Over the past four years (that’s about when I first attended the event), I’ve heard tons of people talk about Independence Rock in its heyday at Rang Bhavan – when it was held on the 15th of August, when advertising the event wasn’t THAT big a priority and above all, when the bands that played then were nothing like the one’s that do now. There’s a pattern here – the quality of music, originality and performances on the whole are simply deteriorating. Days before the event, rumours flew about I-Rock being a money-making and publicity gimmick (Especially after ‘The Works’ qualified for the Mumbai eliminations), how the audience had transformed – from true patrons of rock ‘n’ roll to posers in Black coloured Iron Maiden tee’s and how the organisers made sure they catered – and catered well – to such an audience. But after all of this and more, I didn’t change my opinion, looking forward to the event in the same way that I have since the beginning – with an open mind, unaware of any of the bands playing (excluding Black, considering they were finalists last year), hoping to have a good, in fact, great time. Sure there are some really bad acts every year, that’s permitted – but this year, even the ones that were headlining on Day 2 were rather disappointing.
I entered Chitrakoot Grounds at roughly 6:00 pm on Saturday, with bands winding up their sound-check. I went and stood right in front of the stage – where there’s maximum energy and oh well, maximum fun. By 6:15, the first band begun playing – namely, Delhi rockers AVR (which is short for ‘Another Vertigo Rush’). They played an original set, but nothing new. Their sound was cliched and amateurish. An average performance – not bad, but nothing great either or let’s just say, not an I-Rock performance (maybe they didn’t take the competition seriously in that case!). They didn’t manage to hold the audience’s attention for a mere five minutes, let alone mine! People seemed ‘relieved’ the moment they got off stage. Coming on second, were Pune-based ‘Silver’. An extremely tight performance, very well-clipped, indeed. I particularly liked their bass-lines. Vocalist Max is a performer – one guy, that according to me, has a great vocal range. Plus, he managed to hold his notes – something most Indian-rock/metal vocalists faulter with while singing at really high pitches. The band on the whole had good stage presence. You know how it is, sometimes you control the audience and sometimes they control you. And Silver definitely managed to do the former with much ease. Now, this next band, Black, had everyone’s expectations sky-high… and what happened was the EXACT opposite. These guys aren’t new to I-Rock. They were finalists last year and lucky for them, they made it to the finals this year too. Now, I think the whole idea of repeating bands is ridiculous. There were some REALLY good bands that should’ve gotten to play the finals, for example, Rosemary or Amidst the Chaos but this one,was a golden oppurtunity for Black – an oppurtunity no band would want to lose or misuse. Tsk tsk, my expectations soon hit rock-bottom after their first song. And for some reason, I kept telling myself that it’s just one song, they’ll get better with the rest. That never happened. Most of us compared their performance to last year’s (which was phenomenal) and if they were only THAT good, they probably would’ve won! Shawn’s vocals lacked energy. Also, working against them was their guitarist’s string snapping right in the midst of a song leading to an angry audience that was made to wait a whole ten minutes. Again, they had a great sound with interesting bass lines but the vocals killed it all. Maybe they should’ve turned up the volume on the vocals a bit. That would’ve helped. Their original ‘Carpenter’s Don’t Fuck’ was a hit though so I’m guessing it was just a bad day. And now give it up for the night’s WORST performance: The Scavenger Project. Seriously? What were they thinking? Their vocalist, dressed like a rapper with a terrible accent problem, the band trying to ape Limp-Bizkit and Linkin Park. I-Rock 2008? THIS is what it has become. I’ll give those guys credit for one thing though – it takes courage to go up on stage (especially when it’s at a National level) when you’re that bad. But it made for good entertainment. All of a sudden, the good ol’ chants of “Bhench*d, Maderch*d” (In chorus and doubly amplified) had resumed. Sad, I say. The last band to play, and perhaps the ONLY other decent band were ‘Rainbow Bridge’. Playing an original set, these guys did manage to hold our attention. Great stage presence and one band that focussed a lot on crowd interaction. Speaking to one of the metal heads there, I gathered that I-Rock has now shifted it’s focus from all genre’s of Rock to specifically ‘Metal’. The guy went on to say, “Rainbow Bridge were good… but everyone here, including myself, wants to listen to heavier stuff “. Well, that’s not true! I like bands with mellower sounds! Moving on to the headlining acts that night – Demonic Resurrection has a huge fan-following and as usual, metal heads went ballistic. BALLISTIC. People kept moshing throughout the 40 minutes that they played (especially whilst performing ‘Frozen Portrait’). The Demonstealer kept it together even though guitarist Pradeep, quit the band two weeks before the show. After them,came Zero. They brought the house down and how! A fabulous last performance! Rajeev, with brilliant vocals, Bobby with his bass-guitar skills, Pozy with brilliant riffs and Sidd with insane drumming skills! These guys just can’t be judged. Playing crowd favourites, Mariachi, Hate In E-Minor and Not My Kinda Girl among others. They ended with the famous PSP12 and just about when the chorus kicks in, they stopped! Rajeev thanked everyone who had helped Zero through the years, finishing off on a very sweet, very sentimental note! We’re sure as hell going to miss them! And just so you know, Silver won I-Rock 2008. If you’re wondering why it’s mentioned right at the end, then I’d say, it’s just not important enough.
Then, there’s day two. Now Day Two boasted of some brilliant bands – Scribe, The Superfuzz. Uh, well, just two brilliant bands! Other bands comprised Faith, Hip Pocket and Agni – all old time, washed up rockers. Here’s what one of the organizers had to say when asked about I-Rock and it’s transformation over the years, “The only real change has been the venue. It’s not like bands have gotten insanely better. I don’t like the fact that such a big event is headlined by washed up cover bands from 15 years ago like Agni, or even Hip Pocket. They could’ve signed better bands”. According to me, Day 2 was all about the money. All about catering to posers! And the organisers agree with me. “Major portion of I-Rock goers want to listen to Pink Floyd and Metallica covers. I guess it’s now just about catering to the masses. In that sense, the portion of concert-goers who want to hear new, original music, are pretty much f***ed. This is only pertinent to the headliners on Day 2. Or headliners on Day 2 of I-Rock for the last few years”, he said. For me, the highlight was Scribe (especially their rendition of ‘Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me’) and Superfuzz’s performances – OUTSTANDING, though, the mindless Indian so-called ‘rockers’ hurled abuses at the latter. Just shows how narrow-minded and restricted their music preferences are and how they patronise bands that play anything apart from Metal. But Shawn Pereira, vocalist of Black has a different dimension to the whole thing. “I thought it was good man. People might not have liked it ‘cause a lot of new music was played, but that was the whole idea. The crowd was there, wannabe’s or pro’s, doesn’t matter. The nubies of today will be die-hard rockers later. I would’ve liked it better if we won”. Yes Shawn, it would’ve been better if you’ll won! And when asked about Day 2, he pretty much felt the same way we did! Though, he is one of the few people that liked Agni’s performance.
So, THIS was Independence Rock 2008. The highlights of the event being : Zero, Superfuzz and Scribe’s performances. All pro-bands. So no new talent was really discovered as such – nothing path-breaking. I just hope it gets better ‘cause I’d hate to see something of the sort that was started 23 years ago, for the love of rock ‘n’ roll turning into a commercial, money-making and selling out venture.
P.S: The Counter Culture Stall had really cool Zero tee’s! And other Indian bands ofcourse!
P.P.S: For those who didn’t want to spend a penny, promotional CD’s with great tracks, Scribe’s new album and tons of other promotional stuff was available! (The perks, I tell you! I think it was just to make up for the lack of talent and to pacify the passionate, music-listening lot!
Comments
30 comments. Add your own comment below.
Grey
Sep 2nd, 2008 at 5:06 pm | #
I wasnt there ( and never will be ) , but i must tell you , this is the best review i have read on i-rock . I have been doing rounds of orkut , gigpad, rsj , but as you said so too many posers ! i cant figure who’s the real rocker with all those \m/ and \m// … ( i dont even know what the eff is that , so i have assumed it as ‘moron alert ’ .. )
anyways , 15 -20 years ago people ( i.e us ) wanted to hear just covers because going to a iron maiden concert was pretty much ended with a worn out rented VHS tape , thats when Agni, Parikrama , Millenium, 13AD , Indus creed , gave thier best to die hard rock fans and to posers . It was like attending Deep purple, GnR , Led Zepp, Pink Floyd, Slayer in one go ( and the weed was 5bucks a sashe ;) ). Trust me, we travelled miles to watch them because there were not enough bands and not enough shows .
Fast forward to 2008 , Posers still exist , people still want to hear covers , but…. the bands want to play mor OC’s .Thats great news, Indian rock has finally arrived , and its here to stay , thansk to the shows like i-rock among others .
but whats saddens my heart is , when youngsters ( and the stupid organziers ) think Great Bands like Agni are “washed up yesterdays rockers” .Probably 15 years from now when Zero will band up again , and some organizer will call them “washed up rockers of yesterday” , probably you will write a comment similar comment to this, eh?
Once again , great review , thank God for youth like you who arent \m/ ing or else rock n roll will be doomed forever.
Tublu(Vayu)
Sep 2nd, 2008 at 10:13 pm | #
Firstly I dont really understand how you classify someone as a poser or not…Theyre all out there to have fun, whether it means ,educating themselves into the field of indian metal or an experienced ear out there to observe the music.As for the abusing , its pretty much an ‘i-rock tradition’ ,which has been done throughout the years in a tongue in cheek manner ,and not necessarily critiquing the bands. Though it shouldnt go out of hand .
Covers.
What? 7-8 out of 80 odd songs were covers.
Who said covering songs is kindergarten play?Try matching Robert plant’s pitch or Gilmour’s feel .
How about Malmsteens quick fingers!!!!!!
What i enjoy watching about cover bands, is their own perception of the cover and how they end up playing it.
Also improvising a bit ,throwing in a few variations, making it your ‘own’ with a few changes, is nice to see.
Agni. Washed out Rockers?Did you say te same thing about Zepp’s reunion show?
Maybe we’re listening to different bands here,
They’re a Good band ,merging classic rock sounds with the odd hindustani feel ,in a progressive mould.
If you could educate me on some ‘musical’ drawbacks of theirs, maybe id lend you a ear.
Tublu(Vayu)
Sep 2nd, 2008 at 10:45 pm | #
On another note, you make a good point about bands reappearing in the ‘battle of the bands’ competetion.
It should be a ‘once’ only for the competetion ,with bands coming back as a pro act only,
Cynical
Sep 3rd, 2008 at 12:08 am | #
2Blue,you’re part of a cover band.Why am I not surprised that you’re supporting them?As for throwing in their variations,making it their ‘own’,no one likes imitating David Coverdale.You get the drift ?
But Vayu’s great! =)
Cynical
Sep 3rd, 2008 at 12:21 am | #
And I second what the girl says,Agni were terrible.They were all right back in their hay-day I guess,but not now! Superfuzzzzzzzz were brilliant ! They should’ve played ‘School’………………..\m/
Luke i'm your father
Sep 3rd, 2008 at 1:32 pm | #
DR were the shit!!!! Maddening performance…….The moshpits went mad it would have been better though if they had that second guitarist ,though i’m pretty sure The Demonstealer must have pre-recorded the second guitar on his processor but its not the same!!!! dont quite see how people wearing black iron maiden tees become posers all of a sudden though!!!!
Vidhi
Sep 3rd, 2008 at 3:25 pm | #
Black Iron Maiden tee’s from Bandra ?Coming there for the fuck of it without knowing shit about Indian Rock or any Intl music for that matter(clearly I could make out from their conversation.E.g, “arre yaar,jaane tu ya jaane na is se achchi thee”) ?Roosh,you and I both know there were posers.Sure there were guys who knew what music is/was all about…but then they formed a small percentage.
Vishal
Sep 3rd, 2008 at 3:42 pm | #
i like posers ,especially if they look like shruti hassan
Luke i'm your father
Sep 4th, 2008 at 12:53 am | #
sure maybe they didnt know their music, but there was a time when even we didnt know our music so i think to classify them as posers is maybe being a tad bit harsh!!! Everyone that day was there for a reason, and thats to support the rock cause!!! We’re as it is a small community so i think the last thing we want to do is make the people who come for the show feel ‘unwanted’ cause at the end of the day they were there to have some fun …..
i was called a poser 3 years ago for listening to Staind, but we all have to start from somewhere , dont we??? Who are we to decide how musically educated a person should be to be allowed to attend i-rock!!!!!! If that was the case, the bands would be playing to an empty Chitrakoot Ground!!!( as if it wasn’t empty anyways)
Tublu
Sep 4th, 2008 at 1:00 am | #
Why the tension , mulgi…aati kya khandala?…..
Agni are still a very grand band , something you’ll mature into understanding with age…. like fine ripening wine.
So Do we have a deal then? Come for the next Vayu Show and ill join you to apparel shopping in bandra. Sweet Jalebi!
Grey
Sep 4th, 2008 at 1:42 am | #
Oye ! somebody enable ” Subscribe to comments via email” like those tempostand guys ! i cant comeback here everytime to check comments ( dont tell me to rss )
btw , Agni has two albums , Wind Dance with Fire and Mrithunjaya , and they are fantastic . Some one should do a review of them ,
http://72hoytstreet.net/music/agni/ ..
Animesh
Sep 4th, 2008 at 10:17 am | #
A poseur is someone who poses, imitates for the sake of attention, no matter how little it may be. Example - someone who’ll urge you to start a mosh-pit, but once the body-smashing’s on, will quitely go to a corner, or remain safe. Then, he’ll be the one to say, “Wow, that was ruddy brilliant. My entire back is aching…”; It could very well be the guy who buys a Metallica t-shirt to identify himself as a metalhead. And to get teh chicks.
That being said, poseur-giri is perhaps the first step. Everyone who enters the world of rock/metal has an urge to identify himself as a new member. No wonder every third kid sports long hair, or has some insane t-shirts, or pierces himself to magnetized death.
There are thus three-four kinds - the ignorant guy, who knows fuck about what’s going on, the poseur, who’s new to it all, and wants to prove that he’s as strong/serious/grown up as the third group - the educated audience, who should have objective opinions and solid logic backing them up. And in between are the poseur-educated guys (the ones with the spectacles, who carry a Jansport bag on a Sunday night (???) and seem to be totally lost in deep thought trying to figure out what they’re gonna say next, while giving an appearence of ‘i’m above this all.”
ashish
Sep 7th, 2008 at 11:03 am | #
what makes you such an expert ?
and chuck the tee’s man ….
its the passion for music tht counts … which obviously some ppl dont have …lol
so tell me,has ur friend mr.wannabe finished pretending he’s tublu??
Tublu
Sep 7th, 2008 at 12:17 pm | #
@ashish… I have no clue who you are, But if you have an issue with my ‘identity’,you cam email me at 2Blue@vayu.co.in and we can take this further.
Hope to see you at my next show .
Love and Light,
2Blue
Abhimanyu
Sep 7th, 2008 at 1:31 pm | #
@Grey: First let’s take into account that you weren’t and don’t plan to be at I-Rock ever which basically means you are unaware as to what went/is going on. What the reviewer is trying to say here is that a big event like I-Rock which is meant to be promoting local talent, is being headlined by a supposedly professional band that chooses to play covers and that is a big part of the formula that is causing the very imminent decline in our Indian Rock “scene”.
There is one thing I will take issue with over here. This is about Zero. Now I don’t know how much of Zero you’ve been exposed to or if you own the albums or know anything about the band, but a lot of people who have had the above mentioned privileges, know for a fact that if Zero were to reunite in 15 years, however old and washed up they might be, their dedication to their OWN music will ALWAYS be paramount. This has been the case with Zero through the years. Agni fell so short in that respect on Sunday, it saddens my heart.
@2blu: I’ve listened to Agni’s albums. They are by all means, a good band. But let’s not be ridiculous. No one in their right mind would say something like that about the Led Zeppelin reunion. There are bands that make compromises and there are bands that don’t. Led Zeppelin is part of the latter considering the fact that they didn’t get on stage at O2 Wireless and play some crowd-pleasing covers. People the world over know Led Zeppelin. There’s a fair chance that the Agni singer holds Robert Plant as one of his biggest influences. I’m sure you do as well. Sadly, your perspective on this review and this “scene” is a bit marred. You are in fact, in a band that plays mostly covers and caters to a very specific crowd. This is not the case with I-Rock. I-Rock is a free for all. People from everywhere come there for fun and frolic. Some leave elated, some disappointed and some educated. Every single I-Rock (I’ve been to the last 8…both days), I’ve come across people who are in fact there, to hear new original music. It just seems, on occasion, that this contingent is being ignored. I like hearing a good cover just as much as the next guy (for instance Scribe’s heavy ass version of Hold Me, Thrill Me or Zero’s slower melodic version of Roxanne ) but it’s when I hear a flurry of them from what is supposed to be one of India’s biggest bands, that it begins to get on my nerves. There are record labels, organizers, journalists, fans, kids doing a lot nowadays to promote original music but then to see Agni get on stage to headline I-Rock with their cover songs and I believe one or two originals, is a serious step backwards.
So that’s just my opinion. Don’t flame me.
Now in John Lennon’s words:
If it don’t feel right you don’t have to do it
Just leave a message on the phone and tell them to screw it
After all is said and done you can’t go pleasin’ everyone
So screw it…
I’m stepping out
I’m stepping out.
Vish
Sep 7th, 2008 at 3:53 pm | #
@Abhimanyu
Good point about original music and Zero
I was there on day 1 , as i was last year as well.Promoting and encouraging original music is great,but there are times when the OC’s fall below the mark (which is why a ‘mix’ of covers is healthy)
Also the variety in metal/rock genres can be a little stunted with most bands either playing grunge or classic rock What happened to the good ole days of AOR with bands like Parikrama,progressive rock with Agni, or Parikrama’s bluesy hard rock/fusion and i’ll even throw in hair metal
I’ll give…….. to hear Bhoomi,Half Step Down,Parikrama,Indus Creed,Yagya,Zero and probably Cyanide
But what about those dozens of bands in between that, if they dont inculcate an air of adrenaline into the lungs. i’d rather hear them do some covers along with OC’s
But i agree Agni should have played more originals
Vishal
Sep 7th, 2008 at 3:55 pm | #
AOR with Indus Creed *
Grey
Sep 8th, 2008 at 3:36 pm | #
@ Abhimanyu ,
I get your point , the reason i can not attend the show cz im not in the country . My point was , i am of a generation who were not as priviledged as the current generation is, as i said, there were not many rock bands in those days and Agni was ” One of the finest” then ( and now ) . Times have changed and may be the choice of headlining Agni for i-rock was wrong , but that does not mean that they are ‘washed up’ . Everyone will get washed up eventually , you , me Vidhi, Zero , everyone, “time” doesn’t spare anyone, but it is how you look back at history and Agni is an Integral part of Indian Rock History , just like any other band no matter how ‘bad/good’ they are . Hence deserve respect .
As for Zero , its a great band , it will always rank among the top Indian Bands , too bad that they could not come up with any new material after Warren’s Deaprture to NZ.
Abhimanyu
Sep 8th, 2008 at 5:09 pm | #
@Grey: You seem to have missed my point here. I don’t doubt that Agni was one of the finest bands in India. Like I mentioned, I have listened to whatever they’ve put out. It was always the awful covers of popular songs that I had a problem with. You can debate whether Agni was the right choice to headline I-Rock. The issue is that a supposedly professional 15 year old band came on stage with the opinion that our junta deserved some horrible covers. No one asked them to play covers. They could have blasted out an all original set. They have enough material for that. They are washed up in the sense that they don’t seem to realize that things have changed and the crowd today wants to hear new (in their case old) original music. This is something that Zero hasn’t compromised on. Pentagram have been together 14 years. Their latest release was a breath of fresh air in what seemed to be a stagnant period for so called “established” bands. The same goes for TAAQ, Skinny Alley and more. Anyway, judging from most reviews and my own experience, Agni haven’t done themselves any good last Sunday.
Peace out.
Grey
Sep 8th, 2008 at 9:15 pm | #
I agree with you ( and note : i have said this is an great article ) , If you read my first comment , i did say that more and more bands want to play OC’s , May be something Agni failed to notice . As for the Sunday performance , you are the best judge because you were there . May be they sucked ( to you ) but … does that mean a grand band ( as 2blue said ) is washed up for good ? Thats something i am not comfortable with .
Peace .
http://www.drummingworld.com/agniguitarist_koko.htm .
Tublu
Sep 9th, 2008 at 4:29 pm | #
Another issue….. Do bands(pro) have total creative control of what they want to play at I rock, or are they advised by the organisers to do covers etc?
Pappu can dance
Sep 12th, 2008 at 2:00 am | #
Tublu fuck yourself!
Just spend the rest of your life with other people’s masterpieces/
Tublu
Sep 12th, 2008 at 2:05 am | #
Pappu …….
Come for our next show At NJJBTB…….I’m dedicate a special item number to you
Love.Peace,Respect,Faith,Belief,Courage and Power
2Blue to sing the blues
Pepper
Sep 12th, 2008 at 2:19 am | #
now now pappu mind the language
Mr. T
Sep 12th, 2008 at 10:11 am | #
I totally second each and every word in that article….
Zero according to me is the best band ever. i wish the weren’t disbanding…i LOve ZERo.
all i could see on day one that adhered to rock was Zero and demonic ressurection…the rest of
the event i.e. what came befor demonic and zero was full of shit and i cant believe the judges of i-rock let that happen. “yea silver won…whatever.”
This was the first time i’ve heard Superfuz playing live and i totally enjoyed their act…that and scribe was my paisa wasool for day two which, by the way i wasn’t planning to attend. i went to the venue to drop a friend and scribe was on stage at that time….the hardcoreness of scribe tempted me to get inside and so i did….that way i heard Superfuzz too and enjoyed every song they played.fullpower. the other bands that played were not bad but thats not what the real I- rock Public wants to watch or listen too….none of my friends came for day 2 and it seemed very empty also……
Tublu asked how to define a poser. my definition is equal to, idiots in the audience wearing black t-shirts banging head and playing air guitar whilst the band on stage is only playing a mild bridge shifting from one verse to another which does not require any of the bullshit these idiots do in audience to piss off people who are here for the love of music.
Another citation would be my Experience at D-Ultimate a week before I-Rock. i went there for Zero and my patience was tested to the threshold and i was tortured by some hindi singing pricks called sector 8 and Cirkles (in teemeer’s words thats circles with a ‘k’), Cirkles was playing a song called Kiss from a rose (wtf) and these 2 idiots were enjoying it like fuck knows what…i cannot describe how happy these 2 bastards were…..i have a review about that event on http://www.tahaqdas.blogspot.com
i like this article. very true it is.
Dhaval
Sep 14th, 2008 at 4:10 pm | #
At last years, I-rock as a competing band we were told we have to play a complusory cover. We decided not to…
Pepper
Sep 14th, 2008 at 5:09 pm | #
@Dhaval
which band?
Rooshabh
Sep 17th, 2008 at 11:19 pm | #
was there for HRC I-Rock yesterday… Black was fab man…. cant believe Shaun actually jumped off stage at HRC … it’d have to be quite a calculated jump considerin theres a bar just below….
I realised had Black put in the same level of performance at I-Rock, they’d have beaten Silver for sure!!!!!
Pappu can't dance
Oct 12th, 2008 at 10:55 pm | #
Excuse me Vidhi, But aren’t you a Poser? A girl who goes around writing and talking about Rock even though she knows nothing about it……
JOHN VIJI
Nov 26th, 2008 at 1:52 pm | #
Hello BOYS - I want to hear the first album of 13AD - songs like your company, and all that - please email me as to which website I should visit to hear 13ad songs.
I had visited the site before - but now forgot the site address
thanks - I still love their music 13ad - me and my friends