Ravi Balakrishnan

@AnneErickson Mumbai India to Leeuwarden, The Netherlands for the now dead Waldrock metal festival to see Celtic Frost, Testament, Obituary, Meshuggah, and Moonsorrow.

What's the farthest you've ever gone to see a band or artist? Bonus points for how far you traveled. 😉

@jimmy070974 @mitchlafon I'd travel the ends of the earth to see this.

@TheRaviB @mitchlafon I really would like, in terms of VH, one or a small group of shows with the original members (WVH guitar.) Time in between shows for resting voices/egos. Do it right and respectful of all they’ve accomplished. Not gonna happen, but the question was asked.

Recently, many of us have seen videos floating around online of David Lee Roth having vocal issues. So I’m curious, would you rather see a show with original members struggling to deliver the songs or a band like Foreigner that has brought in replacements but delivers a fantastic show where the songs sound great? (Ps. I took this pic in Feb. 2020)

@mitchlafon I kinda wish they'd continued with Blues. A much better fit than Kotzen who is fantastic - just not appropriate for Poison.

#throwback review From Billboard’s April 15th 2000 issue Poison’s Crack A Smile is a, “fun nostalgia trip, the album should take a step toward proving that beneath all of that metal bravado lie solid, infectious pop songs.” They’re not wrong.

@sandygrains Yeah you are not understanding this right. Please read the history of why the people assembled there.

Sorry, maybe im not understanding this right… they were slaughtered with no warning and no exit under continuous indiscriminate ammo for 10 mins, when did they even have the opportunity to display courage or determination? How does the massacre reflect our spirit as a people?

@mitchlafon Disgusted. But then I also think this is the logical outcome of the auto tune era. After decades of hearing humans sounding artificial the fans of those artists should be fine with the artificial pretending to be human.

How do we feel about this? “Eddie Dalton's hit UK single Another Day Old peaked at No. 2 on the official Uk singles chart… It's also completely fake, created using Al.”

@_amitbehere Agree except I feel he wasn't even slightly a genius. He was occasionally deliberately hilarious and even more frequently funny by sheer accident - like in Swarg.

I am the only 90s kid I know of who fucking hated Govinda & David Dhawan movies. I never saw a single one in the theaters. David Dhawan ruined Govinda's legacy. 10 years of absolute shit movies. Successful movies, but shit movies. Raja Babu, BMCM, aak thoo ...!!! 🤮🤮🤮Only Hero Number 1 was semi tolerable. Always thought Govinda was a genius who deserved better. Far better. His best movies were non David Dhawan movies. Hatya, Dulhe Raja etc.

@beastoftraal Lol no they wouldn't. Once you've bought into the "sher paala hai" narrative, every increase in expense becomes a testament to the quality of the sher.

"Indians are unusually attentive to the value of their currency. One reason is that Narendra Modi has trained them to think that way, in 2013. Mr Modi understands better than anyone the passions aroused by a falling rupee. Fair or not, Indians would see a score of 100 as an indictment of the prime minister".

@mitchlafon Ditto! Also the less said about the way the people who make these comments look, the better.

I second this…

@mitchlafon In favor of all bands doing what they want. But if it's: 1 A band playing a greatest hits set 2 Not recording new material the fans care about, 3 No one or only one person who was actually on the most memorable records then.. 4 It's closer to a cover band experience

Both Iron Maiden & Judas Priest (in 2026) have only ONE original member in their bands. Why does nobody bust their balls about being a cover band or “demand” they retire? Yet Quiet Riot, Foreigner, etc are always targeted? I’m genuinely curious… And I’m in favor of all keeping their BRANDs alive.

@mitchlafon I'm sure someone else will have mentioned this: Did the current lineup / substantial parts of it record some of the band's best work? Maiden passes that test as does Priest to a smaller extent. Doesn't work for Lynyrd Skynyrd or Foreigner.

@mitchlafon I had no idea people would be into a band that sounds like instrumental King Crimson meets Primus but here we are. Also glad the records are kinda coming down from the scalper heaven they've been inhabiting.

Quebec’s Angine De Poitrine Vol.I + Vol.II vinyl Release Date: June 12th 2026 Channeling the spirit of Earth’s greatest rockstars, time-traveling duo Angine de Poitrine are endlessly fascinated by hot dogs, pyramids, and the sheer grandeur of rock music. With driving drum grooves and intricately layered microtonal guitars, Klek and Khn de Poitrine conjure hypnotic sonic and visual vortices. Their live KEXP session has racked up millions of views and counting. At the time of writing, Fabienk sits among the 50 most Shazamed tracks worldwide. Add to that sold-out shows, international festival appearances, and vinyl pressings in the tens of thousands to keep up with demand… All of which mostly matters to humans. Angine de Poitrine, for their part, are just happy to play rock’n’roll. With Vol. II, a dense, no-frills, high-impact record, the “Poitrine brothers” push their sound even further, with sharper dynamics, stranger structures, and a sense of humor that reveals itself only if you’re paying attention. The recipe still revolves around the same three ingredients: acid techno, disco, and rock. Tracks Vol. I 1. Sherpa 2. Tohogd 3. Tamebsz 4. Ababa Hotel 5. Sahardnieh 6. L'Aberek Vol. II 1. Fabienk 2. Mata Zyklek 3. Sarniezz 4. Perep Utz 5. Yor Zarad 6. Angor

@GamewithDave Spec Ops: The Line. Introduced me to The Black Angels, had possibly the best ever use of Hush by Deep Purple & a walloping goosebump inducing post metal score. Also one of the best games I've ever played.

What game is this?

@SukanyaVerma Better people than me rose to the challenge 4/10. Thanks for still having the enthu for this, all things considered.

It's Rose Day on my fun and filmi quiz this week. Don't forget to share your score. 🌹 rediff.com/movies/report/…

@SaibBilaval As a massive fan of guitar shred, this is guitar godlier than what a lot of self professed guitar gods play. Keep at it and thanks for sharing.

In my teens & 20s, I wanted to be a guitar god. Needless to say, gave up. Stopped playing for ages. Maybe dreams don't come true. In my 30s, I'm just aiming to be decent at composition or improvisation. This entire thing is an improv, hopefully a few chubby cats will approve:

@SukanyaVerma damn! Hope you are back to normal soon.

Thoda Chemo. Thoda OSO.

@mitchlafon Massive fan of Invisible Touch. Tonight Tonight Tonight, Domino and The Brazilian are great prog songs steeped in the sound of the 80s. Rest of the album is non too shabby.

Four albums turning 40 this year. Which has held up the best?

@mitchlafon Nah because those Nirvana albums are stone cold classics in their genre. SP has been a lot more experimental but that's led to a discog with some albums that are quite awful IMO. Kurt died before he could put out a bad album.

Admittedly, I’m not a fan of either, but for those of you that like both bands, is this assessment correct?

@mitchlafon I think of this a LOT. Would he be a guitar purist like Beck or a soft rock shill like Clapton? Would his discog be sullied by contractual obligation albums? Would he have embraced or walked away from 80s shred? I feel the years would've diminished him, but that's just me.

@DWB_2026 Do you think Jimi Hendrix would be as popular if he had lived to the age of 75?

@SukanyaVerma 6/10. I attribute my great success to luck and guesswork.

Say hello to April with my fun and filmi quiz of the week. Don't forget to share your score. rediff.com/movies/report/…