JRO- 2006
The decision to move JRO to Bangalore brought out so much angst especially from the Chennai rock fraternity. The answer was one of life's basic principles that nobody can hide from – ‘Things change ' ! There are various factors that lead to it, but everything's got to make changes someday. So, the SPYKAR JRO 2006 concerts took place at the swank new Unwind Center in Bangalore which had been inaugurated by percussion maestro Sivamani by a 45-minute drumming storm leaving the audience craving for more!
Nine bands played on 3 days including Blood Covenant from Chennai, Old Jungle Saying from Bangalore, After Taste from Mumbai, Souled Out from Bangalore, Level 9 from Delhi, Sledge from Hyderabad, Parousia from Bangalore, Panatella from Chennai and IIIrd Sovereign from Mizoram.
JRO- 2005
JRO 2005 was a revelatory year in so many ways! Rains in Mumbai, bombs in London, disrupted trains and other logistical bugs kept eating into the schedule and the momentum of the event. Nevertheless it was a year of great memories too - a duo from Manchester, UK, AZIZ & Dalbir Singh shook up Chennai at the curtain raiser gig with laser beams popping out of guitars & rocky tabla rhythms.
Through the month the bands featured were ‘Powder in the ashtray’, Joint Family, Garage Monsters & Bhayanak Maut, Casinis Division, Parousia, White Noiz, Cruentus, Nerverek and Still Waters.
The finale concert featured a special performance by the Rush – Newcomb Duo from the US combining a sitar, guitar & electronica. Pin drop violence raked up the crowds who didn’t have the patience to wait for their plug in.
Wrapping up the years festivities was the headlining act, MOKSHA whose intro for the Maiden classic ‘Fear of the Dark’ evoked a scream so loud, Leon had no choice but to keep the mic pointed to the crowd! Leon also mentioned that Moksha is 10 years old and that gave a deep sense of pride to everyone in the audience. Wow! What do we write home about JRO 05 – the Chennai rock community may appear fickle brained, but it’s one big family!
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JRO- 2004 treads international waters
Curtain raiser bridges the gap between popular music and traditional rock. Indi pop band Silk Route and Indian rock icon Parikrama get JRO 2004 on its feet. Silk Route’s act gets Metallica Tees swaying and even mouthing the desi “Dooba Dooba”! With a tight act and infectious energy, Parikrama was explosive! An everyone-in-town-heard-about-it curtain raiser it was!
The bandwagon: Putting JRO on the international map - Red Rain from New Zealand for the second edition of JRO 2004. Pondicherry enters the scene with Medicis. From the north, come Moonstruck and Xenon from Pune, and Chaos Theory from Mumbai. Cochin chips in with Evergreen and Mother Jane. All said and done, Bangalore can’t be far away – Myndsnare and Parousia. Last but definitely not the least, Chennai’s talented and power packed LBG, Garage Monsters Inc and Helmsdeep. Each time the bands took the show to a higher level… and the crowd goin’ with it!
The Finale?? If you weren't there, you really missed a 'goose bump' occasion! Both bands from either side of the border on one stage … India’s own Moksha and our neighbours from across the border, Junoon from Pakistan. While tight POWER was the name of the game and Moksha did bring salvation to the rock fans, Junoon was literally an Obsession. If you ever wondered how Urdu, Punjabi, or Hindi go down with South India, well…it just did…and super fast! That was the power of Junoon.
At the Pepe Jeans JRO 2004, people did not just come to hear some great music; they came to celebrate Chennai's international music festival. The finale did Chennai proud and needless to say did India proud too!
JRO 2003
“Outfits like Unwind Center (organizers of the JRO) are doing a great job giving musicians the opportunity to create themselves as artistes” — Leslie Lewis, at the inauguration of JRO 2003. Lezz, is a bona fide showbiz icon, and the other fifty percent of mega selling duo Colonial Cousins. The man has been around long enough to have worked with veteran artistes of yesteryears – R.D. Burman, Asha Bhonsle; while giving a leg up to freshers including KK and the Band of Boys.
“When asked whether rock music could have cleaner image, as the Unwind Center has been striving to do for the past five years, Lewis said that energy is all there is in music and it does not need the add-ons of sex, drugs and alcohol.” — The Hindu Business Line
The bandwagon: A total of 16 national bands, played for the annual rock extravaganza. Threinody, The Unwind Band, Cyanide Angels, Split, uno, LBG, MPD, No Idea, Vishnu, Molotov Cocktail, PDV, Strange Brew, AFS, Orange Street, Pentagram, and Zero.
The finale??? Sets a new standard for rock shows in the country. Zero kicked started the show and Pentagram brought down the curtains in the most phenomenal manner. In the end, a satisfied (and exhausted!) crowd of 4500 plus left the Open Air theatre at IIT that evening.
JRO 2002
The launch kicked off by the legendary Louis Banks himself. Known as the Godfather of Jazz in India, Banks has performed the world over with the likes of Yolande Bavan, Charlie Mariano, Charlie Byrd. His collaboration with jazz musicians of the caliber of Braz Gonsalves and Pam Crain are etched in the history of Indian jazz.
The bandwagon: JRO 2002 was unique in that it became a national platform that year on! Bands from all over India – Mumbai, Bangalore, Cochin, and of course Chennai set the torch on fire. Thermal And A Quarter (TAAQ), Brahma, Sceptre, Moksha, Threinody, Orange Street, and Mother Jane.
Also seeing the light of day was the Unwind Awards (previously called the RUFF awards) - JRO’s very own way of paying tribute to the best of the best bands and solo artistes.
JRO 2001
Returned with a bigger audience in mind. Says musician Timothy Madhukar who plays the keyboards for Moksha, “JRO started out with around 150 people initially, but by the last one the crowd had swelled to over 600 and it had to stop because the center just didn’t have any place for more”. The response was so phenomenal that there were people coming down from cities as far as Pune.
The launch comes alive to the pulsating rhythms of rock by Chennai’s own legends - Keith Peters, David Pascal, Neil Mukherjee, Ashok Cherian, and Donald Mattingley.
The bandwagon: The concerts are taken over by Zero (Mumbai), Moksha, Vineyard Band, Joose, Molotov Cocktail, Orion’s Dream, Wood, and No Idea, wooing the crowds into ecstatic whirls of frenzy!
JRO 2000
“I would rather play five nights at the Unwind Center (formerly Vineyard Centre) than go on stage and people asking me to play “Ruki Ruki” (a then popular hindi number)”, says the man behind the music of movies like “Mast”, “Jungle”, “Satya” and the likes.
Film Music Director Sandeep Chowta, who was also a Chennai based rock star, gave rock fans a piece of his mind blowing side during the jamming session at the launch of the second JRO, along with Chennai’s Jim Satya and Sudeen Prabhakar.
The bandwagon: The weeks that followed saw a double serving of rock salad every Friday. Starting with Funky Bodhi and Joose, with a funky kinda feel good music, fusion rock with Grasshopper Green and Armaggedon, followed by the headbangers’ party with Mercury Rising and Molotv Cocktail and a worthy climax by the Vineyard Band and Moksha! Eight bands and eight dynamic Fridays!
JRO 1999
Once upon a summer, at a time when people thought rock n roll was dead in chennai... comes a show that changed the music scene in the city in ways that was then beyond imagination… even for the organizers! So it was… the birth of JRO (originally known as June Rock Out).
The bandwagon: Talent found its home with Chennai’s Ba Baa Browne Sheep, Burn & Juravi, Molotov Cocktail, Apocrypha, Armageddon, Vineyard Band, and a band that still continues to be a national icon in the country’s rock music scene - Moksha.
Since then, there has been no looking back and JRO has always pushed the limits to be more than just a rock show!
