New Delhi, Friday night witnessed the Grand Finale Awards Ceremony of the 5th Jack Daniels Rock Awards 2010 at Hard Rock Café, Mumbai.
Jack Daniels, Rolling Stone and Hard Rock Café took a large stride in pumping up the tempo for Indian rock last night. The evening was about the presentation of the 5th Jack Daniels Rock Awards at Mumbai. Hard Rock Café was brimming with enthusiasts present to encourage and applaud the growing popularity of Indian Rock musicians and bands.
The rocking evening saw celebrities thoroughly enjoying the music and the magical evening were the Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, Biddu with his lovely wife, Luke Kenny, Lucky Ali, Pooja Bedi, Adam Bedi, Rosa Catalano, Sophie Choudhury, Shahjahan Padamsee, Anaida, Shibani Kashyap, Manasi Scott, Onir, Arjun Khanna, Shibani Kashyap, Anoushka Manchandaa, Sharon Prabhakar, Chin2 Bhosle, Uday Benegal, Mahesh Tinaikar, Karl Peters, Rajeev Siddharth, and of course Vasu Dixit with fellow rockers who had many pleasant surprises coming their way during the evening.
Mumbais rock enthusiasts were completely into the Awards categories and winners, their enthusiasm reaching a thumping crescendo each time the Winners were announced. There were a series of Awards given in 9 Categories - Male Vocalist of the Year, Female Vocalist of the Year, Guitarist of the Year, Bassist of the Year, Keyboardist of the Year, Drummer of the Year, Best Emerging Band of the Year, Lifetime Achievement of the Year, along with Critics & Jurys Choice for Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Band of the Year.
Final Winners: 5th Jack Daniels Rock Awards 2009-10
1. Best Band of the Year: Swarathma
2. Best Album of the Year: Bhayanak Maut - Bhayanak Maut
3. Best Song of the Year: Them Clones - My Life
4. Male Vocalist of the Year: Prithwish Dev/Them Clones
5. Female Vocalist of the Year: Tipriti Kharbangar/Soulmate
6. Guitarist of the Year: Rudy Wallang/Soulmate
7. Bass Player of the Year: Craig Maxworth/Junkyard Groove
8. Drummer of the Year: Surojit Dev/Them Clones
9. Keyboardist of the Year: Stefan Kaye/Emperor Minge
10. Emerging Band of the Year: Inner Sanctum (Bengaluru) and Sridhar/Thayil (Mumbai)
Popular Choice Categories (Critics & Jurys Choice):
11. Album of The Year: Swarathma
12. Song of The Year: Swarathma
13. Band of The Year: Swarathma
14. Acclaimed Singer & Music Producer, Biddu was presented with Lifetime Achievement Award at the 5th Jack Daniels Rock Awards 2009-10
With the crowd going ballistic Luke Kenny, who had taken the audience and performers to a thumping pitch from the first announcement finally revealed the most awaited award of the evening -- The Band of the Year Award that was won by Swarathma, also winners of the Best Song, Band and Album of the Critics and Jurys Selection earlier in the evening.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Amrit Kiran Singh, VP & Director, Asia Pacific, Brown-Forman Worldwide stated, Internationally, Jack Daniels has had a very positive connect with rock music since the early part of last century. In India, it was Jack Daniels efforts 5 years ago that began the process of bringing rock music into the mainstream. Back then, rock music in India was confined to the university campus. Today, there is an internationally proclaimed and rock-dedicated magazine like Rolling Stone, there are growing number of Hard Rock Cafes in our cities and new movies coming up on the genre. The Jack Daniels Rock Awards which has seen the winning bands (Them Cones and Menwhopause) perform in England and the US will move to another level this year. With partners such as Rolling Stones and Hard Rock Café joining hands with us to create synergy, Indian Rock will only become bigger and more popular among yet larger audiences.
The menu for the evening: JD, Music and Fun. The evening started on a note of bonhomie and great music by Tough on Tabacco and towards the end in the wee hours of the morning, groups of guests were seen raising loud, cheerful toasts to legends beyond their lifetime even as Anoushka mesmerized with her own magic with the audience and performed and partied like a true rock star to everybodys enthusiastic delight.
Mr. Radhakrishnan Nair, Editor & Publisher of Rolling Stone of the Indian edition of the worlds greatest music magazine said, Jack Daniels - Rolling Stone Tribute nights and partnership for the Awards Grand Finale with Brown-Forman are part of our mission to promote rock music in India, and these Awards have done a commendable job over the years to encourage Indian bands to create music that is not only original but also of a very high quality.
The venue dressing for the evening was tastefully done in Jack Daniels colours and backdrops with the clear message: Jack Was No Saint....But He Did Start A Religion. A religion of music and rocking fun perhaps?
