25 years is a bloody long time. I am not even that old. And consider 23+ people to be ancient and mostly un-cool.

But when a music festival like the Independence Rock lasts that long, there is probably nothing un-cool about it.

 “When we started out it was by accident and we didn’t know if we would do it the next year leave alone 25 years” - Frahad Wadia

I-Rock celebrated it’s 25th anniversary this year and the Whackk! Team was there in person(s) to witness the epic-ness with a bunch of their peeps.

With a humongous turnout of 6000 people (everybody and their “makkhi” was there – according to Scribe – and why not, it was FREE) this was the biggest I-Rock in terms of turnout. We give you an akhon dekha haal of India’s Woodstock - Independence Rock XXV

They started off with a Sanskrit shloka and made everyone go WTF? The bottles soon started flying, but their spirits remained stead fast. Kudos to them for finishing their set even after coming under a LOT of criticism and boo-ing by the crowd.
And a slap across the face of the crowd (wish I could actually do that) for their un-sporting spirit.

But, yeah, next time they better come around with a better set of songs and more energy.

After the downer that was Pralay came Scribe. Along with them came all the madness and the energy. The crowd went mad.

The mosh pits madder.

The crazy antics of Vishwesh (vocals) had the crowd wanting for more. They called the members of Bhayanak Maut on stage and had a spontaneous air jamming session. The stage was full of crazy metal heads and the energy flowing through the arena was bloody mind blowing!

Watch the video below from 0:51. You'll understand what I am saying.

These guys got the biggest welcome of all. DR is one of the biggest bands on the metal scene and it showed by the kind of reception they recieved.

They wasted no time by calling for the mosh and the shockingly synchronised hair grind (for a better idea check out the indian temples where Matas enter into maidens’ bodies) :P

Nonetheless, the fans got what they’d been waiting for, Power-Metal.

DR has been performing at I-Rock for a few years now. Sahil Makhja ( aka Demonstealer aka Semen-dealer), the lead , on the experience at the 25th anniversary : “It was amazing, nothing like the feeling of 6000 people screaming, moshing, raising their fists in the air. In terms of audience turnout it definitely was better then last year”

A relatively unknown act, it meant the crowd could rest on the ground till they did the soundcheck. Then they started, and everyone stood up and took notice. Yes, that was a metaphor too!

A cheesy name, three guys only on guitars, no vocals.. only mad riffs. We instantly knew we had to know more about them in person. And do we always get what we want? Hell yes! 

Only the MI2 cover could have avoided, too cliched. Rest of it, too damn good! No less can be expected when you have Chandresh Kudwa (Freedom, Dream Out Loud), Dhruv Ghanekar (Chakraview) and Ravi Iyer (Witchhammer) jamming and killing it together on stage!

This was probably the highlight of the show. Warren Mendonsa took to the stage, funny accent notwithstanding, killed it! Johan Pais, Sid Coutto and Shazneen gave him some commendable support and it was all Paisa Vasool (although none was invovled) for the spectators. Shazneen specially shone on the vocals. “He's one of my fav guitarists. Warren and I have been band-mates in Zero and Three guys And A Girl, hence the "way back" association. Sharing the stage with him has always been super fun.” says the full of energy singer.

The cherry on the cake was the arrival of much known bollywood composers Ehsaan Noorani (guitar) and Loy Mendonsa (keyboard). The melodies were flowing, and Mr Farhad Wadia (organiser of I-Rock) possibly couldn’t have chosen a better moment to grab the microphone. And then, he sang ‘Simple Man’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Wow! ‘Hey jude’ and ‘Let it be’ quickly followed and Mr Wadia had made a bigger impact than his physique. *Bowing Down*.

It was unbelievable, the clockwork like accuracy with which the time slots given on the passes were being followed.

Indus Creed had a few brilliant acts before them, and its never easy to match up to covers by originals when it comes to Indian Concerts. But IC were unfazed. They took to the stage with every note saying “been there, done that!”. Some really good beats and melodies kept coming.

Mad is how Uday Benegal of Indus Creed describes their experience on stage, "But that's always been integral to I-Rock. A lot of insanity...but also a lot of fun. And good-mad energies flying all over the place."

For Indus Creed, who are in their 'come-back' phase this was the most memorable edition of I-Rock, "mainly because it was a great 'homecoming'. Also because the vibe between the band and the audience was perfect, we couldn't have asked for better."

Just when one thought this was the perfect finale, guess who pooped the paty--> Mamu Log!!

The cops played spoilsport,yet again! The crowd started off with the chants of ‘BC MC’. It was quite a sight to see Farhad Wadia argue with the mamus though, so IC could finish their last song. But all that to no avail.

Although Uday thinks this was the 'cherry on the cake' for them - "the cops showing up on stage again, just like old times. Almost brought a tear to my eye."

He would like for the cops to head down to Ganpatiphule,"for some nice r & r so that we can enjoy our own r'n'r."

The Mumbai crowd signed off with the National Anthem. A befitting end to an epic night!

Independence Rock : Keep it coming! \m/

You might be wondering why we did not write anything about them. Well, blame the organisers for that. For a change, I-Rock kicked off in time, something we were not expecting at all. So we went after chilling out a little and landed up just before the Pralay performance. Shiatch.

We blame you Mr. Wadia.