Its comfortably over a week past and still I feel the tremors of the The Grand Mammoth Festival madness in the form of a fucked up sleep schedule and erratic neck pains. One of the best local acts under one roof, lots of booze and a venue adjacent to a swimming pool facing an open stage with individuals, randomly if you will; singing crappy bollywood songs seamlessly backed by even crappier background scores; all reinforce your pre- conceived notion of a no bullshit DIY underground gig put together by the blood, sweat and alcohol binges of those hard–working organizers/crew. And just as they say, the energy translates in a much powerful manner in smaller places...and TGMF surely personified this ethos.
Narkasur started their set which was just as I thought, sonically fast and intense thrash with a tinge of groove. Fuckin’ headstrong and in-your-face. After about 3 songs their set got over leaving behind a much needed neck warm –up session. Surely an admirable new talent here.
My journey to this festival started with a usual haggard and end moment decision much to the annoyance of my fellow concert goer/traveler. Little did I know that my decision proved to be a boon in disguise, as the gig started really late, even by metal gig – standards. Which is not a bad thing at all, especially for folks arriving from outstation places ain’t it? Plus, its good for pre gig hangover conditions, if any; as it affords more time to recover and gain some energy. Roughly around 15 minutes later
Primitiv turned out to be quite a powerhouse,bringing to the table a delicious blend of covers with originals.By the light; Obituary, Sabbath’s sweet leaf along with their own Lords of Primitiv,Taurus et al had the audience mesmerized. In all honesty they do sound awesome on-stage!
Next up, the groove monsters in Zygnema belted out their numbers; including 59 and machine state hibernation and a new song to a mostly shirtless crowd in the pit and around it. A superb set indeed.
Then came the slam – death metal outfit,
Gutslit, and they made sure to literally tear apart the pit with their ‘
Haemorrhoidal Brain Custard’ ‘
Atrophic cranial disintegration’ (snigger, turned into a chuckle; and then into laugher); ‘
Skewered in the sewer’, a
dying fetus cover ‘
kill your mother rape your dog’ among others. A very comprehensive setlist, concluded by a pit almost as brutal as the genre. Always great to witness an act like Gutslit who recently played a festival abroad in Europe. Despite minor sound fuckups at the console they made sure to correct em and played on.
By this time I headed straight to a bar for some beer and an energy drink. Before I knew it
Devoid had started with those vicious riffs . They hypnotized the audience with a set including ‘
A God’s lie’, ‘
The Brahma weapon’ out of their new EP and a brand new song ‘
I am God’. The crowd went into a frenzy at a hint of a new track being played. The concept of this song was in
Arun’s words ‘embracing yourself to be one like God’ or in other words, to consider oneself as powerful as a God. Definitely a positive message to impart, yes sir!
Finally the concert was concluded by the headlining act Sceptre with their introduction to a new vocalist. The thrashers tore through their set which included songs off ‘now or never’ and the recent ‘age of calamity’ with their typical ferocity, the vocalist’s drunkenness helping achieve more energy. Bassist Janus and drummer Aniket made sure to motivate and cheer the crowd and trust me when I say this, the crowd went wild inside the pit. Such things build the reputation of an underground gig with its raw ferocity and power.Before I knew it the concert came to an end, and a new chapter of Vashi’s TGMF was created.Though I wasn't at its last editions I can safely say that the sound, energy and vibe was much higher, bro!
And this is how I conclude this review folks, TGMF with its nice lineup and handling all the aspects of The Game finally. With
Tata Docomo as the good sponsors,everything went seemingly fluent, never mind the slight delay in starting the gig. Ending on a high note, I must say this was probably one of the highlight gigs of 2014. Last but not the least big ups to
Jeff Dani and
Hebzy Jacob william of
Moonlight Entertainment to make this event work with clockwork precision. So, until the next time I say up those horns and stay fuckin’ metal! And keep supporting and help build the scene! Cheers, adios amigos \m/
Review by -Abhimanyu Watve
Picture Credits : Sidclicks
