Friday is usually a long night at work for me. A 10pm exit
is the best case scenario, but the 28th of November was different,
not just for me, but for many of the people that were at Counter Culture. It
was a night where intentional light physical trauma trumped deadlines. It was the night that we’d
get to watch Skyharbor for the first time after the launch of their new album,
Guiding Lights.
I’d been blasting the album driving to and from work ever
since it came out and to see it performed was something I had been looking
forward to. After one lame excuse and a new found apathy toward work, I was at the
venue on time to catch Inner Sanctum.
In retrospect, it was the correct decision indeed. My neck
shall testify. Sanctum ripped through their set in a spectacular fashion. It
drove me to mosh and bang my head way more than I had for the past few months. It
felt incredible to just let go and trust the integrity of my shoes as I dived
into the pit. The new lineup was insane! And so were the songs off their new
album.
Inner Sanctum
Many incredible riffs and solos later, it was waiting time
as the stage was being set for Skyharbor, and after much bated breath, they
finally came on stage, only to hear that Daniel Tompkins’s vocal chords were swollen.
It didn’t seem to slow him down for a second. He was just as active as he was
when I saw Skyharbor last in the Strawberry Fields fest about two years back. There
was not one note that was off key. It was perfect, and the crowd was
appreciative. If I didn’t know any better, it seemed like the band were driven
on by the energy that the crowd showed off.
Skyharbor takes
stage
The set started off with the opening track of the new album,
‘Allure’. The speedy start to the song pumped life back into the audience and
about thirty seconds, when the riff picked up, we were fully on song, singing
along to bits of the song that we knew.
The one thing that’s amazing about Skyharbor is their
incredible ability to make a song feel heavy with so much melody infused in the
song with the use of amazing vocals and the ambience of the songs. The band
were truly alive and kicking and it was great to see five people who live quite
far away from each other belt out the opener with so much fluidity and
enthusiasm. Something I was sorely missing.
The next song was probably my favourite song off the new
album, ‘Patience’. It started off with a beautiful section that made you want
to bob your head only to realise its deceptively simple. This is another of the
numerous abilities of the band, to make odd time signatures seem so natural and
melodious. The bass played by Krishna Jhaveri was beautiful, it accented the
music perfectly and the drumming was spot on. This was the song that made me go
back home and look for lyrics and try to sing along. I wish I knew the lyrics whilst
I was at the gig though.
Amazing vocals
amidst a sea of flying horns
It was at this point that Dan said that he was having a
tough time and he needed us to sing along to the next one, ‘Evolution’. It
started off with a fast riff and a slow build up to the main riff that turned most
of the audience into a mosh pit spontaneously. It was liberating. ‘Evolution’
definitely has one of the best choruses among the songs from Guiding Lights.
Dan stood up on the monitors when it came around, and our vocal chords took one
step toward being swollen. It was impossible not to shout out.
Scream for me Bangalore!
Then, we heard a riff on the left speakers that then bounced
off to the right speakers and before you knew it, we were all screaming after having
realised that it was ‘Catharsis’. It was the first song of Skyharbor’s I had heard
and it was amazing watching it being performed after so long. I just love the lyrics
of this song, probably the most poignant lyrics from Blinding White Noise. This
song also has my favourite solos, which were played with closed eyes and a
smile by Devesh Dayal. You know what else is poignant on this song? The vocal
parts after the solo. It really makes you think of all those times you were
home, sat in your chair, listening to your favourite music.
Next up was Halogen, a song off Guiding Lights. One really
must tip his hat to Keshav Dhar. He set up the ambience for each song to
perfection. Everywhere I looked around me, there were people lost in the music,
wearing nothing more than their favourite metal T-shirt, a pair of jeans and a
smile.
The band seemed to
appreciate crowd participation
Next up was Guiding Lights, the title song of the new album.
It starts off with a terrific atmosphere, again, set up by Keshav. Those who
were familiar with the new album got it as soon as the opening riff was played.
During the bridge of this song was when the spotlight fell, once again on a
very enthusiastic Krishna Jhaveri. He had his eyes closed and was singing along
to the lyric. Before this song, Daniel assured us that Skyharbor would always
write music together, and the song itself was enough to convince anyone that
they weren’t kidding. The chemistry of the band is quite something.
The next song was ‘The Constant’, the longest song from the
album, clocking in at 9:33, although it didn’t seem long enough! You can really
hear the sound of the band evolving in the new album and this was the
culmination of that. Alternating between ethereal clean parts to heavy riffs seemed
to come naturally and effortlessly to the band and it was terrific to watch
them enjoy playing the song just as much as we enjoyed listening to it.
All focus was on
the music
Unfortunately, the next song was also the last one. Many
people from the crowd kept screaming ‘Celestial’ wishing that it would be the
song ringing in their ears for the night, but the ambience of the next few
minutes meant it was obvious, we would get this wish. The whole crowd sang
along to the song. It was familiar; it felt like coming home after an amazing
journey. For me, this song captures all that Skyharbor is about. The music, the
lyrics, the vocals, everything just seemed very unreal in a very intimate
setting.
Lights fade out,
away
After the set, we were left wanting more. We shouted for an encore, but with a premonition that it was over. The guys were gracious enough to step out and take a picture with their fans though. All in all, it was a spectacular evening. A much needed
evening at that. Let’s hope we get to see more and more of these gigs in
Bangalore, where the bands and the crowd just have one intent, to enjoy the
music.
