India’s first ever nation-wide hunt for the next generation of young bands reached its crescendo on the afternoon of December 4, 2011 at the Bandra Fort Amphitheatre when five of the chosen winners from across the country, Blek, The Lightyears Explode (from Mumbai), Digital Suicide (from Guwahati), Fire Exit (from Delhi) and Little Babooshka’s Grind (from Chennai) got their first big chance to play on a big stage in front of hundreds of screaming fans alongside two of India’s biggest acts, Pentagram and Something Relevant. The winners also took away gear worth over Rupees Fifty-Thousand from Ray-Ban.
The evening which was hosted by Luke Kenny, had especially invited celebrities like Nishka Lulla, Raageshwari, Adam Bedi, Nisha Harale, Mashoom and Shamita Singha, Mini Mathur, Leander Paes, Acquin Paes, Sachin Khurana, Manasvi Mamgai, Shweta Pandit, Shibani Kashyap, Anushka Manchanda and Ankur Tewari go up on stage to present the bands with an award.
A total of 130 bands from Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Guwahati and Chennai took part in the talent hunt. The list was pruned down to 15 by the editors of Rolling Stone Magazine, India. The final five winners were chosen in a two way process involving an online poll and a jury poll with equal weightage being given to both.
The jury consisted of respected musicians, specialists from the music industry and celebrities including Monica Dogra, Arjun Sankalia, Suraj Jagan, Subir Mallik, Rudy Wallang, Luke Kenny, Manasi Scott, Shibani Kashyap, Suchitra Pillai, Purab Kohli, Anaida and Arjun S Ravi.