Independence Rock XXII Day 2

You know, when you are walking to the iRock venue, its always a special feeling… black tees in abundance, chicks and the excitement in the air, so thick, you can slice it with a knife, if you so wished.

When I walked in, Dream Out Loud were playing their set. What I noticed first, was the sound.. After so long, was a gig sounding this good.. Kudos, SoundMen! DOL were playing their OC’s in full force. Thunderous vocals and good guitaring by the South Indian man, Chandresh.(actually only one solo impressed me..) They were good, but the crowd wanted some more energetic stuff and were in no mood for alt-stuff. But they left in style when Chandresh played the Indian National Anthem on his guitar. Everybody stood straight for a change.

Them Clones were up next and i was expecting them to do something different after watching them at iRock 2006 and Livewire 2006. But it was the exact same thing with their OC’s, RATM’s Killin’ In The Name Of etc etc I was plesantly surprised when they played Stupefy by Disturbed. I’m not much of a Disturbed fan, but I loved their cover. A mosh pit erupted and the vocalist had to say that “Bombay moshpits are the best in the country” \\m/.

I absolutely loved it when they played Zephyrreta. Really soothing. But the crowd was filled with metalheads and they really were in no mood to listen to Them Clones’s brand of music. They ended with their hugely popular “My Life”. Everybody was being conservative and saving their calories for PDV.

I went to this year’s iRock only to see what havoc they wreck in an open air venue with around 5k people.The anticipation reached a crazy high when they touched the stage. They opened with Get ‘em Off, and that signalled the initiation of India’s biggest mosh pit. Madness!! It was huge enough to swallow everybody right in. Everyone banged their heads off their music. I wouldnt be too surprised to see someone getting minor spondilytis after PDV gigs.. And oh, the liquor shops near the venue must have had quite a killing that day.. ha ha!

Apart from their OC’s, they played covers of Chimara’s Powertrip and Machine Head’s Davidian. I’m pretty sure they goofed up somewhere, i just dont remember which part they skipped. But the drumming this time was spot on. Veeru was sounding absolutely thunderous. \\m/ PDV’s set felt really short and I sincerely wished they could play some more.

Up next were Dinos of Rock. I didnt like what they did last year, but 2 mins into their set and I wanted to see every song they played this time. They felt quite tight this time and played all the covers a classic-rock fan would want. Pink Floyd, Led Zep, U2, Queen etc etc.. they covered it all. It was so freaking soothing man!! You sincerely need this kinda music after some heavy metal!

Pervez (what a Floyd-y voice on the cover of Coming Back To Life), Shazneen, Farhad (Bin Laden, cootchie mootchie…LOL!!) and the others really put up a brilliant show. Special mention to Shazneen, she really is the best singer i’ve heard on the Mumbai rock scene! What a psychedellic voice!! Gary Lawyer, unfortunately couldnt quite play his complete set, due to time restrictions set by our very own Mumbai Police.

On my way out, I purchased the PDVCD and a copy of Pentagram Its Ok, Its All Good(review coming soon). All in all it was a good gig, I only wish there was some more metal. But then, this is iRock not iMetal, so Thank You For The Music!

I give the gig a 8/10, what about you?(use the poll below to vote)

Also vote for your band of the day

For pics head to (This is Ashwin Sharma’s FaceBook gallery)

Day 1 Gallery 1 Gallery 2

Day 2 Gallery 1 Gallery 2