Pitchfork

Fearless explorers they are, Atlanta's Black Lips are currently prepping for their new album, 200 Million Thousand, with a tour across India. Is India ready for the Lips? Are the Lips ready for India? Arjun S Ravi-- editor of Indian independent music website Indiecision-- went to the tour's first couple gigs and returned with photos and the following report:

The Black Lips' first tour of India got off to a shaky start in Pune on January 17. Backstage, the band were pretty nervous; in interviews prior to the gig they mentioned how they would tone down their zany live act to "respect the people and places that provide these shows for us." In Pune, they were headlining a Campus Rock Idols event and playing to a crowd of nearly 1,500 kids who were largely unfamiliar with them save for an obnoxious MC's introduction: "Sixties hippie hard rock-- like Jim Morrison!"

The battle of the bands competition featured predominantly metal and hard rock college acts and started around noon. The Lips didn't take the stage until 9 p.m. When the band went on, the Pune audience was taken aback. They had just been treated to eight straight hours of mediocre college metal, after all. The idea of four white guys from the U.S. playing punk rock was startling. At first there was a little nervous cheering. Then came the shower of plastic bottles. The lack of boos and negative sentiment seemed to suggest that the audience were simply channeling their energy into propelling these plastic missiles.

Drummer Joe Bradley was the only band member to avoid getting hit by a bottle. To add to the confusion, an announcer got on the PA in the middle of the set and treated the headliners like just another competition band, saying "You have seven minutes remaining." They displayed no on-stage antics. None. They left the stage visibly shaken.

UPDATE: Indiecision has posted video of the band doing "Bad Kids" live in Pune.

Pune, India:

Lips Jared Swilley and Ian Saint Pé award a bunch of metal-loving Campus Rock Idols participants.

One of the few Lips fans in attendance explains a song to curious audience members.

Next up, the Lips headed to India's commercial capital, Mumbai, on January 20, to play a date on the environmentally conscious Climate Solutions Road Tour. The band was scheduled to play with five other bands-- including folk-fusionists Swarathma-- at the Bandra Amphitheatre, a large venue in a posh Mumbai suburb that can fit 500-800 people. The setup of the concert was vastly different to the Pune gig. There were no metal acts.

When the band took the stage at 8:45 p.m., the sound set up was pretty terrible, with the vocals barely audible and the guitars too loud. Still, the band seemed relaxed. There were only about 200 people in the audience-- none of them with plastic bottles. A few people in the crowd even seemed to know who they were. They kicked off the gig with "Bad Kids" and slowly built up momentum through the set. Though the antics were measured (just a little dancing around on stage), the result was a far more confident show. They played for about 45 minutes. The crowd didn't get into it much, but they were appreciative. Two dudes at the front of the stage even shouted for an encore.

The rest of their tour has the band playing predominantly at club venues. Hopefully, they've built up enough confidence to throw some famed Black Lips shit down there.

Mumbai, India:

Black Lips tour dates:

01-23 Chennai, India - Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall (Campus Rock Idols)
01-24 Calcutta, India - The Park
01-25 Calcutta, India - National Institute of Juridical Sciences
01-29 Bangalore, India - IIM Bangalore
02-03 Nimegen, Netherlands - Doornroosje
02-04 Rotterdam, Netherlands - Watt
02-05 Munich, Germany - 59:1
02-06 Berlin, Germany - Festsall Kreuzberg
02-07 Hamburg, Germany - Molotow
02-08 Cologne, Germany - Gebaude 9
02-11 Lille, France - Club Aeronef
02-12 Dijon, France - La Vapeur (Generiq Festival)
02-13 Brussels, Belgium - Botanique
02-14 Paris, France - Super Mon Amour Festival
02-15 London, England - Islinton Academy (NME Awards)
02-16 Bristol, England - Fleece N Firkin
02-17 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC 2
02-18 Manchester, England - Institute
02-19 Brighton, England - Audio
02-26 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
02-27 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
03-04 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
03-05 Washington, DC - Black Cat
03-06 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
03-07 Cambridge, MA - Middle East
03-09 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
03-10 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
03-12 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
03-13 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
03-14 Chicago, IL - Logan Square Auditorium
03-15 Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall Ballroom
03-16 St. Paul, MN - Turf Club
03-17 Omaha, NE - Waiting Room
03-18 Lawrence, KS - Bottleneck
03-20-21 Austin, TX - SXSW
03-23 New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks
03-25 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder
03-26 Tampa, FL - Orpheum
03-27 Miami, FL - Churchill's
03-28 Gainesville, FL - Common Grounds
03-29 Jacksonville, FL - Jack Rabbits
03-30 Orlando, FL - The Social
04-15 Costa Mesa, CA - Detroit Bar
04-16 San Diego, CA - Casbah
04-17 Tempe, AZ - Clubhouse
04-18 Tucson, AZ - Plush
04-20 Colorado Springs, CO - Black Sheep
04-21 Denver, CO - Bluebird
04-22 Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge
04-23 Boise, ID - Neurolox
04-24 Portland, OR - Berbati's Pan
04-25 Seattle, WA - Neumo's
04-27 Eugene, OR - Wow Hall
04-28 Sacramento, CA - Blue Lamp
04-29 Santa Cruz, CA - The Blue Lagoon
04-30 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall
05-01 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey
05-02 Pomona, CA - Glasshouse
05-03 Costa Mesa, CA - Detroit Bar