Gutted ....

Feeling down ... really down ...

Our shot at "Wildfire" glory was turned into a farce today as everything imaginable went wrong. Its almost as if we are jinxed, as for the umpteenth time we were thwarted at possibly the last moment and left ruing our luck and wondering over what might have been.

It has just been that kind of week for us. First we had one of our band members backing out at what was perhaps the last possible moment. If that had made things difficult for us, we refused to show it and went ahead with our preparations with renewed vigour, confident that our hard work would surely pay off. And sure enough, things were looking up for us. Or so we thought.

Our songlist was ready and we were smoothening out the little wrinkles that were still apparent in our setup. The practice sessions were looking better and better and we had all the cause for cheer. The most difficult of songs that we were about to attempt was slowly but surely coming together and consequently spirits were soaring. And then calamity struck.

The morning of our show. Things are all going according to plan - we finish a cycle of our songs and it sounds good. We then receive a call telling us to assemble immediately in the open-air auditorium as we were to be the next band on stage. That threw us off our stride a bit, as we were expecting to have to go on stage at least an hour from then. However, confident in our ability we gather our stuff and set off, little knowing that this was only to be the beginning of a chain of events that would culminate in sheer disaster.

We reach in time and move back-stage to await our turn on stage. The heat is oppressive, and the sun is in our faces - conditions hardly ideal for a performance of any kind let alone a musical one. But surely their effect was only too trivial to be of any consequence to our performance ?

Our turn comes and we go in. The crowd gather up expectantly - the news about our practice sessions had spread pretty quickly it seemed. We start setting up. I plug-in my guitar and receive my first jolt. Instead of hearing the familiar sound of a powerful guitar riff I am greeted with what seemed like a cacophony that jarred me to the bone. I am momentarily stunned. That was perhaps the last thing I had expected. And especially as I was using a high-end processor which was sounding great on the amplifier during our practice gigs. I wonder what we had done to deserve this. But this was no time to complain. I choose one of the patches and decide to give it a shot.

We are complete with our setup and start off with our sound-check. The problem persists. By this time I am at my wits' end - the clock is running down, I am faced with a processor which would have left quite a few pros clueless, and we are about to attempt songs which must be among the most difficult to be attempted in the competition so far. I decide to soldier on.

We start off. Things seem to be going ok, we are well into our first song and I start off on my first solo and receive my second jolt. There is practically no sustain on the guitar, which means that the slightest muted note would cut-off the melody instantly and would be painfully apparent to all and sundry. The sun is mercilessly beating down on us, and sweat is pouring out of my body. The pressure is intense. The only good thing about our performance is our drummer who is in fine fettle. Before the third shock that is. In the middle of our second song his double bass pedal gets loosened and is rendered ineffective.

What followed was perhaps one of the most sorry spectacles seen on stage for a while. Here we were attempting some of the most difficult songs on stage and coming off looking amateurish at best. Our dreams of great things that awaited us was ground to dust in a matter of minutes, and soon we found ourselves trudging back to our hostels in a dazed and shell-shocked state.

I am a strong believer in the saying that everything happens for a reason. But its at times like these that I seriously begin to doubt the truth of it.