Attending the press conference was fun because I had a chance to get myself a cool press kit with a Metallica black album CD.

When an obscure / relatively unknown band shows up, it sprouts new fans that go ga-ga over it. When a really popular band is scheduled to arrive, its former fans who shunned it because it had become mainstream now return to the fold, as prodigal as can be.

I find that the same thing is happening with Metallica as well. But then again, Metallica is BIG! Enough teenagers have jizzed their pants playing the opening sequence of ‘nothing else matters’ and not getting anywhere else after that. I can’t even begin to imagine the mass hysteria that will engulf people at Gurgaon on the 28th and at Bangalore’s Palace Grounds on the 30th.

This post is primarily about how to have a great concert experience in Bangalore, based on the gazillion times that I’ve gone there and committed all the mistakes in the book that one can commit regarding what to do and more importantly, what not to.

Step 1: Keep food ready at home.
By the time the concert gets over, you will be famished. You will be dehydrated, probably high on substances and / or alcohol and you will be adrenalyzed but also tired beyond words. Scrounging for food when it is late in a city that shuts down early is a bitch. If you head to the nearest Empire / Paramount that stays open late, you will end up waiting in line and getting even more late since those restaurants will have to contend with a deluge of stinky black t-shirt wearing metal fans and fanbois.

Therefore, the best thing to do is this – pick up / prepare some food that you can reheat peacefully in the microwave oven when you get home. Stack it up in your fridge. Keep a beer or two as well. Get home and eat and drink LIKE A BOSS.

Step 2: Plan your entry and exit.
Traffic around Palace Grounds will be an undeniable bitch. I promise you that. Check your ticket out and figure out the point of entry and map out your point of exit. Getting in and out will be quite crappy and the more aware you are of how you can optimize your time in this period, the easier life will be for you.

Step 3: Public transport is King.
Leave your car / bike home. Getting it in / out of traffic will delay you further. Walk out, use one of the more obscure entrances and then just head back home in peace. The airport shuttles are also running and if you can figure out which bus takes you closest to your house, you’re home in no time once the band finishes playing ‘Nothing else matters’.

If you don’t want to take the bus / haggle with an auto, park your car / bike away from the grounds and walk there. It will be easier than driving out of the place when its all over.

Step 4: Choose your poison(s) wisely.
Iron Maiden – 2009. I started consuming alcohol copiously and then shooting Kryptos’ concert performance in a state of major inebriation. The video is hilarious. Someone said something about my junk. His mum was insulted many times over.

In case of long concerts, it makes immense sense to pace oneself and choose what to imbibe and when. Drinkage must happen, but it can wait till the time everyone is sozzled and the bar counter boys don’t give a shit anymore and pour you extra larges just to get you out of the way. You don’t want to hit your peak high much before the right time.

So what are you waiting for? Judas Priest? Yeah, I know. Me too.

The latter approach seems to work better, because the rhyme, the meter and the number of syllables can then be fit in with the riff. The music and words seem to synchronize better this way. But the emphasis is still on what the song will be about before the chords and riffs are put into place.

One of the themes we were exploring was of people in their 20s trying to get together and see if they feel the same way about their approach to relationships as they did when they were in one the first time around. Something was written to that effect and it will, I hope, soon evolve into song.

Blank slates.

Fraught between uncomfortable nonchalance and the burden of over-analysis, I find myself feeling the butterflies once again.

When we do get around to making complete songs, you’ll hear of it. Word.