Independence Rock XXV: Music festival initiation for local headbangers
Check out Independence Rock's archives of old photos and ticket stubs on Flickr. MTV once called Independence Rock "by far the best local rock festival featuring non-international acts in all of Asia" with Channel [V] billing it "the Woodstock of India."
While neither of these claims are quite accurate anymore, it is true that I-Rock has been a form of rite of passage for Indian rock acts over the last 24 years.
Festival organizer Farhad Wadia has steered his ship of metal heads through years when sponsors backed out or the event was cancelled at the eleventh hour.
"I'm a stubborn bawa," he tells MiDDay. "When you tell me not to do something...then I'm going to go out of the way to make it happen."
This Sunday (December 5) at Andheri, I-Rock will celebrate its 25th installment with seven Mumbai bands and three of India’s top guitarists -- Chandresh Kudwa, Dhruv Ghanekar and Ravi Iyer -- performing a 30-minute G3-style guitar jam on the big stage.
This year the festival takes a break from its usual band competition format and is free, but you do need passes.
Top local bands from the last five years including Bhayanak Maut, Scribe and Demonic Resurrection play short half an hour sets while vintage Mumbai rock band Indus Creed, who have performed at the maximum number of Independence Rock concerts in the past, will close out the night and their extended come-back tour of 2010.
Almost overshadowing I-Rock's 25th celebrations aimed at black T-shirt wearing college kids is the yuppie-centric Bacardi NH7 Weekender in Pune the following weekend of December 10-12.
Though I-Rock is local rock and metal bands while NH7 Weekender expands to include electronica with artists primarily from but not exclusive to India, this festival's first edition promises 200 hours of live music and 44 of India’s top bands including Indian Ocean, Jalebee Cartel, The Raghu Dixit Project, Junkyard Groove, Pentagram, Shaa'ir + Func, Midival Punditz, the Asian Dub Foundation, Susheela Raman and more. Plus they're side-stepping the 10pm noise ban by moving the party into clubs in Koregaon Park.
So treat I-Rock as a starter and NH7 Weekender as the full-on buffet.
Independence Rock XXV, Chitrakoot Grounds, Behind Fun Republic, Andheri (W); Gates open at 4:00 p.m. and the bands begin at 5 p.m.
5 p.m. - Bhayanak Maut
5:30 p.m. - Pralay
6 p.m. - Scribe
6:30 p.m. - Demonic Resurrection
7 p.m. - Axetortion feat. Chandresh Kudwa (Freedom), Dhruv Ghanekar (Chakraview), Ravi Iyer (Witchhammer)
7:45 p.m. - Ehsan Noorani (Crosswinds), Farhad Wadia (Mirage), Johan Pais, Loy Mendonsa, Shazneen Arethna, Sidd Coutto (Zero), Vinay Lobo, Warren Mendonsa (Zero)
9 p.m. - Indus Creed
