IT'S ALL ABOUT MLTR

It was a cold November evening in Kathmandu, when a charismatic and heavily husky-voiced Nepali pop-cum-rock star, Sabin Rai, finally sang his last song to hand over control to the Masters-of-Ceremony Prosen and Malvika once again. And this time, the duo duly looked over the ushering in of a blue ambience, with the image of a revolving globe on the background screen and the Mikkel Lentz-produced 'Eternity' theme slowly gathering steam. Then amidst the smoke, even as the 'Salvation' tune played,  appeared the four Viking guys one after the other. Mikkel, clad in a dark brown suit, waved to the crowd, while Kare settled behind his drum-kit and Jascha in a white suit took position at his keyboard, wearing red coloured glasses, probably, a throwback to the good old days of Colours and Played On Pepper. MLTR launched immediately into (this time) the full-blown intro of 'Salvation'.

Initially, it felt like the sound was a little weak - either Jascha could not hear the other instruments properly or the surround was not effective, but to me it just felt like something was amiss, a little out of tune (Interestingly, when I listen to the videos on youtube, everything seems perfectly alright, which is a good thing!). When Salvation had been done and dusted with, Jascha said, "The next song is for the child...inside of every man.", and 'Sleeping Child' commenced accompanied by a very very loud cheer. The sound, according to me, was still a little shaky. This time though, the crowd, which had been mostly oblivious to the lyrics of Salvation, suddenly found its feet, crooning away with Jascha, even when the sound system totally misbehaved and blanked Jascha's vocals for a line or two.

At the end of it, Jascha said, "It's really amazing... to travel so far away to Nepal. You really, guys, know all our lyrics and our songs. That's fantastic." 'Love Will Never Lie' was on next, and during the second verse Jascha was clearly displeased with the sound, making an animated gesture to the sound guy, and when the second verse had been sung, it all started to seem to be alright, at least that's what Jascha's thumbs-up to the sound engineer and the increased volume of Jascha's vocals would have signified. Jascha played a flowing piano section in the end, by which my friend Rajiv was completely enamoured and had tears in his eyes. They proceeded to play 'It's Only Love' at the end of which Jascha said, "This is a song which we don't play often. we have just started playing it in the last few concerts."

Jascha then said, "The next song is very popular on Youtube...it's a Youtube hit.', and people started guessing a lot of names, but it was clear, however, that it was going to be 'It's Gonna Make Sense'. Again, only a handful of people knew the lyrics to this song, which was good because it ensured that when Mikkel launched into a guitar solo just after the bridge, it could be heard clearly. I could, meanwhile, see Kare totally immersed in singing the lyrics to this song. Next, Jascha left his keyboards and slung an acoustic guitar around his neck, and shouted on the mic, "I am not able to see you guys. Are you there?... It's also a bit difficult to hear you guys at the back. Are you there?" And the rocking intro to 'Something You Should Know' ensued. In the song, I could hear a lot of improvisations, especially in the lead guitar riff, and in the bass line as well. Also the 'uh hu hu hu' at the end of the line 'because I miss you so' was a little different from the original. Mikkel again showed a glimpse of his guitar skills, when he improvised on the original guitar solo, with the distinctly different riff continuing. When that had ended, Jascha handing away his guitar, joked, "I don't play the guitar. You probably heard that." , to some more chuckles from the audience.

Jascha then continued, "The next song is very old song, and it is very special to Michael Learns To Rock. This song is what made MLTR famous a very long time ago...and it goes like this." And sure enough, it was 'The Actor', to which a fair part of the crowd sang along. After that, the rest of the band disappeared and Jascha remained on the keyboard, telling the crowd the reason as to why the former had left, "They are all old...And I am young." which was met with peals of laughter. He went on to play 'Naked Like The Moon'. Jascha played the chord a trifle late at the beginning of the second verse, and it was becoming clear that he was discomfited by something, possibly a cough, but he braved on without showing it, and at the end of it, he made a gesticulation of wiping his forehead and heaving a huge sigh of relief with a child-like quality to it. And then he disappeared too. (We would later see Jascha having to cope with bouts of cough a couple of times, which he masked or gave vent to by going to the back end of the stage when he had had the chance.)

If one has followed the pattern of MLTR's past concerts, then he/she would already get a feeling that Jascha plays solo on the piano exactly mid-way through, but we had been only 6-7 songs through when this happened and that planted a doubt in my mind as to whether this was not going to be a short set. All doubts were quelled though when the trio of Mikkel, Kare and the bassist returned to a smokey stage that warmed up to the ambient intro of 'Take Off Your Clothes' followed shortly by a bass riff  that sounded a little different to the original one in the song (guess it was a direct consequence of the inclusion of a new bassist). And while we were anticipating the first words of the song, surprise surprise! Mikkel unleashed a mad-cap, almost 'metallic', lead guitar solo which was a little but not quite similar to the original solo, even as a part of the crowd, including myself, went completely berserk, and meanwhile Kare thumped away relentlessly at the drums and the bassist slapped away vigorously at his bass guitar. It was a 'jam' right in the middle of a supposedly 'pop' band's gig. Before long, the jam had ended to seamlessly make way for the intro of 'Hot To Handle', once again, with a  refreshingly different lead guitar and bass-riffs. By this time, though, Jascha was back on stage, this time in a dark suit, with just a cordless microphone in hand. He came to the edge of the stage and as he sang the first verse, he swayed, jigged with his feet and snapped his fingers a-la performers in the 'American Idol' series. After just one verse and chorus, Jascha went back to the keyboard while the backing track seamlessly shifted to the intro of 'Animals'. This time, Jascha sang just the opening lines (which actually is also the chorus) and the bridge - 'in the name of progress, everybody's gone too far...", only for the backing track to shift yet again seamlessly to the intro of 'Blue Night'. Again, Jascha sang only the first verse and first chorus. It was a medley.

The madness (in a good way) then stopped, and Jascha announced, "The next song is from our forthcoming album which we are going to release in the Spring of next year, and which we are also shooting a music video for. Yesterday, we were running around in the streets of Kathmandu shooting for it. It's called 'Anyway You Want It'. We need your help today to shoot the video...Let's make a video, a music video, OK?", and the crowd was only very willing to oblige. We waved our hands and swayed in our places, while two professional cameramen shot away on stage and one of them also came down to the midst of the crowd to shoot a bit. The song was a pleasant, upbeat, although mid-tempo, rock ballad, much reminiscent of Sweetest Surprise, with a soulful short guitar solo. It also had Jascha letting out an 'exultant' scream at the end of the bridge. It must be really good in the studio version.

Jascha then thanked the crowd for their help, and went on to introduce the bassist, "You know, in our band we are just four guys. By the way, let me present to you a guy called Lars, playing the bass tonight. It's actually the first time that Lars is playing with this band...We think that less means more...This is a song with very few instruments, an acoustic guitar only and drums." It was time for 'I'm Gonna Be Around', during which Jascha, after having threatened to descend the stage many times before, finally did so to walk down the aisle jutting into the crowd.

The next song on the set was 'Complicated Heart' which, again, most of the crowd seemed to know the lyrics to. This song was exactly as we have heard in all the previous live versions. The song then gave way to 'Nothing To Lose' which also had a fairly good response from the crowd. I had never heard a live version of this song, so it was fresh for a change. Then came 'Angel Eyes' that lifted the tempo again. Then lo and behold, another song that I had never heard a live version of, rolled out - 'How Many Hours'. This was followed by Jascha saying, "The next song is a Chinese song.", and even as the intro ensued, the crowed roared in joy to start singing 'Take Me To Your Heart', another popular hit in Nepal. By the end of it people had started yelling, 'Someday! Someday! Someday!' given some tough competition by chants of 'Paint My Love! Paint My Love! Paint My Love!' as well as chants of 'Once more! Once more! Once more!' To which Jascha impishly quipped, "From what you guys are saying, it seems you want us to play our last song." But then, the intro of 'Final Destination' played, with the song culminating in the now-customary Mikkel guitar solo.

After it had completed, Jascha made a confession, "Our band has a lot of slow songs. This is one of our slowest songs", and they went on to play 'Breaking My Heart'. During the second verse, something went wrong or out of sync, maybe, and Jascha sang the second pre-chorus louder than usual and in a peculiar way. Later, Jascha blurted out the standard introduction to 'Wild Women', "I have seen many wild guys here in Nepal...but I wonder if there are any wild women out there?" The guitar-work on this was quite similar to that on the live versions we have heard. Jascha then introduced the song '25 Minutes' during the bridge of which Mikkel came down the stage to shake hands with fans. By this time, the demand for the song 'Someday' had reached feverish pitch, and there was no choice left for MLTR than to relent. So they played it after announcing that it was going to be the last song for the night, with the accompaniment of the music video playing on the background screen. Then they waved and disappeared, even as the crowd yelled in excitement, 'Once more! Once more! Once more!'

However, seasoned fans know better, that their gig is incomplete without 'That's Why (You Go Away)'. So, back they were in about 5 minutes to straightaway play magic on 'Paint My Love' and then followed by their magnum opus farewell song, 'That's Why (You Go Away)'. When Jascha, Mikkel and Lars lined up for the final bow, however, Kare could not join them. I learnt from my friends that Kare had been seen limping away to the backstage, the reasons for which are only subject of speculation (cramps? twist? strain? cut?). The stage then bore a deserted look, the music

instruments and the equipment left behind seeming to be the only relics of the presence of our pop-rock idols. A dark silence then descended upon the crowd, mingling with the wave of cold that was fast engulfing Tudikhel, which had been hitherto kept warm by MLTR, bringing with it the painful & heavy realization that the road now led back home, lightened, however, by a very recently acquired trove of wistful memories that was going to be ours forever.

THE CONCERT IN A NUTSHELL :

Venue : Tudikhel Ground, Kathmandu, Nepal

Time : 6.30 PM to 8.30 PM Nepal Time. Gates opened at 3 PM Nepal time

Crowd : Awaiting accurate/official figures. However, unofficially reported by a newspaper as 6,000 - 10,000 excluding the organizers, volunteers, security personnel and media-persons

Organizers : ODC Networks, Nepal and Engage Entertainment India

 Bassist : Lars (Lundholm?)

Set-list : Please refer to the song titles in bold in the note above, and read in the same order.

Lesser known songs played : It's Only Love, Take Off Your Clothes, Hot To Handle, Animals

Minor hit songs played : Salvation, It's Gonna Make Sense, How Many Hours

Lesser known but concert regulars : Angel Eyes, Final Destination, Naked Like The Moon

Notable exclusions : Strange Foreign Beauty, Out of the Blue, You Took My Heart Away, I Still Carry On

 New Song : Anyway You Want It, from the forthcoming studio album and for which MLTR recorded a video out in Kathmandu and also during the concert.

(Written by Asiman Panda)