CHENNAI'S ROCK FEST TAKES A BOW

Those who have the idea that the rock music scene in Chennai is not much to talk about, can think again!  Thanks to June Rock Out, the scores of rock fans in the city of Chennai had finally found the place where they experienced the rock culture, in a way that only good rock concerts could offer.  The past four weeks saw some of the best rock bands rocking a crowd of more than 3000.  The grand finale was no different, if not more intense - be it the music, the crowd or the sheer energy that seemed to envelop just about everybody. 

No Idea was the opening band for the evening.  Known for their versatility the band opened with a peppy rendition of Pearl Jam's 'Jeremy' and got the crowd head banging right away.  Their rendition of No Doubt's 'Don't Speak', 'You outta know' by Alanis Morissette, Van Halen's 'Right Now' and Cranberries 'Zombie', carried the same high-powered energy level, right through their last song.  Nandita on the vocals, bassist Mahiar, guitarists Aum and Donny and drummer Rodney gave a killer performance.  Just before their final song, Nandita gave away the precision bass guitar from Tansen to the winner of the 'Best Lyrics for the JRO theme song' contest conducted by the Vineyard Centre.  The contest was won by Thomas Abraham's 'Sea of Faces' with lines like 'I guess this is where I actually belong, cos' what's within me and what I see are in perfect harmony, And I see...'.  The song will be featured in the soon to be recorded 'June Rock Out' album.

Then it was time for Chennai's best to get on stage.  Moksha took the stage and stole the limelight once again with their electrifying performance and proved why they are acclaimed as the city's top band.  Be it on the vocals with Leon, Christy on the lead, Allen on the guitar, Ranjith on the drums, Timmy on the keyboard and their newest member Mario on the bass, the band exhibited quality, attitude and style that few bands have today.

They started with some heavy-fuelled numbers like Iron Maiden's 'Fear of the Dark', 'Kick start my heart' from Motley Crew, AC/DC's 'Shook me all night long', Europe's 'Danger on the track', 'Rock u like a hurricane' from Scorpions.  Their rendition of slow rock was a blast too, with Metallica's 'Nothing else matters', Floyd's 'Comfortably numb' and the likes.

For those who have heard Moksha play live before, saw Christy at his best with his maturity, poise and class, which was captivating to say the least.  Leon had the crowd in the palm of his hands with his funny gimmicks and the crowd loved him for that.  Allen played comfortably well on the guitars, while Ranjith just went on and on and on.  Nothing could stop them!  Timmy paid fitting tribute to Deep Purple's medley by the band.  Though it was his first time with the band, Mario was tight with the bass.

During the short break, the second of the prize guitars was given away.  This time it was for the lucky winner of the raffle, P Bharath Ram, who walked away with a Lotus strat model sponsored by Pro Music and Unwind Music.

JRO may be taking a bow, but that does not mean the action has ended at the Vineyard Centre.  Live 1o1 takes the stage at the Vineyard Centre and its time to create your own space at the weekly Friday night hangout.

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