Rolling Stone Stage: Punk Rock Frenzy and Classic Rock Grooves

Punk On Toast bassist Prathamesh Sandansing. Photo: Sairaj R Kamath.

Shopping malls aren’t the first place where you’d expect to hear classic or punk rock music; more like this week’s chart-topping Bollywood or mainstream pop songs. The first edition of Rolling Stone Stage on April 25th and 26th in R-City Mall, Ghatkopar definitely turned out to be an exception. A new series of music gigs to spotlight upcoming bands in Mumbai, Rolling Stone Stage treated R-City’s shopping crowd to a fresh wave of live rock music.

The first day of Rolling Stone Stage on April 25th largely featured punk rock, with Mumbai punk bands Mommy’s Not Home and Punk On Toast on the bill. Acoustic group Agazo – a late addition to the line-up – were an anomaly that night, playing their soothing covers of Bollywood hits like “Har Kisi Ko Nahi Milta” and Atif Aslam’s “Doori” compared to the blistering and energetic performances by the other two groups.

Mommy’s Not Home performed some original tunes like “When Tim Had Hair” and the pacy “Brainfreeze”, as well as pop punk covers that included Green Day’s “St. Jimmy” and Blink 182’s “All The Small Things.” Punk On Toast threw all notions of playing cover songs out the window and stuck to a set full of their own material, with songs off their For Hire EP like “Democracy is a Lie” and “I Don’t Want To” along with two new tracks, “Wasted Youth” and “Osama’s Coming Down”.

The second day on April 26th brought classic and hard rock tunes to R-City with Mumbai rock bands Treble Bite and Insignia. Both bands paid homage to rock legends like Jimi Hendrix, AC/DC and Kiss, with Insignia playing a cover of Hendrix’s “Hey Joe” and Treble Bite performing AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” and Kiss’ disco-fied jam “I Was Made for Loving You.” However, their set that night had no shortage of original songs, with Insignia’s “Paranoid City” and Treble Bite’s “Rock It Was, and Rock It Is” and “More Treble Please.” Barring a few problems during Treble Bite’s set, both the bands capped off the first edition of Rolling Stone Stage on a rocking note.

Photos: Sairaj R Kamath.

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