Slayer is finally coming to India, but even Megadeth is returning for its second concert in the country, and both the shows – Megadeth In Delhi and Slayer in Bangalore – have a gap of a week. The Indian thrash fan is luckier than the open-minded Indian rock music buff who will have a lot more shows to attend. It’s a great thing to have these legendary bands come to the country and blow us away, no doubt, but it really looks like the average Indian metalhead goes to school or college or has work and family responsibilities to handle and may not be able to run to Bangalore or Delhi every other month.
MEGADETH IS INEVITABLE: Back for a second helping!
It’s a fair excuse for an outstation holiday, too, for some of us overworked people who find it taxing to even think about getting out of the city for a weekend. But the thrash fan who missed Megadeth when they hit Bengaluru in 2008 is going to have to pay through his nose to attend both the shows, or will slap his forehead after picking one extraordinary band over another he loves equally.
Having already seen Metallica and Megadeth when they performed in Bangalore, I personally won’t give a fuck about seeing those super bands live now unless they hold a concert in Mumbai, and I’m going to feel the exact same way about my all-time favourite band Slayer after this October. And Iron Maiden – I love them to death and have attended their concerts in Bangalore and Mumbai but have no desire to see them ever again. Hell bless them, because heaven can wait. But not everybody is satisfied as easily as I am.
SLAYER AWAITS: Welcome back… for the first time!
The younger lot has it much worse. They have all these old greats to catch up with and newer bands like Gojira and Periphery, who are playing on consecutive days over a weekend in Bangalore. Children Of Bodom and Testament and Behemoth are coming to Bangalore as well. Of course, all the shows will suffer to a small extent, but that’s what the organizers already know.
And don’t we all know what happened to Korn? It wasn’t heavy rains, but dismal sales of the very expensive tickets that didn’t allow the band to perform in Mumbai. An out-of-shape nu-metal band struggling to keep up with the times by playing dubstep wasn’t able to fool this nation (we’ve had far greater scams here), and ran back after admiring the Taj Mahal and eating chicken tikka masala.
India has been ready for international acts for a long time now, and the live scene is bubbling because of world-famous bands looking at India as the big country with hungry audiences waiting for the main course.
IN CONCERT: Metallica in Bangalore | SLIDESHOW: Megadeth in Bangalore
CONCERT REVIEW: SLAYER IN BENGALURU, INDIA | Bevar Sea Album Review
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