I-Rock comes to Pune

Watch Swastika, Point Blank and other Rock bands fight it out at the I-Rock regional finals to be held today

Watch Swastika, Point Blank and other Rock bands fight it out at the I-Rock regional finals to be held today

Independence Rock or I-Rock as it is popularly known is all set to rock Pune today. This is the 26th year of the festival, which has been a platform for many bands including Brute Force, Vertigo and Sceptre. Some of the leading Rock bands in the country have made their debut at this festival and have gone on to achieve great success. Indus Creed, Brahma, Zero, Pentagram, Gary Lawyer, Parikrama, Zero, Scribe, Demonic Resurrection and Agni are a few of them. This year too, Rock lovers in Pune can expect a smashing performance from bands like Swastika and Point Blanc.



Varun from Swastika says, "We are going to play our originals; Goddess, Maybe tomorrow, Windows and an instrumental track. We actually stopped going for competitions and concentrated on our gigs. The last competition we did was the Hard Rock Calling: London. So we are just going to I-Rock to enjoy ourselves and have a great time with the crowd." Arjun from Point Blanc adds, "We have grown up watching bands like Swastika. So, we expect stiff competition. We are hoping to have a good time and although we haven't really interacted with the other bands I'm sure they expect the same."

Pravin Bell one of the judges at I-Rock tells us about the criteria he is going to judge the participants on. "Initially covers were big on the competition circuit but now originals seem to have garnered the attention of performers. I will be looking at the holistic picture. I want to see a typical character of the band," he says. When asked how competitive is it going to be he jokes, "Oh! They are out to get each other. They are powerful bands and they are young and energetic bands and the competition should be as energetic." There is also a Wild Card Entry which closes on November 21 for MTS Red energy Independence Rock XXVI.

On November 10, 7 pm onwards
At Hard Rock Cafe, Koregaon Park.