Hornbill Festival 2009

An overview of Nagaland:

Nagaland is a state of diverse tribal culture & a land of festivals. It’s a narrow strip of mountainous territory with rugged hills, emerald valleys, sparkling streams and a rich variety of flora and fauna, the 16th State of the Indian Union has salubrious climate throughout the year

Nagaland represents unimaginable beauty, moulded perfectly for a breathtaking experience. For the adventurous, the State is an ideal place for trekking and jungle camping and offers limitless possibilities for exploring its lush sub-tropical rainforests, which are a treasure trove of medicinal plants. The 20-lakh-strong Naga people, by nature, are fun lovers, and life in Nagaland is one long festival.

Each of the 16+ major tribes and many sub-tribes in the State has its own way of maintaining its distinctive cultural traditions and customs, through various forms of performing arts, which are an integral part of Naga festivals. Each of the tribal communities that dwell in the hills can be distinguished by the colourful and intricately designed costumes, jewellery and beads that its members wear. The traditional ceremonial attire of each tribe is different from that of the other. There are the multi-coloured spears and daos decorated with dyed goat's hair, the headgear made of finely woven bamboo interlaced with orchid stems and adorned with boar's teeth and hornbill's feathers, and ivory armlets. In the olden days, warriors had to prove their valour if they wanted to wear these.

One of the many dances of the Nagas displaying their rich cultural heritage.

Naga damsels in their rich cultural ethinic wear.

A brief insight about The Hornbill festival:

The Hornbill Festival is a rich inter-tribal cultural festival held in Nagaland since 2000, the festival is named after the state bird “Hornbill” which is a 7 day annual festivity observed during the 1^st week of December to mark the stunning natural beauty and to sustain the rich cultural heritage of the varied tribes by calling a rich fare to tourists, during its event, the Naga artists present their traditional arts in the form of paintings, wood carvings, sculptures etc., Naga troupes perform various dances, sing folk songs and play games. Music concert is also organised during its event which is one of the most integral aspects of the event.

One of the many Naga tribes with their traditional attire ...notice the Hornbill feathers on their headgears

Another Naga tribe in The Hornbill Festival.

Naga warriors mimicing a dance fight amomgst themselves.

The 7 day Hornbill festival displays various facets of Naga life and culture. The Hornbill festival 2009 was held from December 01^st ‘09 to December 07^th ’09 in the amphitheatre of Kisama Heritage village, Kohima, which took all the tourists through their rich cultural dances and feats; during its festival, The state observed its 4 day long integral event: the “Hornbill National Rock Contest “ and as many as 19 bands from 6 states participated to bag the prizes.

A band from national capital, Delhi, took part in the four day Hornbill National Rock contest, 2009.

Please find below the names of the bands from each state –

1)Nagaland - Demenitia , Melodrama ,OFF, Sunep Assemble Band , Incipit ,Kronik and Eastern Hatz.

2) Manipur: Kanglasha and Cleave.

3) West Bengal – Kalika, Baraka, Cyncial Recess, Silverscreen, and Kaivaalya.

4) Assam - Harmonic Curtains and Lucid Recess.

5) Meghayala - Pip Of the Fourth Mother

6) Arunachal Pradesh - Church OV Blood

7) Hypnosis – New Delhi

(The Verbs from Meghalaya won the Hornbill National Rock Contest, 2008 but didn’t participate in 2009)

Nagaland’s ‘OFF’ band won the title and cash amount of Rs.5 lakh presented by Airtel.

Hypnosis from New Delhi was placed second and won Rs.1.5 lakh

while Kaivaalya from Kolkata was placed third and also won cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh.

All the cash prizes were sponsored by Airtel.

Ironically the ‘OFF’ band doesn’t have its portfolio in the Google yet; after winning 5 lacs they should have had been making news, pictures and waves for fame and popularity in the internet world but they seem to be very immature to use their platform to achieve further accomplishments. Many other bands participating in this festival were new and a very few band profiles are present in the internet world. Nevertheless, I managed to dig up some which I have written it in words and the rest are in pictures…….

One of the many contestants 'Lucid Recess' in the Hornbill rock fest '09

Local state contestant 'Dementia' from Dimapur.

Thank you! :-)

Rock and Roll Origination

Rock and Roll is a genre of popular music that evolved from the blues scale in the United States, after World War II in the late 1940s, from the African American culture, Rock and Roll did not acquire its name until the 1950’s. An early form of rock and roll was rockabilly, which combined country and jazz.

The term "rock and roll" now has at least two different meanings – rock and roll as synonymous with rock music or specifically to the music of the 1950s with the combination of blues, country and jazz.

In the earliest rock and roll styles of the late 1940s and early 1950s, either the piano or saxophone was often the lead instrument, but these were generally replaced by guitar in the middle of late 1950s and gradually classic rock and roll came into the picture, Classic rock and roll is usually played with one or two electric guitars, an electric bass guitar and a drum kit.

The massive popularity and worldwide view of rock and roll, went on to spawn various sub-genres, commonly called "rock music" or "rock".

Alan Freed.

In the mid 1950’s, people like Elvis Presley (singer/musician), and Alan Freed (disc jockey and concert producer of rock and roll) had made rockabilly popular.

"Rock and Roll" is a river of music that has absorbed many streams: rhythm and blues, jazz, rag time, cowboy songs, country songs, folk songs. All have contributed to the big beat.

Oh! I bet you know who this is!

The 7 Sister's Rock & Roll Fest 09 (review)

THE 7 SISTERS ROCK N’ ROLL FEST' 2009 was a 2 day rock & roll gig on the14th & 15th of Nov '09 held @ Foodcourt Open Terrace, Saket (New Delhi). I could only attend the show on the 14th due to time constraints. Many bands from North-east participated in the show; The gig was supposed to begin at 5.30 pm but as usual owing to the sound check and other technical arrangement, it was delayed by an hour behind. People were gradually moving in, the climate was favorable and pleasant. Everything was perfectly set-up except for a good anchor to keep the audience connected with the on-going progression and the show throughout.

The sponsorer’s provided a common drum-kit to be used all through the gig & all other equipments & gadgets were to be carried by Individual participating bands. Eventually, the gig began at around 6.30 pm, I think the first band to come on stage were “Survival Existence” from Delhi; good vocals but did not have the potential showmanship for what it should have been as an opening band. Next, came “The Mangalz” an Arunachali hindi hard rock band, they lifted the ambience with their own compositions and hard riffs; good music but no showmanship, greatly inhibited to address the crowd. Subsequently, the band which dominated the stage were “Blends” a very hard/death metal from Mizoram, good growling vocals, good showmanship, good confidence of the vocalist however I did not understand if they sang their own covers or played some other bands songs but I enjoyed. On the other hand a decent crowd of around 500 people gathered for the small show. A small crew from NDTV came to cover and record the show. Anyway, In the last song of the Blends, Boomarang’s vocalist united with the band and gave a very outstanding performance while the crowd formed a small mosh in front of the stage which was the only mosh in the entire gig. Next band to come on-stage were “Dark Horizon” a hard-rock band from Assam (Haflong), If I knew any song and had enjoyed a lot, were with this band cause they played & sang songs which I knew. They sang real concert-songs like ‘we will rock you’, ‘big gun’, ‘back in black’ etc which had head banging & feet moving tempos; their over all performance and showmanship was terrific. The last band to come on-stage was “The Bridge” a very old, hard rock trio band from Manipur, I’d say the man of the show was the vocalist of ‘The Bridge’ who not only sang remarkably but also played astounding lead guitars and the rhythm guitars, all in one go.

The stage.

"The Mangalz" a hindi rock band from Arunachal.

Bassist of the Manipur band " The bridge".

The Bridge's vocalist.

The Bridge band in action.

'The Mangalz' playing their own covers.

'The Mangalz' a hindi hard rock band.

I guess this is "Survival Existence".

An aerial view of Select City walk at night from DLF place, 2nd floor at Saket.

shaking or head -banging?.... I dunno.

Bassist of the band "Dark Horizon" from Assam.

Dark Horizon.... brilliant performance & showmanship.

Happened to be my favourite band..... after they sang songs like 'big gun', 'back in black' etc.

The crowd was decently strong..... around 500.

The crowd relaxing while another band prepares to get on stage.

The crowd stands up again after the new band takes the stage ..... ready to rock anf head-bang.

This is "Blends" from Mizoram.

The crowd goes wild.

Undoubtedly, they were a very heavy good rock band.

Vocalist of 'Blend' had a good showmanship skills.... in one of his skills; interacting with the crowd.

Guitarist of "Dark Horizon", check out the rock n' roll get-up of early 90's look... long hair, loose T-shirt, skin fitted denims & high ankled shoes with the Gibson in hand..... gr8 appearance!

The 7 Sister's Rock & Roll Fest 09.

THE 7 SISTERS ROCK N’ ROLL FEST. @

Foodcourt Open Terrace,
2nd Floor,
DLF Place ,
Saket, New Delhi .
Date and time - 14th and 15th Nov. 2009 from 5.30 pm to 10.30 pm
Entry Tickets Rs.150/- Tickets Available at the Venue or call 9953685908/9654033745 for more


8 Bands participating -
Blend (Mizoram)
The Mangalz(Arunachal Pradesh)

Rampazze( Assam )
Vishnu( Darjeeling )
Bridge(Manipur)
Dark Horizon ( Assam )
Silent Existance( Delhi )
Darwin ’s Revenge(Arunachal)
& Instrumental Solo by Ozias

GIR review unavailable online

Fuel Great Indian Rock 2009

Schedule Delhi 24 Oct, 2009 Fuel Great Indian Rock 2009 Hamsadhwani Open Air Theatre Main Gig (Entry Fee Rs. 250.00) Line Up Rabbit Is Rich 5.00 to 5.45 pm The Circus 6.00 to 6.45 pm Undying Inc 7.00 to 7.45 pm Solstate 8.00 to 8.45 pm Benea Reach 9.00 to 10.00 pm 25 Oct, 2009 Fuel Great Indian Rock 2009 Hamsadhwani Open Air Theatre Main Gig (Entry Fee Rs. 250.00) Line Up Boomarang 4.30 to 5.15 pm Another Vertigo Rush 5.15 to 6.00 pm Bhayanak Maut 6.00 to 6.45 pm Indigo Children 7.00 to 7.45 pm Scribe 8.00 to 8.45 pm Intronaut 9.00 to 10.00 pm 22 Oct, 2009 GIR Club Showcase The Mezz Performance Times 8PM Onwards Gates Open at 8:00PM Line Up Artillerie 8.00 to 8.45 pm IIIrd Sovereign 9.00 to 10.00 pm Acrid Semblance 10.00 to 11.00 pm Performance by - IIIrd Sovereign Acrid Semplance Artillerie 23 Oct, 2009 GIR Club Showcase Turquoise Cottage, Vasant Vihar Performance Times 8PM Onwards Gates Open at 8:00PM Line Up Five8 8.00 to 8.45 pm Black 9.00 to 10.00 pm Them Clones 10.00 to 11.00 pm Performance by - Them Clones Black Five8 25 Oct, 2009 GIR Club Showcase Turquoise Cottage, Vasant Vihar Performance Times 11PM Onwards Gates Open at 11PM Line Up Parikrama 11.00 pm to 12.00 am Entry - Free

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POST GIR GIG.

Recently I browsed a lot of websites pertaining to the recent gig on “Great Indian Rock (G.I.R) ‘09” which was scheduled on October 24th & 25th at the capital city of India but to my astonishment there were no Indian rock & roll website or blog that could give me a single note or an insight about the gig, forget about the photographs. How shameful & weird not to find even one review about the GIR gig online after people having a swarm of rock and roll websites and blogs stacked on the internet and claiming to be a true rock and roll fan and yet not being able to dedicate & deliver one small review; than whats the purpose of maintaining or creating rock & roll blogs or websites which barely meets the aim for what they were designed to take the first page in the google to update the mass! I would request the google authoroties to remove such uninformative and misleading sites of Rock n’ Roll which do not provide anything except junk and ambiguious news. They are simply poor & time consuming without yielding any fruitful results.

In one of the websites that I came across from the google’s first page (chordvine.com/dispatches/the-great-indian-rock-fest), has an upload of misleading information regarding the GIR gig.... it mentioned the GIR gig in 7 states but in the GIR website it’s just 4 ( Bangalore , Delhi , Kolkotta and Pune) exclusive of the other 3 states (Mumbai, Shillong and Hyderabad ) and a lot discrepancies on the date schedule. All-in-all, it was a false and misleading….

Aren’t there decent people in this chain of Rock n’ Roll who could take initiatives to provide articles & photographs on any recent Rock and Roll gigs happening in the heart of the city?? I'm still an amateur in this profession....yet I'm trying. My plea to all the professionals out there is to provide genuine and updated information/ review on Rock and roll, be it a Pre or a Post Rock Gig in the nation. Anyway, I'm going to get the genuine details of the Delhi GIR gig and the places which had graces the GIR gig 2009. I’ll get this answers shortly with my own source…..

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Dated: October 30th 2009

Got to know that the gig on October 24th & 25th in the capital city was a great & a scintillating show. Three International bands ( Solstate, Benea Reach & Intronaut) appeared in these 2 days of festivity with 7 other Indian bands-

1. Boomrang

2. Bhayank Maut

3. Scribe

4. Indigo Children

5. Another Vertigo rush

6. Rabbit is rich

7. The circus

8. Undying inc

People said that Boomrang & Scribe were too good. It seemed people really had a great time out there in the Hamsadhwani open air theatre. Also got to know that Mumbai, Shillong and Hyderabad were not in the list to host the GIR gig. Shortly, I'll write the bands performances & try to get some pictures as well.... enough for today. Adieus!