MUMBAI: Hard Rock Cafe (Worli), on the night of 21 January, hosted the classic rock cover band ‘One Night Stand’ that enthralled the attendees with the covers of the bands that pioneered Rock music from the 60s, 70s and 80s.
The band opened with one of the most covered compositions ever – ‘Hard To Handle’- originally recorded by Redding. ‘Sunshine Of Your Love’ followed the opening track of the set, but then gradually set the ‘classic rock n roll’ mood with the cover of ‘Guns N Roses’, and arguably, the most popular track- ‘Sweet Child ‘O Mine’. A headless bass, a fedora hat, and illuminated violin bow acted as additional features to One Night Stand’s stage set-up, but these props did not let the ‘cool’ appearances overshadow the purpose of the night- two hours of classic rock music.
Comprising of Arvind Iyer on the bass, Sarosh Izedyar on lead guitars, Padmanabhan NS on rhythm guitars and Ramesh Krishnamurthy on drums, One Night Stand has been a regular act at various Hard Rock Cafes. The performers were joined by Narayan Raman – guest artist (on violins) – who ensured that the era’s lovers present at the Cafe had distinctive moments to remember the gig by. Halfway through the set, Raman stood on the opposite side of the stage, providing an engrossing medley for The Doors’ ‘Love me two times’ and ‘Roadhouse Blues’, gradually leading to the build-up to Pink Floyd’s ‘Coming Back To Life’- on violin. Yes! Violin. Guns ‘n’ Roses, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits occupied major portions of the set-list, although the surprises came through the ‘less-likely-to-be-covered’ tracks in the form of ‘China Groove’ (Doobie Brothers), ‘Pinball Wizard’ (The Who) and Santana’s ‘All I Ever Wanted’.
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Fans familiar with One Night Stand’s journey so far, cheered in unison when Izedyar strummed the opening chords of ‘Sultans of Swing’. Dire Straits continue to remain one of the bands to exist in ONS’s set-list, and the night’s flawless cover of Dire Straits’ most covered song ever- twice, explains why. One Night Stand ensured the night remembered David Bowie with the cover of the late Brit’s popular track ‘Under Pressure’. The music went beyond traditional rock n roll genre, as the band revisited the Iron Maiden’s ‘Wasted Year’ from ‘Somewhere In Time’. Guitar solo for Santana’s ‘All I Ever Wanted’, the violin intro for Pink Floyd’s ‘Coming Back To Life’ and the vocals for ‘Knocking On Heaven’s Door’, highlighted yet another ‘tribute gig @ HR’’ to cherish and remember.
