Browse Category

Music/Videos

Music I like or awesome videos I’ve come across online

Coldplayer – Live in Bangalore, India (Coldplay tribute concert)

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Apr 13, 2011
/
Concerts, Music/Videos

Date: 03/04/2011

After concerts by Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd tribute acts, it was a time for another tribute concert organized by Gigbox. But this time, it was for a far more recent band — Coldplay.

If you are wondering “why Coldplay?,” well then, you probably aren’t aware of the slew of hits the British Band have produced since 2000. Coldplay (and Linkin Park) are undoubtedly two of the biggest bands to come out of the 2000s, and both are still going strong. Sales in excess of 50 million worldwide and hit singles from four studio albums — that is enough material for a tribute band to play in Coldplay’s honour.

I wasn’t expecting as many people as there were for the Breathe – The Floyd Sound concert, simply because Coldplay’s fanbase isn’t as big as a legendary band as Pink Floyd. Plus, April 2nd was the Cricket World Cup finals which India won, so most of the city was still reeling in the joy (and hangover) of last night’s match.

But being a massive Coldplay fan, there was no way I was going to miss this show.

The opening act was American solo artist Thom Chackon.

Thom Chackon singer concert Bangalore India — His music was mostly acoustic fare with a country vibe

Here’s a video of some songs he performed:

Thom Chackon performing Bangalore India — Thom Chackon performed a good 6 to 7 songs

Once Thom Chackon left, it wasn’t a long wait before Coldplayer hit the stage.

And they kicked things off with…

After “Politik,” the opening track from A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002), next came:

I didn’t record “Violet Hill” in full because I needed to conserve space on my camera memory card.

Coldplayer band performing Bangalore — The band were dressed similar to how Coldplay dressed for the Viva La Vida tour

One of Coldpay’s greatest songs – “Clocks”

More songs from A Rush of Blood to the Head (“In My Place” & “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face”)

Lead vocalist, who does a really good Chris Martin

“Trouble” and “Strawberry Swing”

(“Strawberry Swing” was performed two tracks later actually)

Coldplayer Gareth Whiteside guitarist Craig Johnson bassist Bangalore India concert — Gareth Whiteside on guitars; bassist Craig Johnson

Coldplayer drummer Jacob King Bangalore India concert UB city — Jacob King

Moving on to my favourite Coldplay album, X & Y (2005)…

Coldplayer Bangalore India concert UB City

Coldplay’s epic “Fix You” (followed by “Talk”)

And then, the song everybody knew (most of) the words to…

My card got full halfway through the song and had to swap the second one in, thus the break in recording. No worries… as you’ll see down below

The band then left the stage after “Yellow,” which didn’t imply the show was over. There was no way a Coldplay tribute act was going to end a show in 2011 without playing “Viva La Vida“.

Come back on stage they did. Now, it was time for a break in pace and some acoustic fare.

Besides “Don’t Panic,” they also sang “Green Eyes” and one other song which I wasn’t too familiar with.

“The Hardest Part/Postcards from Far Away” and that song which is now a Coldplay anthem…

From Vida or Death and All His Friends, they played “Lost,” “Strawberry Swing” and this:

Coldplayer Gigbox concert inspection — Hmmmm…

Coldplayer then performed the final song in their setlist…

But since the awesome crowd asked for more…

Coldplayer Gigbox concert band members talking — The band decide which tracks to perform (either that or they wondered what was for dinner)

“Life in Technicolor II” (from the Prospekt’s March EP)

“Shivers” (from Parachutes)

For the final song of the night, since the reception this song got the first time was so good, Coldplayer ended their gig with an encore performance of Coldplay’s first hit single:

With that, Coldplayer bowed to the audience and finally left the stage — this time for real.

Gigbox’s third concert was yet another stellar show. Sure, the UB City amphitheatre wasn’t as packed as it was for Breathe – The Floyd Sound, but you really can’t compare the fanbase Pink Floyd has in the city to Coldplay. The crowd was a lot younger this time and as you heard from the videos, they were very receptive.

Coldplayer concert crowd Nithin Divakaran — My brother (extreme right) and his friends surely enjoyed it

Coldplayer concert Gigbox crew — The folks at Gigbox who put on the show

So after tribute acts for Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Coldplay… who is next?

Ireland’s biggest musical export — U2, played tribute by U2UK. May 7th, see you there

Rainbow – ‘I Said You’re The One’ (너뿐 이라고): The only song I like from the new album ‘SO女’

By Mithun Divakaran
/
Apr 06, 2011
/
Korean Pop, Music/Videos

Not a very inspiring headline, I know. If you have come to my website before while searching for K-pop, you’ll notice I quite like rookie girl group Rainbow. I’ve written about them twice in the past — first, when I heard their brilliant single “A” and a second time, when they released “Mach”.

With those two songs, Rainbow became the only other girl group I cared about as a fan after SNSD. So it was with much anticipation that I awaited the release of their new single “to Me”.

Rainbow to Me mini album new kpop girl group Korean So女 — DSP Media introduced a flower-y concept for the girls for this album

But it’s not like DSP Media sticks to one concept for a photo teaser and another concept for the actual music video release. They caught my attention before the release of “A” with a futuristic and very fashionable look for the girls. But when the video came out, the girls had to dance as though they were about to take off their top.

-_-

Oh well.

Today, tracks from their second mini album, SO女, hit the web. I went straight to the single “to Me” and quickly hit play… but after a minute later, I had to stop the song. I was disappointed. The song wasn’t very good — and the “Oh-eh, Oh-eh-oh-eh…” chorus was annoying.

I then tried listening to the other songs. “So Cool” was just “meh”. The ‘Engrish’ is what got to me I guess. I then hoped for a saving grace from ‘SO女’.

And it came when I played the third new song on the mini-album:

“I Said You’re The One” (너뿐 이라고)

Now songs like this is what I was expecting! A nice upbeat ballad with a great chorus. Sweet vocals and no cringe-inducing English phrases. “I Said You’re The One” has a melody and song structure that is pure K-pop. I won’t be surprised if this song will end up being used on soundtracks.

That said, “I Said You’re The One” still wouldn’t have done too well if it had been released as first single to promote this mini-album. It’s a good song, no doubt. But after “A” and “Mach”s success, Rainbow needed to keep the success train rolling full steam ahead with a great track! “To Me” only slows the train down.

All-in-all, I am disappointed with Rainbow’s new material. I’m not giving up on the group though. I’m sure in a few months, they’ll release another mini-album, or who knows, going by online feedback, DSP Media may even release “I Said You’re The One” as a single with a sweet MV.

I haven’t written about K-pop since November last year and there’s good reason for that. There’s a bit of a lull in K-pop right now. Way too many girl groups and more boy bands are on the way. The only songs I liked in the last 3 months were Seungri – “What Can I Do,” MBLAQ – “Stay” and K.Will’s “My Heart Is Beating” — but I didn’t like them that much to write a post on them.

But hey, 2011 is still young and April couldn’t get more hotter. Jay Park’s finally releasing his debut single and SNSD returns with a Japanese single.

So expect new posts on K-pop in April!

Re-living the 90s: My favourite songs from 1991

This is the second of 10 posts. One post for every year of the decade that was the 1990s. For an introduction into this series and why I felt like doing these blog posts, read this first.

As 1991 came along, my interest in music grew. So did my favourable appreciation of rap music. As you’ll read below in my conclusion, the following songs were favourites of mine at the time — not necessarily the best in popular music 1991 had to offer.

Rap pop 1991 biggest hit artists — L-R Clockwise: Naughty by Nature, Fresh Prince & DJ Jazzy Jeff, Marky Mark, Heavy D & Wet Wet Wet

EMF – “Unbelievable”

This was one of the most memorable hits from the 1990s. A number 1 song in the US and top 3 hit in their home country UK, EMF are largely known as a ‘one-hit wonder’. Still, given how often this song is still played and used on soundtracks, the band members are probably still living off of royalties from this song.

Naughty by Nature – “O.P.P.”

Sampling the hook from the Jackson 5’s “ABC,” this song was first big hit for Naughty by Nature. Of course, back then as a 9-year old, I assumed “O.P.P” was an abbreviation for “Other People’s Party”… until Wikipedia told me otherwise. With this song, Naughty by Nature was officially on my ever-expanding rap radar.

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince – “Summertime”

Fresh Prince a.k.a Will Smith was one of my favourite people in entertainment during the 1990s. Not just for his music with his friend DJ Jazzy Jeff, but he was also popular at the time for his sitcom “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air“. I even memorized the lyrics to the opening intro song. “Summertime” is still a fresh ‘Good Morning’ song!

Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch – “Good vibrations”

Before Mark Wahlberg became the badass actor he is now, Mark Wahlberg was a Calvin Klein underwear model, and before that, Mark Wahlberg was rapper Marky Mark. Funny, I know. Back then, he was famous for being the brother of Donnie Wahlberg (of NKOTB) and was one of the few white rappers on the pop scene.

Heavy D & The Boyz – “Now That We Found Love”

I used to love the chorus for this song! Heavy D was one of the biggest rappers back then — both literally and otherwise.

Wet Wet Wet – “Goodnight Girl”

Though rap ruled my world back then, I wasn’t incapable of appreciating melodious songs from Scottish bands like Wet Wet Wet. “Goodnight Girl” was a UK number one hit back in 1991 and one of the many good songs from the group that were hugely popular in Europe, but never made it in the US.

———–

It’s funny, when I look up some of the biggest hits that came out in 1991, I found so many songs that ended up becoming favourites as I matured into the 1990s. Songs like:

Bryan Adams – “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)”

Nirvana – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Extreme – “Hole Hearted”

Genesis – “No Son Of Mine”

Chris Isaak – “Wicked Game”

Metallica – “Enter Sandman”

Roxette – “Fading Like A Flower”

The Scorpions – “Wind Of Change”

Queensryche – “Silent Lucidity”

So yeah, mostly rock. I guess I was still into easy pop and rap at the time. Many of these songs still rank as some of my favourite songs ever, but looking at the above list of songs, 1991 surely was one heck of a year for music!