Rockers on a new roll
Members of band, Astitva
When Firaaq was asked to perform at a mall in Rohtak recently, the band members were a bit skeptical about the rock scene in the town. However, as the band took the stage, within five minutes they were taken aback by the response. “The crowd didn’t fade out, but just kept growing.
It couldn’t have been better,” says Salil Sardana, the lead guitarist and manager at Firaaq — The Band.
And it’s not just Rohtak that surprised the music band. There are many places like Panipat, Jalandhar, Agartala, Naukuchiatal, Vadodara, Ambala and Amdavad, which were not earlier seen as rock music destinations, where many city-based rock bands are now having a whale of a time.
The Rohtak gig that was supposed to be two-hour long continued for five hours, says Salil. “Because the audience kept asking for more. Now we are gearing up for more performances in Rohtak colleges,” he says.
Adds Ayush Gupta, drummer and percussionist from Astitva band, “The suburbs have many engineering and management colleges and the young crowd is amazing there. We recently performed in Panipat, where the audience sang along, frantically headbanged and did air guitaring, as they kept asking for more,” says Ayush.
To this, Amit Kilam, drummer and vocalist from Indian Ocean band, adds that rock festivals are also increasing in these places. “In the last three years, about 60 percent rock festivals have increased in the country and music bands from Delhi are performing practically everywhere. Not just one-time festivals but recurring festivals like The Escape Festival in Uttarakhand and Strom Jam Music Festival in the hills of Coorg, that are also a part of travel tourism, have become an annual affair,” says Amit.
The band recently performed at Aqua Jam in Naukuchiatal, which is also going to be an annual event. The popularity of rock music in these places amuses Parikrama’s lead singer Nitin Malik. “We recently performed in Amdavad, Gujarat, and will soon be performing in Agartala. The audience there understands rock music and can prove to be instrumental in uplifting the rock front,” says Nitin.
Though it is still hard to get sponsors there, he adds. “Finding sponsors for rock shows has always been hard. Though for our show in Panipat, we managed to get sponsors and this is a sign that there is definitely a considerable audience at places other than just metros,” adds Ayush.
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