Yes! We’re

going back to the Fatherland!

A lot of the music we cut our teeth on came to us via ‘Thomsun Original’ audio-cassette tapes carried down to India in bulging VIP briefcases by Fathers and Uncles returning from the ‘Gelf’. A brief vacation in God’s own backyard; replete with

large easy-chairs, relatives eager for tales and boons, quick impregnations and lots of coconut oil. Then it was back to slogging in the arid desert, squirreling shekels in the Sheikhdoms. And those tapes – ah,

from Boney-M to Steely Dan, Toto to Guns N’ Roses, Osibisa to The Police – that was the stuff that got us going. We wore them out, gleaning the chords to Josie or sweating that solo on Eye in the Sky.

When we played in Dubai for the first time, back in 2007, we promised to return. So, like the, ahem, ‘contraption’ in that book The Naked Lunch, we’re doing it again. On 25th October 2013, TAAQ will play

the Music Room at the Majestic Hotel in Dubai – one of the city’s hottest new venues.

Calling all ye friends and countrymen – show

up! We promise to inject every bit of the enthooseeyaasum we showed the Thomsun Originals into our show. And originals you’ll hear – a bushel full.

Salaam!

The post Going to Abroad – Again!
TAAQ Live in Dubai, October 25 appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).

After completing 50 (yes, fifty!) gigs across 60

days across 4 nations we’re back home to close this tour where it all began 2 months ago. See you at the Bflat Bar this weekend, on the 4th, 5th and 6th October . Full of stories and anecdotes from the tour, this is gonna be a special one…err three

October is setting up to be a good gigging month already. We’ll keep ya’ll updated as soon as the pipeline allows.

The post TAAQ Back @BFlat appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).

have them by the bushel) would chance by our show, and deem it worthy to feature on ‘Pick of the Fringe’!

Well, an expert did show up. His wife, Moira. Beautiful,

gentle and ever-so-gracious, she popped in to our gig

on a Saturday night, watched the whole thing and then waited 15 minutes (our pack-up time) in the cold outside to speak with us and welcome us to Mervyn’s show. It was kind of hard, at the

time, to stop jumping up and down and whooping etc. Grinning like idiots we walked back home. Thanks to Steve Cardownie and the Bellevue Street Party gig (more on that later) we happened to have a drum kit and amp available. Ah serendipity.

Well, Wednesday the 14th was as fantastic as we expected. Great crowd, great venue, some fantastic other acts… and us, wrapping things up at the end, getting everyone to holler the ‘Hey’ in Look at Me and dance in their seats on Hoedown. Watch out for that video, coming soon.

Mervyn puts everyone at ease, chatting with each performer, putting all the right promo stuff out for people to see and hear, ensuring that each act gets the attention it needs, thus sending more people to the shows. It’s an amazing thing to do. And it’s done so well.

It was a real honour, being invited to be a part of this

iconic Fringe event.

If you thought this couldn’t get better, it just did.

Mervyn called us today. Himself. To tell us that we’d just won his ‘Spirit of the Fringe’ award, and would we like to reprise our showcase gig for his finale show on Sunday the 25th? Naturally we hummed and hawed and eventually accepted . Mervyn’s Spirit of the Fringe Award is one of the longest-running awards at the Edinburgh Festival, given out every year since 1992! Apparently, the Scotsman (local big media) launched its own ‘Spirit of the Fringe’ award a few years ago, without acknowledging Mervyn’s precedence! Ah, well.

So there we are, folks. Our first Fringe,

and it’s raining and pouring and we’re loving

it. Wish you were here!

Check out more pics from our first showcase gig here. Videos etc coming soon.

Cheerio!

The post TAAQ: First the ‘Pick of the Fringe’, then Pick o’ the Pick! appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).

their events. Lots of friends made. Lots of sausages (the veggie kind too) eaten. Lots of miles walked. Lots of flyers, well, flyer-ed. Let’s get to the reviews. Here’re some quick excerpts: “Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. These folks play boldly and 642-902 dumps brilliantly across all genres wrapped up in solid driving rock. They challenge themselves with a unique set every night. It matters not where they

are from as they are an excellent force in the universe of Rock.” – Christopher Frick (audience review, on EdFringe.com) “Excellent band with terrific instrumental fluidity; saw the show twice..”

– Steve Kelsey (audience review, on EdFringe.com) “Clapton, Bruce and Ginger

Baker eat your heart out! Saw them live last night (7th). These guys are a seriously good power combo and deserve to be playing in front of 1000s. Intelligent and visceral rock music with funk and edge. See them now.” – Mark Hardcastle (audience review, on EdFringe.com)

So there ye have it. Are we makin’ ye proud yet?

The post Let’s Hear It: TAAQ Reviews from Crowds and Critics… appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).

TAAQ makes the cover of Rolling Stone!

Yep. That’s Thermal And A Quarter on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine.

A big ‘Thank You’

to Air India and

ProFx for

their support on the tour!

The post That’s Right. TAAQ is Now A ‘Cover’ Band ;-) appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).

Hot day!

At thirty-six ticks Celsius, Mumbai’s concrete-paved roads shimmered like beaten glass under the liquid glare. But they tell us it is actually cooler than the week before – by a whole round four degrees. These becalming meteorological statistics help us keep our cool. And we’re on our way with a little help from good, eco-friendly air-conditioning everywhere – on the plane to Bombay, in the airport lobby, in the cabs to the hotel, in the hotel lobby, in the hotel rooms, at the Hard Rock Cafe… Sweating it out has never been tougher.

Hard Rock Cafe billed it as an Alternative Tuesday, but it turned to be more the epithet we gave it - the Midweek Weekend. The crowd was thick by when we went up at ten, and there were no free tables or seats at the bar by half past.

Bruce Lee Mani at Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai

TAAQ Hard Rock Cafe Mumbai – Set List

Blistering opening with Shut Up and Vote. Chased that with Getting There and Surrender. We broke set at Hoedown. If you remember, the last time we played here at the Hard Rock Cafe in Mumbai was the night before 26/11. So, we resumed with One Small Love and followed that up with a very extended Sold just to keep up the irony.

Roadie's eye-view

On bass, Mr Tony Das, impersonating Rzhude (laid low by mumps) for the night, went to great pains to prove his identity. But the Mumbai die-hards would have none of it. The night wore on, the crowd didn’t. Some chose to mosh while the rest just noshed. At the bar, some very vocal boys and girls grooved grandly.

Magical evening. We wound it up very reluctantly at ten past midnight.

Tonight, we descend upon Pune with our first-ever gig at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Be there!

On the road to Pune

Just in: Rediff.com has recorded and posted a video of Shut Up and Vote from our performance at Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai.

View the video here

The post Midweek in Mumbai, the harder they rock! appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).

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!

Watch the video

The post Shut Up and Vote – our new music video appeared first on Thermal and a Quarter (TAAQ).