fRock/cock in India:when backstreet boys come to India

A take on the rock scene in India....and why backstreet(gaystreet) boys SUCK bigtime!!!

We thought its a prank. Even after press releases and ADs, we refused to believe it. It sounded more like a prank rather than news. But, now with just one day remaining to the event, our worst fears are coming true. Indeed, now its clear that its not a prank that the mighty backstreet(gaystreet) boys are performing at India's one and only rock fest, 'Rock in India'. The hallowed Palace grounds which was host to some of the gods of rock and metal will be thrown open to a band which has come to be hated unanimously by rock fans all over the world. DNA, the organisers has done a sell out of epic proportions, unprecedented in rock history. Or perhaps, it will remain unmatched in future too.

It all started in the 2nd half of the last decade, the slow but sure rise of Indian rock. Rock bands were around in the country much before that, from the days of woodstock. But it was never known as a 'scene' outside the country. The odd international rock band did make its appearance during the 90s and the first half of this millennium. But there was something missing. There was a sudden explosion in the number of bands in the later half of the decade. It was not an isolated revolution. It was a sweeping one, literally from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Would you believe that a small city like Trivandrum has more than 10 active bands? Then there are 'rock in the genes' kinda cities in the north east where there are more than 50 bands in each of them. And then there's the epicentre of it all, Bangalore. And with the advent of broadband internet and social networking platforms like myspace and facebook, it just exploded. From playing covers of international bands, Indian bands graduated to playing only original compositions. And the audience too matured with them and stopped screaming for covers. Infact, the crowd began singing along their original compositions at the concerts. Slowly, but surely, Indian rock found its feet.

DNA networks came as a godsend for the rock fans as they brought to India some of the best acts in the business. Back in 2007, when Iron Maiden came to India for the first time, 50,000 crazy fans filled up the arena. Bruce Dickinson and co. were overwhelmed by this response and visited us 2 more times in the next 2 years. In 2008, 'Rock in India' was born, a first of its kind fest in India featuring the legendary 'Megadeth' and 'Machine head' alongwith 9 other Indian bands. And in 2009, 'Iron Maiden' came back again to bless rock in India, though this time the support acts were below par. In between, the IITs brought in popular contemporary bands like 'opeth' and 'porcupine tree'. Then small rock fests began to emerge like the deccan rock fest featuring 'Amon amarth' and 'Textures'. We thought it couldn't get better. And towards the end of last year, DNA sent out a mail asking fans to select the bands which they want to see in 'Rock in India 2010'. It was a mouth watering list to say the least, boasting of bands like 'Slayer', 'judas priest' and 'Lamb of God'. We waited..impatiently..for 2010 to arrive.

Arrive it did, in the worst possible manner. DNA announced backstreet boys as headliners of Rock in India alongwith Richard Marx, a pop singer past 50, still singing songs about teen love. Nobody has a problem with them coming to India. But, why a rock fest?? That too, the only one the country can boast of. Agreed, even I did love their music while I was in school, before I realised how they are fooling us all. Its a band(not worthy to be called a band) which has never written a single line of lyrics on its own or composed its own music. Its all done by professionally hired men, whom you never get to see. All they do is lend their voices, which also is heavily processed to mask their lack of talent. The band was put together by a guy called Lou Pearlman, who wanted to convert his black money. And thus he created this band after a series of auditions and spent lavishly on the band. And, he did reap his benefits. He appointed the lyricists and producers. Yes, its not a typical band that came together because of their similar tastes in music. But a fraud man's brainchild to convert his black money. And all they sang about was love, broken hearts and the likes. All with mannerisms which caused them to be branded as a gay band. On stage, they lip synced. Nobody complained. Girls screamed out loud and their boy friends too screamed with them at the concerts. Its not for nothing its called POP. A corporate gimmick to manipulate popular culture to mint millions. And millions sang along, "I want it that way", the gay way, the lip syncing way, the sell out way. Its not a story of backstreet boys alone, but every other boy band. And most of their fans have grown out of that age and moved away to more mature music. Then, DNA tells India, 'surprise surprise..presenting before you, the backstreet boys live at Rock in India".

The Indian rock fans haven't taken this snub from DNA lightly. Head to any online forum, and you'll see hardcore fans ready to smoke the backstreet boys out of India. The Rock in India website was defaced twice. Renaming it 'Cock in India' and 'fRock in India'. Then there was the legendary Hitler youtube video where hitler comes to know about gayboys coming to the fest and all hell breaking loose. All we are asking for now is to change the name of the fest. Don't play with the self respect of the average Indian rock fan. Rock means much more than just the music. Its an ideology beyond money, religion and such things. Its origins can be traced to the protest music of the 60s. Sometimes its a call for revolution and sometimes its a call to break free. 'Rock in India' conjured up similar images and much more in us. It was a dream for many of us to one day see this fest becoming as big as 'Rock in Rio' or the 'download fest'. With this shameless sellout which the bosses at DNA described as "respecting the long standing demand for more commercial music from various quarters", those dreams lay shattered. And they say, its not a rock fest but a music fest and it will cater to music of all kinds. Then why the fucking hell you name it 'rock in India'? why not 'music in India' or 'pop in India'? Its an open secret that they wanted to popularise this fest among a 'different' kind of audience. But with this decision, they were digging their own grave. The previous times when they brought in pop acts like Enrique and Shakira for some independent fests, the crowd was maximum of about 5000. Whereas all the rock fests have somewhere around 30,000. Businesswise too, this is suicide. Another reason they are giving is that most of the international bands are on tour right now and many of them are also unaffordable. Give me a break guys! There are 1000s of bands available. Don't go for the big ticket acts if you don't have the money. Just give us a fest of Indian bands alone. Or just dont conduct the fest this year. Wait till your financial situation becomes better next year(which I doubt now).

Even more sad is the fact that some Indian bands have actually agreed to open for backstreet boys, which includes 2 bands I admire, 'swarathma' and 'Indigo children'. When I conveyed to 'swarathma' about our displeasure at such a promising band doing a sell out, what I got was a robotic reply saying "we dont care about who plays before or after us...come if you respect us". No band worth their self respect would agree to play at such a fest and here we have these guys talking about us respecting them. SHAME! Frankly, am thinking of destroying their CD though I love the songs. Already, there are talks of protest marches by rock fans at the 2 venues, Delhi and Bangalore. And there are every chances of small riots. And even a chance of some people actually buying the tickets to get in and throw bottles at Backstreet boys. I only pray that they get a really bad reception so that no pop band will ever think of visiting India. And its time the corporate assholes at DNA learned a lesson or two. Never mess with Indian rock fans. And thanks to these widespread protests, the Indian metal fans have come in for appreciation in various international rock forums. Hopefully more bands will be attracted to this wonderful audience here. Rock is not a passing fad, unlike pop. You'll never get to hear a dialogue like, "I used to listen to metallica in college". Once a rock fan is always a rock fan. You dont leave it behind and move on to other music as you leave the teens(which is the case with pop bands). DNA has betrayed such a loyal fan base. Their move is against the very idea for which rock stands for. DNA can better quit event management and go for PIMPING. Even pimps have more self respect. So, rock fans of India...raise your middle fingers in unison to the pimping corporation that is DNA. Let anarchy rule. Let gaystreet boys run for their life...\m/

and for rock in India 2010...the metal symbol becomes /m\ ..picturise it, what it conveys! :)

your crusader Praveen