With only six months into it, 2010 has already been a somewhat tumultuous year for Indian rock. From Tehelka articles hoping to expose a ‘make-believe’ scene cultivated by the media and harboring niche middle class rockers aping the west to protests and petitions against allowing a certain aging boy band to perform at one of the country’s premier rock festivals, the year has seen its share of ups and downs. But behind the usual doubt and criticism, a relative swell in the number of albums released by Indian bands, some duly worthy of high regard, the infiltration of once local acts now into major European festivals, and the bestowment of a select few with international acclaim and awards has led to an exponential rise in recognition across the board. It is perhaps this recognition along with the efforts of various promoters that has brought about the biggest change as compared to say a few years ago, a saving grace in many ways, an exponential increase in the influx of global acts, indie, metal or otherwise, from corners of the world and genres not generally exposed to Indian audiences.
Hot on the heels of a year that played host to acts as varied as the indie folk quartet Mumford & Sons, popular Danish hip hop act Outlandish, Swedish melodic death metal stalwarts Amon Amarth, celebrated 80’s band Mr. Big and more significantly, a band in their prime, playing a sold out show at Mumbai IIT’s Mood Indigo, the progressive rock styling’s of Porcupine Tree, 2010 has already borne witness to an notable set of bands and artists, washing onto our aural shores. Certainly the biggest and possibly the most controversial concerts of the year took place in Bangalore in the form of Rock in India. Headlining acts which included the likes of South African alternative band Prime Circle, Welsh multi-instrumentalist and rising star Jayce Lewis (due to embark on another 10 city Indian tour in the coming months), legendary singer/songwriter Richard Marx and the aforementioned boy band, the Backstreet Boys brought with them a barrage of negative reactions from rock fans displeased at the idea of allowing a certified pop group to play at a rock festival.
Speaking of pop acts, the trio of Adrian Claudiu Sina, Sorin Stefan Brotnei and Mihai Gruiaone better known as one of the most popular Romanian dance-pop group Akcent, also made their way across India from the 4th to 6th June thrilling audiences in Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. With smash singles like ‘That’s my name’ and ‘Stay with me’ the crooners entertained the hundreds in attendance with their signature disco house sound contrasted with a strong Romanian influence.
Danish band Michael Learns to Rock who made a career out of churning out soft rock classics such as ‘The Actor’ and ‘Sleeping Child’ in the early 90’s find themselves on their third Indian tour, after performing in Bangalore and Chennai in ’95 and Mumbai, Bangalore and Shillong in 2004, the band is back on a three city tour in June catering to their loyal Asian fan base. Relatively new to Indian ears is the massively popular psychedelic trance DJ duo from Israel, Skazi, whose distinctive sound merging trance and punk has gathered a cult following, becoming a staple of rave scenes across the globe.
With respect to genres, there is no shortage of international bands thoroughly representing metal with the Bangalore crowds being treated to a heavy dose of American heavy metal throughout the year. The Summer Storm festival organizers brought in one of the kingpins of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal in Lamb of God to headline the festival with their brutal yet groove based riff metal. In almost certainly an attempt to compensate for their previous erroneous choice of bands, the Rock in India organizers have pulled together two renowned thrash metal giants, Testament and Slayer to be top of the bill at the second edition of the festival scheduled for 30th October of this year. Each backed by an illustrious catalogue of classics, the show promises to be one of the explosive in the city’s history and certainly one for the history books.
On the indie front, some major bands which have turned their sights towards India are NastyPeach, a funk/soul band from Tel Aviv performing the Indian circuit throughout July and British alternative act Placebo who have just released their sixth studio album ‘Battle for the Sun’, who with an ability to weave platonic melodies with teenage angst offer up a rich palette for devoted fans in the country when they tour sometime later this year. Irrespective of which bands tour across our country, it is safe to say that the rock scene has come a long way from catching glimpses of odd international bands every few years or so. India’s rock community is finally being given the chance to indulge in a plethora of sounds through these bands, each recognizing India as a bona fide market while at the same time paying dividence and enriching the rock scene as they pass through.
