Just arrived home from my first Christian Rock gig. It's a pretty curious genre so I actually had quite a good time nodding along to the two bands involved in 'Worship At Full Volume'. There were probably over 500 people there, so this was no small-time church hall affair and the band 'Parra' had travelled all the way from Kerala for their first performance in Chennai since 1998. I know that because the compère asked for a show of hands for who remembered that last gig; to which 3 people responded.
This didn't matter, for tonight was a chance for Parra to win over a whole new generation of fans with their unique sound of Spinal-Tap-meets-Deep-Purple, with a big dose of God thrown in the middle for good measure. Billed by the compère rather unflatteringly as "one of the oldest Christian rock bands in India", I have to admit that the Parra boys won me over. Their message was simple (God), their music varied, their fake American accents accomplished. They even had a frontman who was a cross between Stevie Wonder and Ian Curtis. Steve Wonder just because he was blind and Ian Curtis because of his flailing-armed onstage dancing. Plus, they managed to fit a 6 minute drum solo into their version of 'When the Saints Go Marching In', as well as having the balls to start and finish with the same song. The only band i've ever seen perform such an audacious stunt was U2 with 'Vertigo' and it was bloody awful. But Parra pulled it off. Just.
The support act, Billy Yesudian, wasn't quite so entertaining however as he managed to combine two of my least favourite things in Mass and Rap. 'Our God is an Awesome God' was a particular lowlight but I did enjoy the song named 'Breaking Da Code' where he lays into Dan Brown for writing The Da Vinci Code for 3 minutes. Seriously.
Italics just started and, for the life of me, I've no idea how to remove them. It's not for any dramatic purpose, honest.
This didn't matter, for tonight was a chance for Parra to win over a whole new generation of fans with their unique sound of Spinal-Tap-meets-Deep-Purple, with a big dose of God thrown in the middle for good measure. Billed by the compère rather unflatteringly as "one of the oldest Christian rock bands in India", I have to admit that the Parra boys won me over. Their message was simple (God), their music varied, their fake American accents accomplished. They even had a frontman who was a cross between Stevie Wonder and Ian Curtis. Steve Wonder just because he was blind and Ian Curtis because of his flailing-armed onstage dancing. Plus, they managed to fit a 6 minute drum solo into their version of 'When the Saints Go Marching In', as well as having the balls to start and finish with the same song. The only band i've ever seen perform such an audacious stunt was U2 with 'Vertigo' and it was bloody awful. But Parra pulled it off. Just.
The support act, Billy Yesudian, wasn't quite so entertaining however as he managed to combine two of my least favourite things in Mass and Rap. 'Our God is an Awesome God' was a particular lowlight but I did enjoy the song named 'Breaking Da Code' where he lays into Dan Brown for writing The Da Vinci Code for 3 minutes. Seriously.
Italics just started and, for the life of me, I've no idea how to remove them. It's not for any dramatic purpose, honest.
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