Extreme rocks fans to close 3rd edition of Shirock
Source: The Sangai Express / Mungchan Zimik

Ukhrul, October 20 2019: Thousands of spectators from across the country swarmed Bakshi ground to watch and rock to the numbers belted out by US based Extreme at Ukhrul town on the closing night of Shirock yesterday.

Extreme closed the 3rd edition of Shirock where bands from different North Eastern States competed in style leaving the rock fans in a tizzy.

"Thanks Shirock for staging live concert and inviting international rock bands" chanted spectators from all four corners of Bakshi ground.

Extreme rocks fans to close 3rd edition of Shirock

American band Extreme performed their first rock concert in India at Ukhrul luring thousands both locals and non locals to the rock show.

Last year, in the 2nd edition of Shirock 2018, international rock bands Steelheart and Queensryche mesmerised the crowd while Scottist rock band Nazareth pulled in the crowd on the opening night of Shirock this year, truly giving the musical do an international look.

To make sure that the rock fest went off without a hitch, a separate dedicated transformer of 250 kv was installed at Bakshi ground for the musical concert, and standby generators were also put in place in case of any breakdown.

According to the organisers 150-170 kv of power was needed for the sound system throughout the concert.

The sound system was Mayor Sound a recommended system for international rock concerts.

Speaking at the sidelines of the rock concert with some of the visitors from other States of India, Craig Ireland, who stays at Gurugram, Haryana said that he is a die hard fan of Extreme and added that he wanted to meet guitarist Nuno Bettencourt personally.

According him, he spent more than Rs 30,000 for the whole journey including accommodation at Ukhrul to enjoy the live rock concert of Extreme.

Guest visitors from Punjab, Orissa, Ranchi namely Tarjeet, Darshan and Vickey, said that they came to Ukhrul not to miss their favourite songs from the Album Extreme II Pornograffitti and they each spent Rs 50,000 .

Apart from enjoying the music, they had the privilege of meeting new people, making friendship and the hospitality of the local people is wonderful, they mentioned.

Sagar who came from Bangalore, a 30 year old, trainer by profession stayed the whole week not to miss Nazareth and Extreme rock show at Ukhrul.

Chonchon, a local woman who stays at Imphal and came for Shirock and said that it was an exciting moment to savour the music, live.

According to the registration office, 30 thousand tickets were printed for entry pass, and were all issued before 5 pm and the office had to issue duplicate additional entry passes for more than 10 thousand persons.

Notably in only its third edition, Shirock has become one of the biggest rock concerts in North East India.

Breathtaking performance from vocalist Gary Cherone, guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, bassist Pat Badger and drummer Kevin Figueiredo mesmerised the crowd with 15 hits.

Duet performance of the evergreen song "More Than Words", by Nuno Bettencourt and Gary Cherone drove the crowd wild.

Notably this number hit 1 on the Billboard chart in the United States.

On the other hand, the winner tag of Shirock rock 2019 was handed to Nightmares from Sikkim while first runner up was shared by two, Sword Tune of Mizoram & Paper Sky of Nagaland and the second runner up spot went to High Volt of Manipur.

The voice - Solo hunt winner individual prize went to Asherie Haokip of Imphal East, first runner up spot was shared between Dziipani Athiisi of Senapati and N Sanjeev of Imphal West and the second runner up title went to Pemmichon Rumthao of Ukhrul.

Best originals title went to Origami of Mizoram, best lead guitar to Anong Timung from Assam, best drum to Dwang Dwang of Sword Tune from Mizoram, best bassist title to Richard of Larger Than 90 from Meghalaya, best guitar to Aboy Awungshi of Oking band from Manipur and best vocal to Raj of Innocent Eyes from Manipur.

Shirock was held under the sponsorship of Department of Tourism, Manipur to spread awareness about the endangered Shirui Lily and promote the district as a tourist destination.