Soul Surfin Shy Gal!!!

I finally (FINALLY!!!) attended the Dubai Desert Rock Festival which had an amazing lineup this year. (Last years was better with Iron Maiden headlining and all.) This year we had Korn headlining Day 1 backed by awesome bands like Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying, Nervecell and ofcourse, Machine Head. Day 2 was headlined by Muse and the other bands performing were Juliana Down, Marky Ramone and none other than Velvet Revolver!!!! *smugness*

Galeej Gurus from Bangalore opened the show on both the days of course, following their win at the Shamal Battle to DDRF. I was simply blown away by them. I have waited and waited and waited some more to catch them live. If you are in India and are a rock fan you have probably already heard about them. Amazing vocals, sexy bass, unconventional drumming and an awesome two guitar combo is one heady mixture altogether. Love them to pieces.



I wasn't a big fan of Machine Head until I saw them perform live. Rob Flynn is THE MOST AMAZING frontman ever! He can have you up and headbanging for hours together. Those transparent Flying V's were an awesome sight. Machine Head had awesome energy and they were almost eerily technically precise. If you want to know what Flynn thinks of the Dubai crowd, go here.



Killswitch Engage, the metalcore band, was pure adrenaline rush. I guess the limelight was stolen by Adam most of the time, with his weird costume and heavy guitaring. I guess every single person there returned home a Killswitch fan. They played all their best tracks ranging from My Curse to Arms of Sorrow.




Nervecell were completely comfortable on stage, being on home turf. The boys from Dubai were the only death metal band playing this year and wow! they were good. The screams and growls were INSANE. They played tracks from their upcoming album, Preaching Venom which is due to release in April. The mosh pits during their session were vicious as always. I got tossed around a little until I learned to avoid the wretched thing. It's fun to watch though. =)

Although I don't really like Korn very much, their live performance seemed to be a class apart. It was much more fun cos you seem to know all the lyrics even though you are not a huge fan and you can just sing along. They played all their biggie tracks like Freak on a Leash, A.D.I.D.A.S. , the bagpipes song (whatever it's called), Evolution and all that. I personally liked Evolution a lot more after hearing the live version.


Velvet Revolver.... They did what they had to do. Though they didn't offer anything new as such, the fans had waited all day just to see Slash shred that guitar the way he does. Scott Weiland entertained the crowd with his gimmicks. From the whole set, I loved Fall to Pieces the best. They did do a Guns n Roses cover but I didn't recognize the song =S



The most surprising act however was Muse. They just caught me offguard. I've heard them a few times on radio but they never really caught my attention. But live, they were a different story. The three man band could make a kind of noise that was just out of this world. Their frontman was obviously very talented as he switched back and forth guitaring and that beautiful, white piano. His voice carried though powerfully and the crowd seemed to be hypnotized. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of theirs cos my camera decided to die on me once Slash left the stage. =( And they also refused to let journalists shoot pictures of them. *pouts*

Well, the two days seemed to be cut out of some dream. Even though I went to the concert alone, I ended up making some good friends. So cheers to that! And like someone once said "Live music kicks ass!" :) It sure does. Can't wait for next year. I hope they manage to get hold of Metallica.... Wouldn't that be sweet?? =)

P.S. All photos taken by moi with my li'l Cybershot T20. :) ......... i know.... ;)