Mumbai: The rock music festival, ‘Independence Rock’, a.k.a. ‘I-Rock’, is set to get a fresh lease on life, as it’s coming back after nine long years. The fest unveiled its line-up of 10 bands on Thursday for the upcoming edition to reclaim its history and legacy.
The line-up includes a mix of seasoned and new-age artists from the Indian rock circuit. Pentagram (whose frontman is Vishal Dadlani) will take the stage along with the 1990s band Zero, which is making its comeback to the ‘I-Rock’ stage.
The pioneers of rock music in the country, Indus Creed, will also be performing at the event.
Also returning to the stage with their high-energy performance are Parikrama, whose debut song ‘Xerox’ was named “the face of Indian rock.” Kashmiri-origin band Parvaaz, will join the fray with its unique sound influenced by psychedelic rock, alongside The F16s of “Triggerpunkte” fame.
Post-rock band aswekeepsearching will join the line-up for a cathartic yet immersive audio-visual experience, while Folk metal band Bloodywood is all geared for the delivery of their Hindi-Punjabi chorus, unforgiving rap verses and ethnic instrumentation.
Avial, which includes Rex Vijayan, and are well-known for pioneering ‘alternative Malayali rock’, and Thaikkudam Bridge, the biggest breakout band to emerge from India, will set all our adrenaline racing with their energetic, mosh-inducing acts.
Discovering talent in the rock scene is the hallmark of the festival, its previous editions have played a significant role in bringing up bands like Demonic Resurrection, Bhayanak Maut, Motherjane and Mohan Kannan’s Agnee.
In line with its tradition of providing a platform for future headliners, ‘I-Rock’ is conducting an online country-wide band hunt for emerging artistes. The winning band will get an opportunity to open for this year’s fest.
Re-christened as ‘Mahindra Independence Rock’, ‘I-Rock’ will be held on November 5 and 6 at Princess Dock in Mumbai’s Mazgaon area.
–IANS
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