The show slated for six pm started at eight and first on were Vehem – a hindi rock band as its lead vocalist made clear right from the start in a pronounced accent which was definitely very north of the Vindhyas. Each band was to perform for 25 minutes and the winner would be decided by the number of beer bottles that the audience chose to jettison into boxes meant for each of the bands. Vehem had a lot of musicians on stage, three guitars, a keyboard player, and a tabalchi. It didn’t add upto a good sound though, the band was loud and uncoordinated, and to make matters worse, the band covered two Junoon numbers, which only highlighted the off key vocals. But you had to give it to them for sheer enthusiasm, what with the lead vocalist shouting himself hoarse.

And then came the Wounded Healers, a band from the Armed Forces Medical College, who after having loosened their ties, let fly with Bande by Indian Ocean, possibly the best rendition of the evening. Wounded Healers sounded much, much better, in contrast to Vehem, which had also covered the same song. An Ozzy Osbourne number later, the Illuminati stepped in and opened with A Brick in the Wall. This band was tight and nicely balanced, with the musicians playing nice and easy. Unfortunately the vocals disappointed, especially on Highway Star, though their vocalist and lead guitarist Shivit went on to win the prize for best vocals. Last on were Trees on Fire, who packed far more punch and thump than the previous bands. They sizzled on Neil Young’s Rocking in the Free World and Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell, with Randhir and Robin going hog wild on drums and lead guitar respectively.

Wounded Healers was adjudged the Best Band while Randhir took away the Best Drummer tag; Robin was the Guitarist, and Manan from Illuminati the Best Bass Guitarist.