For many metal music fans in the mainland India, British metaller Monuments may not be a name that needs introduction any more. The progressive metal-core band had performed three times in the country since 2013.
It was, on the other hand, Monuments’ first-time entry in the North East. The U.K. quartet headlined this year’s ShiRock, an annual international rock festival of Manipur, on the closing day of the four-day-long musical festival on May 28.
Many music lovers and even metal-obsessed music fans here ended up flocking to Google to learn more about the band. Or to YouTube to get acquainted with their not-so-familiar songs when the band’s name was announced as this year’s international headliner days before their arrival here.
True to form, Monuments front man Andy Cizek led off their show with a highly amplified number setting the tone of the night at the Bakshi Ground, the venue of ShiRock, in Ukhrul town.
Thundering drums and powerful guitar riffs left the 20,000-strong crowd in a frenzy, even though the audience seemed to find it hard to follow the lyrics of their songs.
Monuments played single hits such as Cardinal Red, Deadnest, and False Providence, as well as songs from their studio albums Gnosis, The Amanuensis, Phronesis, and In Stasis.
The band suffered a setback on the night, much to the crowd’s chagrin, as bassist Adam Swan was reportedly down with a sickness and was unable to play with his band mates Andy Cizek, guitarist John Browne, and drummer Mike Malyan.
The band made their debut performance in India during the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur’s annual college celebration Springfest in January 2013.
Seven years later, the metal-core quartet returned to India and performed at two gigs in Mumbai and Bengaluru in 2020.
On the closing day of the musical festival, the results of the annual ShiRock band competition were announced before Monuments took the stage.
The Prophets, a rock band from Mizoram, was declared the competition’s winner for this year, and they received a cash award of Rs. 10 lakhs.
The winning band opened the night’s show for Monuments.
Symphonic Illusion from Meghalaya and 1BHK from Manipur were named first and second runners-up, respectively, and received cash awards of Rs. 5 lakh and Rs. 2.5 lakh.
Six individual prizes of Rs. 25,000 each were awarded to Suresh Chingkheimayum (Variation 4) for Best Vocal; Jaye Haokip (Echoes of Mercy) for Best Bassist; Donald Pheipi (Variation 4) for Best Guitarist; Raegan Yumnam (Terra Progeny) for Best Drummer; Samuel (The Prophets) for Best Keyboardist; and Symphonic Illusion for Best Stage Act.
ShiRock, a musical carnival, is organised annually by the Tourism Department of the Government of Manipur as part of the Shirui Lily festival from May 25 to May 28. It is a ticket free event to support the protection of endangered state flower, Shirui Lily, as well as to promote young artists, with the goal of promoting eco-tourism in the state.
With Monuments’ performance this year, so far five international bands have performed at the musical festival since 2018 including ‘Nazareth’, ‘Extreme’, ‘Queensryche’ and ‘Steelheart’.
