Rock on a roll

A non-stop barrage of percussion and piercing guitar licks -- Pune once again had these in plenty.

Rock dominated the scene but other genres of music like punk, electronica and conscious dance music also had Puneites swaying to the beats this year

A non-stop barrage of percussion and piercing guitar licks 8212; Pune once again had these in plenty. When in 2008, the city head-banged in to rock, the faith for the genre once more got reinforced amongst rock lovers. And when the city8217;s very own S.I.L.V.E.R won the I-Rock finals in Mumbai, Pune once again rightfully put its claim forward for being the rock capital of the country. But it was not only rock that dominated the music scene in the city. Where rock as usual thrived on the appetite of its aficionados, new genres too had their fair share of listeners.

The month of August had Puneites swinging to a completely new genre of music fusing rock, punk, electronica, jazz and concious dance music to create a healthy concoction of soul-stirring sounds that apart from setting your feet in motion also levitates your soul to a level where music resurrects the real you. The band Shaayir and Func was the one to introduce conscious dance music to Puneites this year. Defining the genre, Shaair said, 8220;Conscious dance music is music that makes people politically, socially and most importantly, musically aware of where the world is today.8221;

August also was the month which had uncontrived romps converted into new styles and a vivacious blend of hip-hop, jazz, salsa, funk reggae, and world music making Puneites indulge in the melody of the trumpet.

One among the short but important roster of female trumpet players across the globe, Saskia Laroo regaled Puneites with her signature style.

With bands contesting for great Indian rock coming to the city for performances, the city once again head banged into rock. Zodiac, the contesting band for great Indian rock performed in the city bringing the fervour of GIR to the music lovers.

When Nine won the Join The Fight Battle of Bands competition in October rock struck again but in a completely new form. These youngsters stood up to widen the consciousness on AIDS through music and were the only Hindi rock band among the eight participants.

Story continues below this ad

Also, in December, the city crooned to the tunes of old jazz era. The Small Orchestra Swing of France came into existence after a jam session between Laurent Zeller, violinist and the guitarist Gilles Parodi. The passion for Jazz and French songs associated with the rhythms and the colours with the swing Manouche brought the three musicians of different backgrounds together. Blending their differences to create magic the quintet since has been together reviving renditions of the old jazz era of the 1930 and performed in the city in December.

Vijay Joshi of Retro Legendary Act views 2008 as a year that welcomed different genres of music. 8220;Rock did not drown out other music forms. We saw a good audience for different other genres of music as well. The music lovers were spoilt for choice as a lot of new artistes came to perform in the city,8221; he sums up.