Jump on the rock
The Great Indian Rock in its 14th season is all set to rock the city audience. Read on to know more.
All the rock lovers out there, fasten your seatbelts and get ready for some serious headbanging because Great Indian Rock (GIR) is back, and it’s heavier and louder than ever before. This two night long event will include performances by four foreign and six Indian bands. Rock Street Journal (RSJ) came up with the idea in 1997. The first event happened in Kolkata, but since 1998, Delhi has been a regular yearly venue. Amit Saigal, RSJ head says, “It’s just a spread of bands from different countries and with all of them together on one stage, it will be the best power packed show till date.”
The bands are eagerly waiting for the event to start. Rohan Panjiar of the Delhi based band October, wants his sound of ‘Modern Rock’ to be heard in a metal dominated schedule of this year’s version of GIR. “We started as a grunge band but gradually incorporated elements of other genres of rock and have a completely different sound now. GIR has always been about adrenaline pumping music and here, rock and metal as musical genres serve the purpose.”
HT City also got in touch with one of the foreign bands playing this year. James of the English metal band, Tesseract, says, “India is a place I’ve always wanted to visit and to do it whist playing music is unreal. From what we’ve heard from other bands who’ve visited, the Indian crowds are insane! I’m sure it’ll be different in the respect that the gigs will be bigger, the temperature will be hotter and the food will be spicier, but the fans will be the same as all rock fans all over the world.”
This year, as we launch into the 14th edition of India’s own version of Woodstock, the show has got the best response. People across the capital are anxiously waiting for the gig. Nikhil Kant an MNC executive says, “I have booked the tickets and called for an off from office for two days. It’s going to be awesome.” Vidur Bhatia, a student of Ansal Institute of Technology, also swears by the same thing. “GIR is something we eagerly wait for and I’ve been attending it since 2006.”
However, this time the number of enthusiasts may go down. With an attractive band line up, the ticket pricing has gone up to R1099 from last year’s R250. The organisers have a reason for it. According to the defence posted online on facebook, they claim they have to spend it on the transportation costs which includes air travel, accommodation, the venue and sound system.
The Schedule
December 18
Red Bull Jamroom Band
(winners to be announced):
4.15-4.45pm
Demonic Resurruction (Mumbai)
(Heavy Metal): 5.00-5.45pm
Purified in Blood (Norway) (Heavy/Thrash Metal): 6.00-7.00pm
Tesseract (England) (Progressive Metal): 7.15-8.15pm
Enslaved (Norway) (Black/Heavy/Extreme Metal): 8.45-10.00pm
December 19
Digital Suicide (Guwahati) (Alternative Rock): 4.30-5.15pm
October (Delhi) (Alternative/Psychedelic/Progressive Rock ): 5.30-6.15pm
Lucid Recess (Guwahati) (Alternative Metal): 6.30-7.15pm
Undying Inc (Mumbai) (Heavy Metal): 7.30-8.15pm
Meshuggah (Sweden): 8.45-10.00pm (Heavy Metal)
Venue: Hamsadhwani grounds, Pragati Maidan