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September 11 might remind the world of a
tragedy; not so for the hundreds gathered at the NSE grounds
in Goregaon, Mumbai, on Saturday. It was difficult to tell
who was working up more sweat at the national finals of the
Campus Rock Idols — the bands, or the crowds. Headbanging,
humming, swaying and dancing, the performers under the stage
lights and the audience gyrated as an almost indistinguishable
mass of bodies.
“Indian rock has come into its own, I can finally say
that,” said Sanjay Maroo, singer and drummer and one
of the originals members of Indus Creed. Maroo was one of
the four judges at the national finals. The event was organised
by DNA Networks, an event-management company.
The huge distance of the venue from the centre of the city
did not keep away music lovers, who turned up in droves. And
this was an audience that definitely knew its mind: it clearly
wanted metal of the likes of Metallica, Mega Death and Iron
Maiden, not the Santana variety of music that one of the bands
tried to play.
The first band — Super Fuzz Big Muff, runner-up in the
North region finals — seemed to have trouble connecting
with the audience. Guitarist Nikhil blamed organisers for
not giving the band time to tune up, while drummer Aman claimed
that sound was bad.
That sounded like sour grapes seeing how the second act of
the day, the five-member Synapse from Bangalore, set the crowd
on fire with its great music and energy. Synapse finished
first runner-up at the competition.
Judge Narendra Kusnur, from Mid-Day, said that the bands were
judged both on their music and their performance on stage
and interaction with the crowd. He was highly impressed with
some of the original numbers played.
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