Finally the rock season in Ahmedabad kicked off with a rock competition organized by Nirma University at their campus. The competition featured eight bands including bands from pune and kolkatta. It was great to see the stage setup that the organizers provided for the band. Good lighting systems and a well laid out stage meant the bands had a great feel of being on stage. Though the sound system was not upto mark, it still was the best we have across all shows so far. Each of the bands were given 20 minutes on stage including 5 minute for sound check (which i believe is very less). Though not all of the eight bands were impressive and hence will probably layout notable highlights of the shows.

The competition kicked off with a performance by SACRED, who covered deep purple and ACDC before following up with their original song. The band had a bad sound check it seems since the guitars were very high on treble, but the vocalist made up for it though his high pitch vocals. Looking forward to hearing a more improved performance of the band soon.

Next up were the school boys of SWEET BLAME who with their Punk rock energy brought the audience to their feet. Great stage act and a very tight performance was maybe let down by some of the singing but well at their age i was couldn’t even draw a guitar let alone play it so hats off to the band. Loved watching them play \m/

WRANGLER, a band from kolkatta, played at the fourth slot. The band were the first “metal” band of the evening with a very unique sound. The singer showed great vocal abilities with clean as well as growling vocals. Though the band started slow with their performance, they soon kicked into top gear and the sight of all the band members aligning themselves for headbanging in total synch was a sight to watch. And just when the music paused for a second or so, the guitarist came up with a scratching sound, much similar to that of disc scratching by a DJ which really got the crowd moving. A great performance is all i can say.

After Wrangler, there were three other bands who went on stage but really failed to impress the crowd as well as the judges due to sound issues. However the last band that went on stage, Highway 61 from pune, made it worth while for all those who were standing till the end. Though most of the crowd had dispersed, the singer was able to pull to gather the remaining people near stage before starting the show. The band went on to play an all Originals list, their songs falling into Sufi Rock. Strong and moving urdu lyrics matched up with a very tight performance on stage, meant the crowd had a great time and its very rare to have the crowd chanting “once more” for bands at 11 30 pm on a cold winter evening that too at a rock show. Highway 61 were probably the perfect ending to a good rock night at the city.

At the end of the competition, there were only two bands who were practically in the running for the winners’ prize and it was not a surprise when WRANGLER were announced winners for the night with Highway 61 in runners up spot. A well deserved prize for the band from kolkatta for their tight performance and even for highway 61 who were i would say at par with the winners.

Great night for rock lovers in the city and hopefully we will have such shows more to enjoy good live rock music.

Cheers

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