Rock And Roll Town

It’s been a while since talk first began about Delhi’s first Hard Rock Café (HRC) that opened on Wednesday night on the first floor of DLF Place Mall in Saket,spread across over 7000 sq ft. True to its rock image,on night one,the Café swung to classics like Pink Floyd’s Wish you were here and Dire Straits’ Sultans of swing,quintessential Hard Rock numbers. “It took us time to find the right location in Delhi,hence the delay,” said Amit Keswani,vice-president,sales and marketing of JSM Corp Pvt Ltd,who’ve now opened the fourth Hard Rock Café in India,after Mumbai,Bangalore and Pune. “The similarity between all HRCs is the special space for live shows and that each of them have a standard cover of 200 people (sitting). But the difference between them is their décor which is exclusive to each city,depending on the location,” says Keswani and adds that Delhi’s HRC can accommodate up to 800 people in a concert format. But some things don’t change for Hard Rock,like the rock memorabilia that hangs from the cafes wall. Delhi’s list of such memorabilia includes Elvis’ brown suede jacket,John Lennon’s 19th century eastern robe,Maroon 5’s brown Gibson SG guitar used by Adam Levine and Seal’s rosewood acoustic guitar with the mother of pearl inlays on the neck. “These are all original memorabilia and everything about HRC is as authentic as it is expected to be,” says Keswani.

With the special space for performances by Indian and international artists,live nights every Thursday are going to be free of any cover charge for months to come. “We want musicians to perform at the Café. And though the live nights are restricted to just once a week for now,we will further it to two days—Tuesdays and Thursdays—soon,” says Keswani,who adds that it’s only the Mumbai Café that charges a cover of Rs 150 during live gigs. With a South African rock act Crime Circle,readying for a four-city tour in August,HRC has set the ball rolling for Delhi.

Next on their list is Hyderabad,which until now,had a Hard Rock Bar at its airport. “Hyderabad will get its Café by August,” smiles Keswani. But for now Delhi’s got a reason to rock.