Tribute concert for PSBB alumni draws big crowd
Reported by Vaishnavi
This past Saturday on the 29th of May, for the second time since the passing away of Arjun Vasudev, the roof was raised at Nadigar Sangam in T Nagar at a tribute concert in memory of Arjun Vasudev, an alumni of PSBB KK Nagar and Loyola College.
Arjun, who tragically passed away at the age of 19 in a road accident last March, was one of the most talented and upcoming guitarists in Chennai, but fate cut short a life that was promising so much.
In order to continue Arjun’s legacy, his friends and family started an annual rock event last year in his memory, titled the “ouRJ” concert and ouRJ ‘010 lived up to all its expectations.
In 2009, it was only Arjun’s old band, TWKC which performed but for this year’s gig, TWKC were joined by Chennai’s premier band, Public Issue who brought a previously unprecedented aura of class to the first annual tribute concert of this kind in Chennai.
With Public Issue kicking the event off this year, there was certainly a lot more buzz about the show in the days leading up to it and Public Issue did not fail to impress. Their set-list comprising of some their mind-boggling own compositions like EEPA, Fire, S.W.A.B etc. had the audience at their feet, head banging to the tunes…ouRJ ‘010 could not have had a better opening!
By the time, Public Issue reached their finale, a medley of some the greatest rock songs in history such as Eric Clapton’s ‘Cocaine’, LynrdSkynrd’s‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and Guns n’ Roses’ ‘Paradise City’, the crowd was going mad and did not want Public Issue off that stage.
When Public Issue finally did finish though, it was only for TWKC to take centre stage and the crowd only seemed to get an extra burst of energy by this.
TWKC kicked off their part with a cover of Metallica’s No Leaf Clover, a song that had the crowd going wild followed by covers of anthemic metal songs such as Pantera’s‘Cemetery Gates’, Road Runner United’s ‘In The Fire’ and System of a Down’s ‘Chopsuey.’
These songs were mixed with one of TWKC’s own compositions, Dog Eat Dog, which is fast becoming a crowd favourite and TWKC’s own anthem of sorts. One of the highlights of TWKC’s gig was their cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Coming Back to Life’, the vocals for which were given by Arjun’s elder brother, Vasudev and by this time, emotions were running high in everyone’s hearts as a montage of Arjun’s old pictures and videos was playing on a huge screen behind the band.
The fact that TWKC covered songs which meant a lot to Arjun and inspired him as a guitarist brought an added spark to the night.
The night was finally brought to a close with another montage of snippets from Arjun’s past as TWKC’s front man, Harish thanked the crowd for their overwhelming support, all the sponsors involved, the technicians and everyone else who played a part in making this event as memorable as it was.
At the end of it all, the happiness was apparent on the faces of one and all close to Arjun, who had sacrificed so much of time and effort to ensure this gig, in memory of a young man they love so much, was a success and you can be sure that ouRJ ‘011 will only be bigger, better and louder!
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