MUMBAI: Mumbai saw one of its biggest music festivals in the form of Harley Rock Riders this weekend on 15 and 16 November at Richardson & Cruddas Foundry in Byculla. The festival, organised by Only Much Louder, saw massive acts including US based alt rock band Mutemath, who was the headliner of the event. The two day festival had three different stages – Harley, Jack & Jones and Guvera. The annual biking showcase event, for the first time, had music as its integral attraction. Besides the numerous acts, there was also a showcase of Harley Davidson bikes, including a Rajaputana Customs showcase of the first ever Harley Davidson Street 750 built by an independent custom bike builder in India.

Bikers and rock music lovers go hand-in-hand, which was clearly evident at the festival when hundreds of music aficionados came together at one venue and witnessed the roaring Harley Davidson Motorcycles. People were also allowed to try out the bikes, understand their makes, and buy official merchandise from the Harley Davidson stall. There was also a 'Stray Dog’ jam room where attendees could be free and jam as much as they wanted.

Day 1

The fest began with guitar legend Ravi Iyer, who has been lauded several times for his extraordinary guitar playing skills, easily mixing classical and fusion contemporary into rock. The ease with which Iyer plays on stage is still baffling and awe-striking experience for many. The audience soaked in the rhythms and the 'jugalbandi’ when he was accompanied by a tabla player.

Some of the surprisingly good acts of the day were Modern Mafia, Duncun Rufus and Until We Last. While Modern Mafia brought alt rock to the Guvera stage, and presented it in a very enjoyable, energetic way, post rock band Until We Last, which played on Jack & Jones stage, created an ambience that left the audience in a trance.

BLAKC, Reverrse Polarity and Tough On Tobacco completely blew their respective stages with high-on-energy performances. The only band that possibly did not add up to the level of what the other performances brought, was Such Nice Boys featuring comedian Kanan Gill. With cheesy lyrics and weak vocals, the act still saw a pleased audience, largely due to Gill’s appeal and popularity with the audience.

The major acts of the day were Kolkata rockers The Supersonics and the re-incarnated, more than a decade old band - Zero. As always, The Supersonics gave a complete rock and roll performance, getting the audience to sway and dance to their music. Zero, on the other hand, saw headbanging and ended the day one of the event on a high note.

Day 2

The second day of the festival began with contest winners – The Urban EarlyMen and Kraken performing on the Harley Stage. The festival saw a larger number of attendees on the second day than it did on the first. Psychedelic rock band The Urban EarlyMen kicked off the day with a great set, followed by Kraken’s smashing performance. The Delhi metallers also won the 'Find Your Freedom' contest and brought a new set-list to stage. They also sang their most popular single 'Dance Jane Dance’, and won the opportunity to play at Euro Bike Week in Austria.

Covers only band One Night Stand also held its ground with renditions of popular classics, but the other two acts on Jack & Jones stage – Blackstratblues and The Circus saw a better response. Warren Mendonsa was his usual self, a guitar genius, fluidly playing riffs after flawless riffs. The Circus initially saw less audience since, most of the attendees were at the Guvera stage for Pangea, but eventually it ended its set to a pumped-up crowd.

The Guvera stage’s line-up was a power-packed one, with all three being metal acts – Devoid, Pangea and Undying Inc. Devoid and Pangea, both had a loyal metal audience headbanging and losing control during the acts. The best metal act of whole of the festival was Undying Inc, which is known for its monstrosity and beast-like vocals. Shashank Bhatnagar tore the roof down with his crazy antics and violent songs. The crowd went berserk and kept the mosh-pit going.

The best acts of the day were, obviously, Scribe and Mutemath. Even though Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy is no more with the band, Siddharth Basrur and Viraaj Saxena successfully filled his shoes and tried really hard to keep the essence of the group. The interaction and the connection level with the audience may have suffered very slightly, but they made it up with frolicking on stage in their 'Cops’ outfit, promoting their latest album 'Hail Mogambo’. Right from their entrance on stage with the song '1 2 ka 4’ in the background, to their 'I Love You Pav Bhaji’, the audience kept cheering and shouting abuses with the band.

Mutemath was the band everyone was looking forward to, and the venue got completely packed with no space to move around. Everyone was eagerly waiting for the alt rock band and the members’ incredible live presence on stage. They killed it with two new tracks in their setlist – ‘Monument’ and ‘Joy Rides’. They also performed longer renditions of their older tracks. Paul Meany did his signature headstand and couch surfing, while the audience dutifully surfed him around. There were confetti, flames, cheers, swapping of instruments, pounding of the bass drums, jumping and everything else that ended the festival on a really high note.

In Summation

The festival saw a bunch of happy ‘scenesters’, decent stalls for food and drinks, and continuous stream of good music. The line-up over the two days, in one venue, was impressive, and is something that Mumbai almost never gets to experience. It was also well managed, with OML’s years of experience with live music, but the sound faced some problems, especially on the Harley and Jack & Jones Stage. It affected the bands from sounding ‘tight’, and they would probably fair better performances in smaller enclosed venues. All the performances were supported by exceptional visuals by Wolves, which was definitely a treat to watch. All that said, Mumbai unquestionably needs more music festivals like Harley Rock Riders.