Bengaluru And Rock 'n' Roll Music
How a music genre that defined the city is slowly dying.
Bengaluru, once known as the “Rock Capital of India” has witnessed a remarkable decline in the popularity and influence of rock and roll music in recent years.
This vibrant city, which was once a hub for rock bands and live music performances, now finds itself grappling with a fading music culture. The death of rock and roll in Bengaluru is not merely the loss of a genre but also signifies the changing dynamics of the city’s music scene.
A Glorious Past
Bengaluru had great rock music, no really! The scene emerged in the late 60s and grew incredibly in the 80s. This place became the hotspot and all great rock and roll bands from Mumbai, Goa and different parts of Kerala came to play here along with a lot of homegrown bands such as Millennium, Kryptos. Music bars starting popping up everywhere around Bengaluru. Pecos was one of the first followed by Hard Rock Cafe and more!
Bengaluru was the first city in India where internationally popular rock groups Opeth, Iron Maiden, The Rolling Stones, Bryan Adams, Scorpions, Sting, Aerosmith, Elton John, Deep Purple, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, among various other heavy metal groups performed live for the first time in India.
Decline
The great rock and roll bands of India was always for a niche group of enthusiasts. This worked fine until the (mass) immigration to Bengaluru, when venues started seeking opportunities elsewhere. This clubbed with the explosion of internet, saw a massive change from pubs playing live music to now having DJs, which is much cheaper. So much so that now I hear Badshah in Hard Rock Cafe!
Revival
Homegrown artists such as Raghu Dixit Project and Agam are now making a revival of the genre with a new, more experimental folk rock genre. With all its challenges, rock and roll music still lives on in Bengaluru.
If you’ve made it this far, here’s me playing Still Got The Blues by Gary Moore on an acoustic guitar:
More music by me on my youtube
Some Indian Rock Music
Here are some great Indian rock music (not necessarily from Bengaluru):
Pretty Child by Indus Creed (previously known as The Rock Machine) was the first Indian music video to be aired on MTV!