Rock N Roll ain't noise pollution

Rock is not dead. I managed to attend the regional finals of Campus Rock Idols held at Durgam Cheruvu in Hyderabad. And boy, what a experience it was. Some really kickass college bands from Hyderabad, Bangalore, Vizag were lined up for the show and they played some really cool music.

I read in the newspaper( Times - Page 3 ) that the passes would be available at PlanetM outlets and the competition was supposed to start at 5PM. We made a mistake of finishing our lunch before going to PlanetM. After reaching PlanetM we were told with a smile that the passes are over and there is a possibility of we winning free passes if we visit indiatimes.com and sign up and fill some other forms by which the winners of the competition would be tripping. I was really looking forward to this. It had been ages since I had a stiff neck from head banging and I wanted a stiff neck badly. We decided to try our luck and hit the spot. To our surprise we were given passes by the nice DNA guy at the security. God bless him with 5 kids. ( Though we told him we owe you one :-)

The competition was organized at the picturesque Durgam Cheruvu Secret Lake. I don't know if they call it the secret lake because of the secrecy it provides to the couples in the rocks around the lake area or because of its geographical presence due to which you don't see it until you are there. But I digress. They had constructed a cool backdrop against the rocks. Hero Hondo and Hutch banners were visible almost everywhere. No complaints there, "Who sponsors rock shows in India, dude?" Go Here Honda and Hutch. I think I will shift from Airtel to Hutch and from Maruti 800 to Splendor ( I am kinda fed up with my 800 coz its erratic behaviour. I don't know but she starts behaving real crazy in winter. Maybe its the cold. I think I have a topic for my next post. I digress again. )

The show started with a band from Vizag performing "Hotel California" to everyones surprise. Things are changing guys. No one performs Eagles nowadays. Definitely not in campus rock competition. You perform song by either a band with name ending in TERA e.g. : Pantera, Sepultera or a band people would have never heard of like Cannibal Corpse, Children of Bodom etc. As expected things got real heavy after the first band's performance and my friend who is not much into rock, seriously felt that the singer from the second band had problems with his throat and should consult an ENT Specialist. But his doubts faded away as all the bands started showing signs of the same disorder.

Albeit the music everyone played cannot be exactly called mainstream rock ( which I am into ) it really showcased the raw talent we have in the younger generation. Worth mentioning were Native Toungue, Wreckage and History Makers( these are the names of rock bands incase you are wondering). Nowadays guys are more into death and other genres of metal. I don't listen to much of it. It scares me actually. I have attended rock shows by Parikrama, Euphoria (Yes, they play rock if you don't know) and other bands and most of them play classic rock. Times are changing, and now you hardly hear a band playing Van Halen, Floyd, Doors or a LedZep number. For that matter, I have never heard an Indian band playing any LedZep song. Man, they were real good. Maybe it has got something to do with the capabilities. Infact Metallica frontman once told in an interview, "If we can come up with a song that is half as good as any of Zepps, we would have visited Mecca, These guys are up there where everone else can only dream of to be". Digress.

After the performance by the college bands the main act was by Synapse and Sledge. They made some great noise. Worth mentioning is Synapse's front man. This guy has got terrific voice. Way to go. By the end of the show I was really tired from all the shouting and jumping around. Anyways, I felt really good after the show and the rocker in me was inspired to write this post. Keep the spirit of Rock n Roll alive guys.