When we announced that international metal giants Metallica would perform in India, back in April, some of you guys didn’t believe us. Granted we made the announcement on April 1, but things got really exciting when bassist Rob Trujillo confirmed that the band would be in India in 2011. The band is slated to play two gigs in the country – the first gig (on October 28) is part of the F1 Rocks series for the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in New Delhi, and the second (on October 30) is the recently resurrected Rock ‘N India festival in Bangalore. The F1 Rocks gig will be held at Leisure Valley grounds in Gurgaon (that can reportedly hold 30,000 people), while the Rock ‘N India gig will be at Palace Grounds. Tickets for both gigs are currently available on Ticketgenie.
Billboard magazine recently revealed more details about the F1 Rocks gig. DNA Entertainment Networks will be producing the gig (they produce Rock ‘N India as well) while MTV has the broadcast rights for the gig. According to Billboard
MTV India is producing a 30-minute primetime lifestyle show for India alone. It is also creating a one-hour special that will feature Metallica’s history-making performance for broadcast seven days after the live event. Furthermore, MTV India is putting together a four-part 30-minute reality TV documentary on the nationwide search for Metallica’s support band for local transmission too. Viewers will be able to participate in the online selection of the support act.
The support band hunt will see eight bands battle it out on MTV for the chance to open for Metallica. The hunt itself is being managed by international talent scouters Talenthouse. The winning band will get tickets and acco to come to New Delhi (curiously only for four members) and perform three original compositions as the opening act for Metallica. Details of how send in an application for your band can be found here.
Joining the F1 party will be international pop superstar from USA, Lady Gaga. Ms Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanottawill make an appearance at the F1 after-party that Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal will throw at his New Delhi club, Lap. The official quote that the Rampal PR machine has been touting is, “She has one million Twitter fans and over 40 million Facebook fans. It’s a great feeling to get an icon like her to perform at your club at your lounge.” Clearly he also has a social media agency.
Lap will host three after parties. The first, on Oct 28, will see DJ Roger Sanchez perform while the second, the next day, will see DJ Edward Maya play. Tickets for the first two days are Rs 30,000 a pop (no, we haven’t added an extra 0). The final day, Oct 30, will see DJ Tom Novy (who’s been rechristened Tom Navy in several mainstream publications) and Lady Gaga perform (LG’s set is reportedly only 30 minutes long), for which punters will have to shell out Rs 40,000.
Details are sketchy about the Rock ‘N India gig. The official website says that support acts will be announced shortly. Indian rock fans may remember that Backstreet Boys headlined the festival last year.
More from Metallica, Lady Gaga and the Indian Grand Prix soon. In the mean time, check out this Lady Gaga-Metallica mashup called ‘Enter Telephone’.
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