Come January 9 and the nation's capital will witness three of its most spectacular bands of yesteryears come together in a one-of-a-kind musical extravaganza. Reunion Rock India or ReRock is a one-night-only special concert at the Garden of Five Senses in New Delhi and will take older connoisseurs back in time while introducing younger music lovers to the history of rock music in India.
Featuring Electric Plant (1978 – 1982), White Fang (1980 – 1983) and Applied For (1980 – 1983), the three legendary bands will be joined by the newly formed and appropriately titled, Unfinished Biz.
ReRock II is presented by Airtel in association with Silhouette, the arts wing of the YP Foundation.
Amitanshu Das, filmmaker/educator and guitarist for White Fang and Unfinished Biz, describes the ReRock community as one that honours the dedication and passion of musicians who gave music their best.
“ReRock is ideally a reunion concert of some of the bands that defined the landscape of music in Delhi during the 70s and 80s. These bands have never been really appreciated or recognised and this is a venture to give them their due credit,” he stresses.
The second annual concert in succession, ReRock II will be a must-listen for both young and old. “ReRock I got a tremendous response necessitating this second edition and made us realise that there is a group of people who are been ignored by current trends in music that is catering to a younger generation. This was an opportunity for them to experience their kind of music,” adds Das.
“This is a time for everyone to have some fun and enjoy. It is not just the nostalgia for old favourites but also about fresh original compositions by the performing bands of which Unfinished Biz is an important element.”
Pioneers
Unfinished Biz is a trans-continental, trans-generational Indian rock band and has Amitanshu Das (guitars), Bann Roy (bass, vocals), Tony George (vocals), Abhinav Dhar (drums), Vinayak Gupta (keyboards) and Obed Zeme (guitars).
Das says the highlight is the performance by Electric Plant. “No other band has influenced the rock scene in Delhi like they have. They were the pioneers in producing their own shows and were one of the first to play songs of Dire Straits, White Snake among other legends.” Electric Plant comprises Arun Sharma (drums), Varun Sharma (guitars, vocals) and Pradip Chaudhri (bass).
White Fang is Amitanshu Das (guitars), Gautam Ghosh (vocals), Tehruna ‘Abe' Meresh (keyboard), Sharad Tyagi (drums), Rahul Ram (bass vocals) and Sudipto Pakrasi (vocals). From humble beginnings the band rose to the pinnacle of rock music during its time and also featured ‘Abe' the first woman rock keyboardist in Delhi!
For Bann Roy, filmmaker and vocalist / bass guitarist for Applied For and Unfinished Biz, coming together after almost a decade is a thrilling revival of his younger days. “The tenor of the band remains the same. The same laughter, mood, dynamics and tone but personally I believe we have evolved musically to sound more sophisticated and developed a quantum of difference in the quality of music that we play now. The only other difference is our paunches of course,” he laughs.
Applied For consists of Tony George (vocals), Niren Chaudhary (guitar, vocals), Bann Roy (bass, vocals), Sharad Tyagi (drums), Deepak Castellino (guitars) and Sudipto Pakrasi (vocals). Unlike other bands during their time, Applied For played peppy pop songs, which made them extremely popular.
On the audience appeal, Roy says, “The new audience will hear some really good music from guys who don't look like they can make that kind of music.
“Of course the young musicians will show technical and professional interest in our music since it all started with us.
“But a majority of our audience will be older, from our generation. This is the bunch who have buried the youth in them. We want to rekindle the rebellion; the cultural phenomenon of our time; the spirit of Rock ‘n' Roll within them. Though music is in the forefront, the event is bigger than what it seems and will be unique as we can relive the artiste within us and carry that message to our audience that the music lover within them never dies,” he adds.
