Thursday, February 09, 2006

Jal - damp squib in concert

A band has a couple of hit songs. It decided to quickly 'cash in' by giving a bunch of concerts. Now this never really happened in India, until now. What's more it's Pakistani band 'Jal' that's leading the way.

It began with 'Woh lamhe' setting the charts on fire. Then came Aadat, and Jal became more than a one-hit wonder. Next thing you know, the band is on a blistering schedule of concerts all over India. 20 performances in 25 days flat - in the current month.

So far, so good. The trouble is, the band is making a huge mess of it. As they airdash from Delhi (3 Feb) to Bangalore (4 Feb) to Rourkela (5 Feb) - the same feedback echoes from across venues. Jal is a disaster. The band is simply unable to hold - let alone enthuse - the crowd.

Delayed, lacking energy and spunk, poor choice of songs, poor singing contributed in making the first half i.e the Jal half of the show worth not even the cheap entry fees that were being charged.
- report from IIM Bangalore festival, Unmaad (4 Feb)

An identical scenario was replayed at NIT Rourkela the next day. The band arrived 4 hours behind schedule to start the concert scheduled for 9 pm at 1 am! The 3000 strong crowd was somehow held together with the NIT band 'Euphony' putting up an unscheduled performance. The crowd grew restless and angry, hungry and cold.

And yet, when Jal finally arrived, the crowd stood up and roared - forgetting about those frozen fingers and toes. All was forgiven, as junta swayed to 'Woh lamhe'. And then, the trouble began.

The band sang some of the other, relatively unknown songs from their album. Slow ballads, all sounding the same. Smart alecs called for the 'Taansens' to stop their torture. Many in the audience got up and left - after all, they'd heard the one song that really mattered.

Sadly, at this point a fuse blew out and so did my patience. I too left the venue.

Deliver or else...
A much anticipated show turned out to be a huge letdown. And I think Jal is squarely to blame.

First of all, professioanlism demands that the band arrive on time. That you were in Bangalore the night before is not an acceptable excuse. Don't commit, if you can't manage the logistics.

The band later claimed they had been told by their event management company that Rourkela is only a 4 hour drive from Calcutta. Yeah right! It takes close to 8 hours - by train. Given the road conditions in Orissa, it actually took them 14.

Secondly, having arrived at the concert - at least then, the band should have given the audience paisa vasool. If you are a relatively new band with only a couple of hit songs, fine. Showcase them. But be open to singing other popular songs to keep the crowd on its feet.

As Prasoon Gupta reported for JAM from IIM Ahmedabad's Chaos festival where both Jal and another Pakistani band Strings performed:
Somehow, it was Strings which made the day – not only did they sing their originals but they even performed a medley with songs from DCH, Sholay, etc. and the crowds kept tapping their feet....Strings carried along the cricket mood into their erformance too – they not only spoke of ongoing matches but also played a little cricket right on the stage and hit many balls into the air for public.

Contrast that attitude with Jal, who chose to sing a sonorous new composition they'd penned in memory of 'earthquake' victims.

Given that Jal were charging around Rs 2.5 lakhs, the organisers effectively ended up paying them about a lakh of rupees to hear two hit songs. That's about 10 minutes worth of 'entertainment' and another 1 hour of we-sing-you're-forced-to-listen.

Repeat value
You get away with it once... But if you're in this business the fun lies in being called back again and again. And that is definitely not going to be the case with Jal.

This is especially true of the college circuit.There are 7 IITs, 6 IIMs and 18 NITs -all of whom hold festivals with big enough crowds and budgets to hold pro-nites. This year Jal and Sivamani/ Indian Ocean have been permanent fixtures at a large number of these fests. Past favourites include Euphoria and the old warhorse Parikrama.

Given that these fests mostly take place between Dec-Feb, there's a cool Rs 50 lakhs or so to be made over these 2 months if a band does about 20-25 such concerts. The issue is that even if one band performs very well, the college would like someone different the next year. Which is why Jal was snapped up at all venues.

But given that Euphoria has a reputation for pleasing the crowds, the wheel will turn full circle and they will be in demand next year once again. Jal, certainly won't.

The Atif Aslam angle
Of course, part of Jal's desperation lies in their need to be seen as the 'real' Jal, minus their lead singer Atif Aslam.

Aslam started his High School in PAF College Lahore, where he played cricket and became interested in music. He paired with a guitarist named Gohar Mumtaz, and the two performed for their college and at restaurants, later calling themselves "JAL" which means water.

The pair recorded Aadat together - it became extremely popular. But then Aslam left Jal and went solo with an album called 'Jal Pari'. The songs Woh Lamhey, Dil Haarey on this album were smash hits. Later, Mahesh Bhatt asked Atif Aslam for permission to use 'Woh Lamhey' in Zeher and the rest is history.

Meanwhile 'Jal' with Gohar Mumtaz and band members Farhan, Shazi also released an album with Woh lamhey, Aadat etc. So who is the real 'Jal'? Did Atif 'steal' Woh lamhe? Or did he, as a co-creator, simply exercise his rights?

Since the issue remains unresolved, the producers of Kalyug cleverly included both Aatif and Jal's versions of Aadat in their film. Mukesh-Anil, Atif-Gohar - the battles continue...

Bottomline: Jal is talented enough to survive without Atif . But talent alone is not enough. By being greedy and unprofessional on their concert blitzkrieg the band is losing fans and goodwill.

Their own lyrics sum up the current sentiment, "Na jaane kab se umeedein kuch baaki hain..."

34 comments:

  1. they are coming to my college - Amity school of communication on saturday. We have a rock fest happening during the Big Picture!

    I hope they dont bore us.... and screw up the singing...

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  2. I've heard Jal's album Aadat and they have got a number of good songs. The two you mentioned plus Panchi, Bikhra Hoon Main and Ik Din Aayega. And these are the only ones I've heard. So I wonder why they didn't play those.

    I don't think bands which play concerts should keep playing 'Dil Chahta Hai', 'Humdum Suniyo Re' and other popular songs. That is what KK did this year at IITKs pro-nite this year. He got a lukewarm response. The response of course, was much better than the one to Indian Ocean the year before when they played only originals, most of which were unknown.

    Euphoria is, as you said, pretty good. They play original compositions, interspersing them with some good popular songs and some crap. Of course, Palash Sen is also very good with the crowd and that goes a long way.

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  3. Rashmi
    Don't have much of an opinion of Jal except a couple of their songs are pretty good. But yeah, a rock show is a lot more than just about a band's music and Parikrama can definitely show a thing or two to all band's on how to work hard on stage.
    A small grouse that you missed out mentioning my Alma Mater, BITS Pilani when you mentioned "college fests across IITs, IIMs and NITs". "OASIS" rocks for 120 hrs. non-stop every year and anyone who's been there can vouch for that.
    ~Just a nostalgic-once-upon-a-time-BITSian :)

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  4. Of the BIG ones that perform in colleges - Parikrama, Indian Ocean and Euphoria rule the roost. They are brilliant! I must have heard each of them at least a few times in concert, and have come out feeling completely drained of vocal chords! :)

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  5. As u cud c Rashmi, from the comments, tht ppl who hv heard JAL dont hv such bad opinions abt them. I hv downloaded their album AADAT, n frankly speaking, it rocks. It is far better than the usual stuff doled out in Indian Rock these days.The songs sound really good after listening a few times.The youth crowd can relate to lot of their lyrics.

    But yes, singing is another aspect as compared to performing. Performance is very important, esp. in places like college fests, where ppl r hyper enthu. U just dont give them wht they expect, n they wud not take seconds to defame u, or berate u. I hv not seen JAL performing, but going by your account, i wud say they need 2 learn this aspect sooner than later, if they want 2 b a hit. Also, i feel they wudnt hv such experience in Pakistan, dealing with such a large crowd. Thus they r a bit inexperienced on stage.

    Secondly, I wud say tht concerts are all abt songs which r famous. Ppl come 2 enjoy there, do karaoke singing, bang their heads etc etc. So, if they cud get songs they hv heard, to which they can also shout along, then they feel their money well spent. Of course, the band cud chip in with one or two of their unknown or new songs. But when a band is relatively unknown, n hv only a few songs in public, it is then the problem starts.
    But it is a difficult riddle for bands like JAL who hv only a few songs in public and the one way they can make their songs heard is thro. concerts like these.I feel they wud hv 2 lift up their performance, n follow some basic discipline to come back.

    N I wud again say,the band is not bad. If they work hard on non-singing aspects, they wud surely b a hit in India.They need to connect with the audience as an imperative.
    "Faasle jo mit na saake.
    Un Faaslo ko simatna hai."

    Asset

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  6. Euphoria is one of the best Indian bands ever.I've seen them perform at RAIT(Horizons) twice and the energy levels on stage are just insane.However,it's sad that they have to cover done-to-death numbers like 'It's My Life'.The classics though are another matter...

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  7. Woh Lamhe was a good track I liked, interesting to read the full story of the people behind the music. Live performance is a different ball game alltogether. Not everybody can pull that off. Sometimes, early success creates an illusion of self which is far from reality!

    First time here. You have got some serious stuff going on here. Will visit again. Cheers.

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  8. rashmi
    having attended a few (15-20!)college rock concerts in my college and BSchooldays (its been a while must confess), and enjoyed the likes of Parikrama and Palash/Euphoria, one also gets the sense that the good "performers" also treat the colleges as good businesses will their customers, i.e be flexible to their requests(covers, popular songs, interaction on stage), spend some time knowing what the crowd wants in advance, and of course be professional by being on time.

    this is the least a band wanting to have colleges as clients can attempt to do. the good thing for JAL and their fans would be if they unlearn and change FAST. the mood is currently all for their brand of rock, the typiucal pakistani music-lyrical and full of great rhythms, but they can soon be on the recieving end

    cheers
    Anish aka QuizLab

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  9. Only after reading your post I came to know why Kalyug had two tracks of the same song... I don't know much about JAL and have only seen their performances in TV News Channels :-) Yeah, they show it everyday... But I simply love "Woh Lamhe"... That song alone ROCKS!

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  10. Hey Rashmi,
    I'm from MGIT hyderabad. Super blog. Just saved me 3 lakh rs.
    Was planning to get them down for my college fest.
    Cheers

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  11. I have just started to write blogs. But writing has been my passion. Your articles are cool. Keep writing. I dont know much about JAL. But I am a great fan of Rehman A R. Musicians should not be money oriented. Its a lovely ... Godly ... art. Hope good music creators come up!

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  12. hey rashmi,
    I am from the affected institute in question, NIT rourkela. And story didnt just end after you and the audience leaving. What followed was a mass pandemonium as everyone, right from the organisers, to the dean and the student convenor playing the blame game.
    Of course we ended up losing 7 lacs in cash and there still are a lot of rumors and long tales going around. Yours is the only article which tries to point the stick to JAL. Nice to read that.

    hopefully they will learn from their mistakes and put up better shows for the moolah they are raking in.

    Saurabh

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  13. Well written :)

    they were really bad n my friends curse them even today when they remember that day's performance at Chaos - thank god STRINGS was there which did a saviour act for IIMA ..

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  14. I am from pune and Jal were here yesterday for a concert and the concert sucked. big time.

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  15. To Rashmi..
    I'm from NIT Rourkela.Great job done publicising this failure. It was a big failure. However,I would like to correct you on one minor issue. They did play all their songs. Summed up to maybe 5 of them. But then,you dont come to a concert to listen to 5 songs,with long sound checks after each. The band should have some common sense to play some other songs. Its not like they are gonna lose their iedntity or anything.Last year,we had Euphoria. And it rocked.

    And for all those who think Euphoria sucks...Palash Sen really knows how to handle a crowd. And his songs r pretty gud. They released abt 3 albums. Now no failure can have three successful albums. JAL,i guess,is gonna b jus a one-album wonder. Most of the songs in their album sound the same. 'Bikhra Hoon Main' is jus another version of Aadat,by the way.

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  16. Bang on the target. I can say so, because Jal had performed in our college, Sardar Patel College of Engineering for SPACE 2006. I told my friends that this was one of the most pathetic concerts that could be held anywhere. But they were so enchanted with the two hit songs that they refused to confess it. Jal are definitely a damp squib but again, except for some very good bands like Euphoria there is not much good choice available with the organisers. Newayz, like all the previous comments, I would like to warn people about the dire consequences of attending a JAL concert, "You will be bored to death!!!"

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  17. hi,im 4m NIT-rourkela.everyone out here is echoing the same concern.y the hell should we call a band like jal for our college fests when they show up late (3 to 4 hrs late) & doesnt care to irk the audience.their performance in our college indicated that they are highly un-professional,un-punctual & leave the audience very very disappointed by their non-exuberant performance.i have seen performances by strings & euphoria & i suppose they are far far better than the jal.i just wanna know if these people are still performing in the colleges across the country, so that we can warn others from being cheated by this troika.

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  18. Hi I am an artist manager in India and have done a couple of shows with jal.
    I shall tell you about them since day one they landed here..

    26th January
    The band landed in Delhi with a relative alongwith and so did strings in Mumbai.
    Strings however stayed on the airport for 5 hours because the show was in ahmedabad the following day.
    Howevwer for Jal the flight was to leave in 4 hours and they created this huge scene that we need to be booked in a bote for those 4 hours.

    27th January
    Finally after all the the chaos that happened last day we were finally in Ahmedabad. The sound check was to start at 4 o clock and jal was to start playing at 6. Jal artrived only at the venue at 6 o clock and did a 15 minute sound check. And after that they blame the sound guy for the sound to be screwed up. What kind of a band can complete there sound check in 15 minutes?

    anyhow's the show went on .... Jumshaid the so called manager is treated like a dog by the band. In india a manager's role is to manage and get shows for the band. Whereas Jamsheid's role is that of carrying the bands stuff from the airport to taxis to hotels that's all. It was told to us that the following day the band will be going off to a friends place and all arrangements were done by them. But since we get air tickets from the organisers and the band says we dont want to leave right now as we want to see the city. Anyhows somehwow there were no tickets available for a later flight so they had no choice but to leave.

    28th January
    Like told to us earlier that the band will leave for some of there friends house. we said bye to the band and left. Moments later we start getting calls from goher for having theyre stay arranged. It appeared theyre so called friend had backed out.Anyhows nothing from my side could have been done since i had already left for mumbai.


    3rd February
    The band alongwith their relative reached bangalore. Moments before they came outside the airport I got a call from a friend that who was amongst the band who was smoking nside the flight. I said i have no clue apparently the relative that was travelling was flirting with the air hostess and smoking inside the flight & the air hostess turned out to be my friends girl friend. And my friend happens to be one of the big event managers.

    4th February

    The same problem ... sound check scheduled at 5 o clock but the band reaches at 7 o clock....

    5th February
    http://youthcurry.blogspot.com/2006/02/jal-damp-squib-in-concert.html

    6th February
    Band was to leave for an early morning flight from Calcutta to delhi and they created this huge chaos that they wont leave so early get us booked on te evening flights and huge tantrums as if they are blood Pink floyd or something.

    7th February
    Band has to leave by road for chandigarh and last moment they say that they will fly and not go by road. The poor organiser pleaded them, fell on his knees asking them to leave by road and they were laughing on that guys face.

    .................

    This is just part of what they did I have worked with other pakistani bands including rahat fateh ali khan, atif, strings ad fuzon. But i have never come across such immature people ever. Frankly speaking they dont deserve more than 10,000 bucks and they are getting 2 lakhs. apart from whatever type of musicians they as humans are the worst people i know off. The reason i wanted to post this that atleast the people in Pakistan also comes to know about how the band has been in India and how they treat other people and take everyone for granted.

    Trust me after having worked with them i realise how good Strings and Fuzon are . Really amazing people and so was atif he is a genuine person and I am sure it is goher who actually stole the songs.

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  19. you wanna know one more about jal!!
    well i got a call right now it's like 1.30 am 28th feb in the night...
    it's from orissa college of engineering..
    jal apparently is perfoming in the college on the 28th evening....

    and they get a call from the band stating there visa has been freezed ....

    well if you ask me ive been doing shows with a lot of paki bands and what i can figure out is...the band would have taken the money first without applying for orissa and later on there visa would have been declined and viola.... bloody jal doesnt even let me sleep just because i did a couple of shows with them ...life seems to be haunting me...

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  20. everyone!!
    picture this
    if a friend of yours comes at your home throws a bottle on your dad's face wont you get furious

    what jal did was exactly the same they spoke to the sound engineer's badly

    in the pune show they hit fali with the bottle..

    we work as a family if someone comes and does anything to my family member i will make sure they pay for it

    how do you guys expect me to rate this kind of a band in terms of a performance whill all the while during the concert im thinking that what they did wasa not right... and dont know what more do they come up with.

    The band no matter how young or anything they are they have been in the market for roughly 2.5 years they should know how the market has to be handled.

    Guys please keep your messages rolling and spread this message as far as possible

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  21. Guys
    why the hell would I need to make up this stuff something like this happened and again I say is not acceptable anywhere in the world

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  22. well u contradict ure own points

    if you talk to haleema jumshaid's cousin she'll only tell you how jammy is treated and so goes for all your other statements

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  23. and by the way what's unprofessional about getting the truth out in the open and letting the world know what happened and what the band is in reality.
    if they were to act with there fans also like they behave with other people then you guys would also be posting what i have posted here ....think logically

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  24. lisen like said earlir i have never commented on there music...
    personally speaking im not into that..
    and everyone knows how jal got there share of fame and as far as the award are concerned the are for the music ..and not for the live act and attitude... and by the way you speak of india category have been avoiding it to say it... there is no pakistan it's because of india only they are there if we can take them that high we surely can bring them down too.

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  25. ok one thing...jal is unprofessional ,they r really bad...happy now???

    Anyways...u cant hate DYE CORDUROY!!its one of the best bands in pakistan that is the brainchild of the worlds most talented 26 year old...heres the link
    www.dyepookiedye.blogspot.com
    www.rockpakistan.com/dye

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  26. lol..aadat and woh lamhey are good because of Atif Aslam's vocals...the way jal lashed out at atif sounds like they are jealous. Jal has the music, but the singing can never be as good again. And Euphoria and Strings are amazing artists. Vocals, music, everything is so polished and amazing.

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  27. you vibhor ..... i dont know who the f...k you are . but all that u have sed is utter bullshit... holy crap.. u are so wasted in life man to actually fall to such a level.... you are frustrated..big time..... i feel like laughin at you and then i feel sad for u aswell.. you know something no one is ever gona believe your crap. JAL ROCKS.. ITS THE BEST BAND INDIA COULD EVER GET.... i am an indian myself and i think that they are simply great.. they are a respectful lot and treat every one with respect and dignity.... and you will see it for yoursef that they will reach heights in India.... i know the fan following that they have here in India ..its not easy to survive for 2 years if everything about you sucks...... and they have not only survived but have been ruling India..... another thing i would like to mention is that since you have so much of time to waste writin bullshit about them?? i obviously assume you have no other job or work left with.... right after JAL saked you..... you are jobless...mindless.....and wasted in life....no wonder you are sitin online and posting crap while they are on their way to stardum......you really think that sayin all this and writin crap will effect their fan following or status level...well intelligent people know exactly which frustrating level are you comming from.......hahahahahaha........leme explain another tiny one liner to you...may be you get some sence into your nut after that......you must have watched the movie GURU ??? there is a very good saying in that which i would repeat for you and for the current situation....."when people start talking bullshit about you...just think that you are on the right path to reach the top and rule the world......i forsee sure shot success for them.... and i am happy people like you give me the surity that they are really doing great....no matter what they are the best....

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  28. you vibhor ..... i dont know who the f...k you are . but all that u have sed is utter bullshit... holy crap.. u are so wasted in life man to actually fall to such a level.... you are frustrated..big time..... i feel like laughin at you and then i feel sad for u aswell.. you know something no one is ever gona believe your crap. JAL ROCKS.. ITS THE BEST BAND INDIA COULD EVER GET.... i am an indian myself and i think that they are simply great.. they are a respectful lot and treat every one with respect and dignity.... and you will see it for yoursef that they will reach heights in India.... i know the fan following that they have here in India ..its not easy to survive for 2 years if everything about you sucks...... and they have not only survived but have been ruling India..... another thing i would like to mention is that since you have so much of time to waste writin bullshit about them?? i obviously assume you have no other job or work left with.... right after JAL saked you..... you are jobless...mindless.....and wasted in life....no wonder you are sitin online and posting crap while they are on their way to stardum......you really think that sayin all this and writin crap will effect their fan following or status level...well intelligent people know exactly which frustrating level are you comming from.......hahahahahaha........leme explain another tiny one liner to you...may be you get some sence into your nut after that......you must have watched the movie GURU ??? there is a very good saying in that which i would repeat for you and for the current situation....."when people start talking bullshit about you...just think that you are on the right path to reach the top and rule the world......i forsee sure shot success for them.... and i am happy people like you give me the surity that they are really doing great....no matter what they are the best....

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  29. now plz stop dis discussion...gettin too personal...
    bands came and go...bad or nice....doesnt matter..
    let it b so....a new n better jal may come n rock ur....
    ill past better be forgotten !
    chill guyz....we r gonna have so many rock bands nw in india....dis discussins hardly matter..
    till den keep bangin !

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  30. i love jal. they are the best and definitely not a new band. the band was made way back in 2002 with goher mumtaz and atif aslam as it's members. but they split after the release of the vidoe of aadat. then atif went off to make his single debut album by the name jalpari which had songs like woh lamhey, dil harey and aadat which were written and composed by goher mumtaz. a court case was filed against atif aslam by goher, which eventually led to the victory of goher mumtaz. aadat and voh lamhey didn't do that well when jalpari was released cause it lacked a certain touch, a touch that only goher could provide. when jal released their debut album aadat, it was a super dooper hit, so was aadat and woh lamhey. besides these, i would say all the all from aadat were amazing.
    RASHMI BANSAL you're a complete4 freak!! you are just pouring down your frustrations here or maybe because you're an atif ass lame fan

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  31. Jal band now has disappeared. There previous songs are still a hit.
    Hindi Songs Lyrics

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