Live4MusiC

Having booked Machine Head, Megadeth and Iron Maiden in previous years, Rock In India festival shocked punters by booking… The Backstreet Boys…

Year one was Megadeth and Machine Head, year two was Iron Maiden and this year has The Backstreet Boys and Richard Marx. Imagine if that happened at Download! The Rock in India concert will take place in Delhi on February 20 and in Bangalore on February 22.

Journalist Vijay Nair reported to Hammer the following statement: “An Indian blogger described the announcement as a ‘National WTF moment’ and I think that sums up a fan’s opinion best. In a country with very few festivals, Rock In India enjoys immense following among rock and metal fans. Thousands of people flooded the last two editions making it hugely successful. Backstreet Boys, who had faded away from public memory (for good reason) are gonna change the nature of the festival and it will never be the same again. And Richard Marx?! WHO?”

Wikipedia says of the furore: “DNA Networks has officially announced that they will, by results of popularity votes, change the name of the festival to Frock In India. This is due to the immense pressure on them by the Rock Community to change to the appropriate nomenclature for this festival. Also, rock fans want the pictures of Iron Maiden,Megadeth and other rock bands to be deleted from the Rock In India website. DNA is labelled as corporate sell outs… The ever enthusiastic metal audience has been sacrificed for a different audience all together.”

- Metal Hammer