Eternity from Dalhousie Institute, the winners of Vodafone Rockstars; (Below) a band competes in the finals held at DI. Pictures by Sanat Kumar Sinha

The finals of the Vodafone Rockstars in association with t2 at Dalhousie Institute on May 24 was all about things fun and young, despite a bout of heavy evening rain. The first-ever inter-club rock competition saw six young bands battle it out before judges DJ Austin, Shane Hyrapiet, Anjum Katyal, Bertie Da Silva and Neel Dutt. A rocking guest performance by Five Little Indians got the crowd on its feet.

For a band that does not have a designated lead vocalist, Black Rose (Tollygunge Club) made a huge impact — as much with their appearance, as with their brand of music. Mekhola Bose stood out on the drums and it was pretty clear with their original Angel that they were playing to please. Realignment 2 Reality’s (DI) version of What If by Creed was tasteful, never mind forced accents. Arghya Mitra of Purgatory (Calcutta Club) deserved a special mention for his energy, which got the crowd roaring. Ashes In Flames (Calcutta Club), probably the youngest bunch competing, were as competent as any. Eternity (also from DI), which was by far the most popular band, proclaimed that they were not interested in covers and wanted to be known as “a creative band”. Their original, You Are The Me scored well with the crowd with its distinct keyboard lines. The last band to perform that evening was Tube Screamers (Calcutta Punjab Club), whose simple lyrics and blues-rock tunes got the audience right into the groove and offered a fantastic finish.

Amidst a lot of guesses shouted out aloud, the individual awards were presented. Mekhola of Black Rose won the Best Drummer award, while the Best Vocalist prize was bagged by Adipto of Ashes In Flames. Mandeep Singh Johar of Tube Screamers walked away with the Best Guitarist award. The Best Vodafone Jingle was also awarded to Black Rose, with guitarist Ronodeep Bose bagging the Best Upcoming Talent prize. With the packed crowd waiting with bated breath, Black Rose was announced as the first runner-up, while the four-member Eternity was crowned winners of Vodafone Rockstars. The microphone-shaped silver trophy apart, the quartet won goodies and gift vouchers from Planet M and Spykar, a Vodafone Magic Box each and a chance to perform at Someplace Else. Asked exactly how excited they were, guitarist Nikhil Sen grinned, “We had already started practising for SPE!” Now that’s good attitude!