak to anyone named Sanket, Bruce”. Brother Speedy, hope you’ve hit that elusive million notes per second.

• BMC aka Butterfly

BMC is the roadie that no band, especially TAAQ, can do without. She is a diminutive super woman – she is designer, CD seller, marketing head, accountant, ticket collector, water bringer, powder putter and much more. Taking a break from all these activities, in her spare time she manages to dispense advice, hugs and sanity to the Thermal family. No wonder Midas couldn’t hold a candle to the Butterfly. Madam, we are proud to know you.

• Auntech

In the shadowy world of the Thermal roadie network sometimes appears a mysterious figure simply known as Auntech. Auntech is usually mistaken for an innocent adoring fan at the end of the gig, but make no mistake, Auntech is the super roadie. There are no words in any language to describe this individual, but let it suffice to say – the drummer can’t do without A. Along with Butterfly and the rest, Auntech’s persona is woven into the very spirit of the entity called Thermal And A Quarter.

• Elsa aka It’s a boy… it’s a girl… it’s a…Thing?

Elsa made it to the roadie ranks in the following manner. One evening, Rajeev and friend drop off another friend at the airport. The usual airport wait becomes another opportunity to operate under the influence. Rajeev vaguely remembers goodbyes and the drive back to Barton Centre, our then HQ, along with a third silent companion. Next morning we arrive for practice, and lo, there she is, Elsa – a passenger trolley from the airport. Since then Elsa has been the only uncomplaining roadie in the band, carrying all the heavy stuff with ease. Towards the end of her career she developed a limp and so she took VRS. Elsa is now retired and has a place of high honor (on the first floor) in our jam room.

• Suchin aka Slick Thief

Suchin is the shiny, latest, off-the-shelf acolyte in the roadie network. To describe him as a roadie, he is cool, calm, collected, level headed and never panics in any situation (and boy do we have situations). He has no minus points to his credit and nobody ever found his service wanting. Which can all mean only one thing. Only One Thing. He HASN’T BEEN AROUND LONG ENOUGH !!!

• Umesh aka Obi-wan-Pataani

The chronicler of this tale and many more to come. If you look at Thermal And A Quarter in the multicolor, larger-than-life big picture, you’ll see him as a pixel or two.

There are many more unknown heroes in the rolls of the roadie network. This post salutes them for their unselfish, unnoticed deeds.

You are invited to share more Thermal tales with this writer at St John’s on the tenth birthday of Thermal And A Quarter.

In our ten years, we’ve jammed with a whole variety of instruments – Carnatic percussion, Hindustani slide guitar, Coromandel vocals, et cetera. But in the recent past, we’ve been initiated into a new sax-uality.

In TAAQ’s book, 23-year-old Nate Linkon from the Windy City is nothing short of a prodigy. He is our latest thrilling discovery (though knowing him, he’ll argue the converse is true). But what does an American four years out of his teens but who’s played his brass for 13 years feel about jamming with, of all things, that incongruous entity known (only recently, and begrudgingly) as The Indian Rock Band?

Here’s the spaghetti in Nate’s words:

Greetings, TAAQers!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nate, I’m 23 and hail from the United States. I’ve been living in Bangalore for the last 16 months or so, marketing for an IT company by day, rocking out on my sax with TAAQ by night. After playing in a rock/funk band in Chicago for several years, I had no idea what to expect from the music scene in India. To be honest, I brought my axe along not really sure if I’d play with anyone but my iPod for the 2 years I’d be here. Clearly, I was mistaken.

Here’s a mail that just came in:

I find my shit luck getting worse by the day, first of all i am an old time taaqian, taaqist ,taaqer.. yadayada!! i saw you guys first when i was 14 (i am twenty four now) i actually came to MCC to see you open for a lousy bad from delhi*.then you i came to IIT for some gig you did for save the earth** and then saw you in Unwind . then for seven years you guys kept playing in places that seemed really far away and now you play in MCC after ages and exactly the year i pass out and leave the freaking country. What joy i think i’ll burst into song.

* That was Orange Street. )
** No More Bhopals, January 8, 2000

We’ll play in your corner of the world. Soonish.

http://community.livejournal.com/taaqback/