Ashima Sharma, Keekli Reporter, 10th July, 2015, Shimla
As the famous poet, Berthold Auerbach once said, “Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life”, emerging out of the mundane everyday life of the city, the youth dusted off the boredom after enjoying The Big Battle of the Bands organised by 95.0 Big FM. Deputy Mayor, Tikender Panwar was present on the occasion to enjoy the high quality music along with the youth of the city. The competition was judged by the well known band from Chandigarh, The Local Train. The event was organised to mark the special occasion of 95.0 Big FM completing six successful years in Shimla City. Raman Negi, the vocalist of the guest band, The Local Train, informed the participants about the judging criteria and said, “We want all the bands to enjoy their performances and interact with audience. We would love to listen to the original compositions by the bands and the creativity they have put in for their compositions. These two things will be the two main criteria for today’s judgement”.
There were five Hindi Alternative Rock Bands competing for the prize money of Rs 50,000/-, Atharava, Shoonya, Oss The Band, The Punk and The Chronicles, and Souls Reign. Talking to few participants about their experience, Lakshaya, the vocalist from Atharava said, “This is the first time the City is hosting a battle of band with a such huge cash prize amount, we feel proud to be a part of it”. Atharva played their original composition titled Mahiya along with some famous tracks like Awaari and Sayyoni.
Gagan from Shoonya said, “It feels great to perform in front of the The Local Train, they have always been an inspiration”. Sukreet representing Oss the Band, that performed a famous number Naina Dhag Lenge fused with a beats of rock said, “We are a little nervous but we believe it will help us in performing better and win this competition, we do not get such opportunities every day in Shimla”.
Telling us about the auditions held earlier for the competition Rajat Sharma, rhythm guitarist of Atharva said, “We have worked very hard for this competition. We were asked to send CD of our original compositions for the preliminary rounds, we will be playing the same song live today, I hope the judges like our performance along the audience”.
Talking to Gitish Chopra, Station Head, Shimla, about the completion of six years in Shimla, he said, “BIG FM has always believed in bringing out innovative music concepts based on extensive consumer research. The people of the city have given us plenty of love. We have always aimed at providing our listeners with premium and exclusive music and that is what brought us together to organize this event. At BIG FM we always believe the magic words Suno Sunao Life Banao and not only entertain but also inform and empower the listeners of the city in a distinctive style”.
After few scintillating performances by the all the bands, the judges announced the winners amidst lots of cheering and applause by the crowd. The winners of competition were Shooniya. Deputy Mayor Panwar praised the performances and said, “I thank BIG FM for making me witness such a great event, Shimla should have more such competitions. I loved all the performances and feel proud be a part of this evening”. The highlight of the event without doubt was the most awaited performance of the evening by the guest band. The event was a huge success and was marked by awe-inspiring support by the young music lovers.
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