Malaysia’s first Tamil rock gig

A history in the making, the Tamil Rock Gig, the first of its kind rock gig in the Tamil music scene took place at Paparazzi Club, SSTWO Mall in Malaysia. Organized by MyTamilChannel, the Tamil Rock Gig is part of the organization initiatives in revitalizing the Tamil rock scene in Malaysia. With Malaysia being dubbed as the capital Tamil Hip Hop in recent times, Tamil Rock has often been overlooked. However, this was not the case during the 1990s as Tamil Rock was considered a dominant force in the Tamil music scene as bands such as Kashmir Stone, Darkkey and The Keys and Agni flourished the music scene. Nonetheless, with the lack of platform to showcase their talents, the growth of Tamil Rock halted with many Tamil rock enthusiasts giving up their passion or switching to other mediums. As a result, the Tamil Rock Gig is an initiative by MyTamilChannel to both provide a platform for Tamil rock bands and to cultivate the public interest in relation to Tamil rock.

The Tamil rock gig saw the coming together of five rock bands gracing the stage – Dhesam 7,Intermezzo, Suruthi Sutra, Rajhula and RPGIO. Hosted by Magen, popularly known as Vikadakavi, the Tamil rock gig took off with a great start with Sivam the Drummer with his drum solo as the opening act. What followed was the first performance of the night with Dhesam 7 taking center stage. Dhesam 7 captivated the audience with their own rendition of Billa 2 theme and proceeded to belt out their own numbers – Ragasiya Kadhal and Ithuthan Kadhal. With Dhesam 7 setting the mood for the night, Intermezzo went on to perform their numbers and also their rendition of Pachonthi. Intermezzo’s vocalist, R Matthew, who lost his mother a week prior to the rock gig, impressed the crowd with his growly vocal and poise. Moving on, Suruthi Sutra rocked the stage with their numbers – Adikadi Asai, Umnei Kadhal (True Love), Paakeera Parvai and Head Bang. Unmei Kadhal and Head Bang got the attention of the crowd as they went wild in response to the fast numbers. It is interesting to note that the drummer of Suruthi Sutra is Danny Kumar, the key man behind the Tamil Rock gig and the co-founder of MyTamilChannel. The fourth Tamil rock band to take center stage is Rajhula, who is currently making headlines for their recently released track – Kann Theduthey. Rajhula got the entire crowd into frenzy with their numbers which paved way for RPGIO to end the first ever Tamil rock gig with a bang. RPGIO, who are also nominees for VIMA 2013 for the Best Rock Act, enchanted the crowd with their version of Vettalai Potta from the movie Amaran.

Danny Kumar, the key man behind the first ever Tamil rock gig, mentioned that the gig was indeed a success noting on the crowd turnout. Being the first of its kind, Danny expected the turnout to be close to 500 people and this was duly achieved as Paparazzi Club was packed to its brim that night. In addition, the turnout also saw many prominent faces, such as Mista G, Rabbit Mac, Sheezay and the pioneer of Tamil Rock – Brahma from Kashmir Stone, who even gave a short speech recognizing the efforts to cultivate Tamil rock. As for the Tamil rock scene, it was indeed a success as this was also the first time five bands performed in the same stage, marking a sense of unison between the bands, all wanting a platform to showcase their talent. For many rock enthusiasts, the Tamil Rock Gig was a flashback during the heyday of rock music as many saw it as a sign of Tamil rock revival. Danny Kumar concluded that this gig has certainly shown the prowess of Tamil rock bands and with the encouraging crowd turnout, there is indeed a future of Malaysian Tamil rock bands, just like how rock bands in India are able to thrive in their own market. Nonetheless, Danny added there needs to be a bigger platform in the future and this is what MyTamilChannel has in their mind as they are now gearing to organize a full-fledge Tamil rock concert set to be held somewhere in 2013.

 Pictures courtesy of Tamil Rock Gig 2012 (VIP Studio)