Apr 5, 2012

Firehouse's Dimapur concert: Postponed, NOT Cancelled, dingbat...

by Al Ngullie

American hard rock hair band Firehouse is having bad hair days in Nagaland again. The 'Life of a Lifetime' hit makers were scheduled to play Dimapur April 7 and as concert dates go, the band has rescheduled their fiery adventures to burn the city and for now, the show is postponed.

Meebee Firehouse is jinxed

Deja vu? Boy. In 2004, the Dimapur Naga Students' Union had announced with jubilation that the former hair band would be playing nasty Dimapur. Well, tickets did their happy rounds: some bought the pricy tickets; some complained against the pricy tickets; some had no money to buy the pricy tickets; some never even saw the pricy tickets thanks to the rush-and-hype. All in all, that time in 2004, it looked like Firehouse was to become the first real-time international rockstar thing to play in Nagaland. Man, I remember playing 'Love of A Lifetime' in a music competition on National Youth Day in 1997, I think, and winning the third prize!!!)

Then, suddenly, the fire fizzled out - smoke and mirrors still surround the real reasons why Firehouse went kaput in 2004. I was a student then and boy, was I mobilizing fellow nose addicts to attend the show. An impressive stack of "real reasons" for the band not making the 2004 show, flew around those days. Some said the band refused to play due to low performance fees; there were others who explained that the government of Nagaland did not permit the band to enter the state; still a third more explained enthusiastically that DNSU pera boisa sob khai de shay.

Before: Good Hair Days

After: Bad Dimapur Hair Days


So in 2012, the fiery enthusiasm of Dimapur fans have been doused again. Angry Naga fans on Facebook are now murdering their statuses with every English word that starts with 'F' and ends with 'K.' Thankfully for now, the Grammy-nominated band's concert is only postponed, not cancelled (Read closely and you'll realize that the spelling letters for postponed and cancelled are entirely different, dingbat).
 
What the reason was for the postponement

What's wrong with you; do I look like CJ Snare? Whateva. Here's what the organizers, services company Skygroup have assured:

The show will go ahead. Here is what Skygroup's CEO Yanren Kikon wrote on The Morung Express' Facebook page: "Dear members there are lots of false information going around that Firehouse Rock to rescue tour 2102 has been cancelled(which is not ). Please refer to firehousemusic.com to know the exact reason why the tour has been postponed.In the mean time keep rocking...(Fans') concern for the fans of firehouse who bought the tickets is noted.We are working on it to make it happen at the earliest.."
 
What one of the organizers told me:

(2)   Firehouse drummer Michael Foster could not secure his Visa. All the other members -  CJ Snare (singer), Bill Leverty (guitars) and bassist Allen McKenzie  -  got through their Visa quiz with flying colors. Poor Foster. Let's hope the show goes ahead. What the Fart, hire Akha Jamir (our Crescendo Music Store dude) or Original Fire Factor's (OFF) drummer (whatisname?) to fill in for Foster for Firehouse's Dimapur show! 

(My theory is that Foster, being a rock star, probably babbled something quite colorfully unique that the cranky Indian authorities straightaway brought down the dreaded no-visit stamp down on the rocker's poor passport). For details, you may wish to raid Firehouse's website here  

(You gotta be fair, man. You can share the information with your friends if you want, just so that idiotic speculations and rumors won't affect the efforts of the concert organizers who, in the first place, aren't even having fun putting their blood, sweat and balls into an event we all would love to experience and appreciate).

I'll keep you updated. Thank you for visiting.

Update: Firehouse Burns Down Dimapur's Stadium
Update: Firehouse reaches Dimapur for Concert. Press Conference Story   

2 comments:

  1. Nice review! We gotta lear to treat our guests i guess. . .

    ReplyDelete
  2. :) Hoping it's only a postponement!!! And yes, Al, Aka Jamir would be perfect :) or even his nephew, Imsulong: the youngest drummer from Dimapur, I believe. may be even from Nagaland. :)

    ReplyDelete