Multiple Personality Disorder & Groove Games at Jazz Garden click here for more pics ...

It was Sunday and it was raining a bit in the afternoon and I was a bit worried. Why? Because something great was about to happen that night and it was Multiple Personaltiy Disorder... Live!!!!!

Multiple Personality Disorder is a five piece band comprising of five very good musicians, Arnab on vocals, Vijay Xavier on guitars, Joseph on keyboards, Sonu on bass and Dilip on drums. These guys started few years back and became the one of the best bands in progressive rock. But then,unfortunately, they split and now they were back. They did their come back few months back at Elysium and this was there second show after that. And along with them were Sandy and Rushad (AFS fame) in Groove Gamez! No wonder I was excited about this whole thing.

So I reached the venue at about 7.15 (7.00 was the time given for the start of the show) and I saw Groove Gamez on the stage doing their sound check. It was crazy. Both of them are technically brilliant in what they do and the sound check itself made me numb. The sound check was going pretty cool, however, the show was getting delayed and there were few technical problems in the sound check as well as at the start of the show. There were some problems with the keyboards and the guitars, however during that time Dilip and Sonu kept the crowd on the move. The crowd was silent and waiting for the big thing to come...

Then it all started. Five men on the stage. And some pschycedelic sounds from their sound check called "the sound check". MPD started the gig with a trilogy concept called "The Room with a view". "The Room with a view" has three songs: "The problem", "The resurrection" and "The tower of silence". The band started with "The problem" and had to restart the song due to some technical problems. I must say "The Room with a view" rocked. With some mind blowing music, offtime rhythms,off beat grooves unexpected changes and awesome tightness in the band, by the end of the "The Room with a view" no one was sitting on the chairs!

MPD finished their first half of the show with their original track "The experiment" and handed over the stage to the two men of Groove Gamez! Rushad said a simple hi to the crowd and the duo started off with an original " Early morning groove" followed by "The Lava". The crowd witnessed some jaw dropping solos by Sandy and some mind blowing bass work by Rushad. The duo even played with some offtime grooves in counts of 6's and 7's. The crowd was going mad then!! Then The duo called on stage Sonu and Vandy and the band played a B3 version (just like G3, three bass guitars) of "Chameleon" by Henry Hancock.

MPD came back on stage with their original track "All Alone in Silence". The band was tight and chilled out on the stage. Everyone knew what they were supposed to do and that showed! Vijay seemed to be in his elements and was playing some cool leads with a few flash guitar solos, that kept the crowd busy spotting his fingers! Joseph with his 3 keyboards and his chilled out attitude, made sure everything was going right, along with some good leads and effects on the keyboard. The drums and the bass were tight through out the show. MPD played "Space and time" and then ended the show with "Soul Ache" followed by a fading drum solo by Dilip.

The best part of the show was it was marked by bands that played all originals and the crowd appreciating such bands and their originals. This is one thing that needs to be encouraged, especially by all of us, the rock fans.

The show also put up a fine example of how dedicated practice and committment towards the band helps to do well on the stage and how hard work pays!

The show started late and ended on time, giving the band less time on the stage, nevertheless it was a good treat to all the MPD admirers. Also the rains did not interfere. The good news is the band has just made its come back and they are here to stay. Till then rock on....

Ketan B. Kulkarni
ketanis@gmail.com