Shillong, Oct 29: Shillong is known as the ‘Rock capital of India’, but this winter the venue for the best rock music of the season will shift to Garo Hills with ‘Europe’, ‘Indus Creed’ and ‘Euphoria’ set to perform at the Me.Gong Festival.
For music aficionados, especially Generation X, it will be a rare opportunity to relive the rock era with one of the top bands from the 80s, Europe, performing at Baljek Airport in Jengjal near Tura town in West Garo Hills on November 29 and 30 at the Me.Gong Festival 2024.
The Swedish rock band is known for their classics such as “Final Countdown, Carrie, Rock the Night” and many other hits. Audio cassettes (for Generation Z or Alpha – audio cassettes were rectangle plastic players that went into audio players) sold like hot cakes and Europe’s music burst the charts worldwide.
Back in those days of Pop and Rock music, Europe was the demi-god of rock ballads – they still are. For hardcore music lovers in Shillong, a collection of music cassettes, without Europe in it, wasn’t anywhere complete.
It was like Final Countdown being blasted from one home in one locality and then walking through in another locality, Carrie was being played or some nobody was humming or whistling some Europe songs in a forgotten alley.
With vocalist Joey Tempest, guitarist John Norum, bassist John Levén, keyboardist Mic Michaeli and drummer Ian Haugland, Europe faded from the music world in 1992.
But their massive die-hard fan following ensured they returned to the highest pedestal of rock music. The band burst into the music scene in 2003 and released Start from the Dark in 2004 and other albums.
Meanwhile, giving company to Europe at the Me.Gong festival would be another very popular band from about the same era, Indus Creed – formerly known as Rock Machine. In fact, Rock Machine changed the western music scene in India back in the 80s.
Rock Machine probably sold the highest number of audio cassettes by an Indian rock band. Their first album, Rock’n’Roll Renegade was a huge hit and just like Europe one could hear their music in the morning, afternoon and evening through a leisurely walk through any locality of Shillong.
Once again Rock Machine sold tons of cassettes and the brown tape inside these cassettes would have stretched from Shillong to Mumbai and from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and far far beyond into a world of musical trance and Euphoria.
Alright Euphoria too is performing. Euphoria is another popular pop rock band formed by Dr. Palash Sen in 1998. They too have a number of hits to their credit.
So the Me.Gong Festival would be nostalgic for some and some might just get a feel of what good music (subjective) is. The festival would also feature actor and DJ-producer Udita Goswami, fusion acts Shanka Tribe.
Local artists like folk-fusion and rock band Da Suraka, rock act Haystack Ladies, folk-fusion act Summersalt would be also performing during the two-day festival.
The festival 2024 is being supported by Meghalaya Tourism and organized by companies VAS Inc. and Ivory Valley and the organisers have ensured the tickets are reasonably priced at Rs. 299 so that maximum number of music fans can enjoy.
But there is more as the festival would offer traditional dance and music performance from Meghalaya, fashion shows, food and craft stalls, local tribal sports and games and even an eating contest. Options are also available for camping and tenting for an unforgettable night out.
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