Delhi band Guillotine to open for Metallica’s concert

Remember we had told you that a hunt was on for an Indian band to open for Metallica’s Gurgaon concert scheduled for Friday? Delhi-based band Guillotine and Delhi DJ Sidharth Talwar have been chosen to open the American thrash metal band’s maiden concert in the country, with Scottish band Biffy Clyro, under two separate initiatives concluded this week.
While Sidharth (31) was told a few days ago he had been chosen to open the concert, Guillotine was selected on Monday night in a nail-biting finale in Mumbai by a jury after a month-long search.
Guillotine was selected under a contest run by Talenthouse India for F1 Rocks. After various rounds of a nation-wide search, the band was finally selected, and minutes after winning, Karan Nambiar, lead vocalist of Guillotine, told us, “We are speechless. It has not sunk in yet. I don’t know about the other members (Takar Nabam, Rohit Bhattacharya, Akshat Taneja and Kabir Mahajan), but I’ll certainly cry on stage, I think.” While celebrations started for the band on Monday itself, Karan said they’re super excited about the opportunity to be playing on their home ground for Metallica. He said, “We usually play death metal mixed with jazz, funk, blues and electronics, and that’s what we’ll play at the concert too. It’ll be our creations. We usually pick up social issues through our songs and we’ll try and do the same here. It’s our crowd, and we want to ensure they have a good time.” Arun Mehra, CEO, Talenthouse India, said, “It was very difficult to choose eight bands from over 250 that had participated. It took over a week to freeze on the eight finalists from the shortlisted 25.”
For DJ Siddharth of Cafe Morrison, it was a call from DNA Entertainment Networks that changed his life. He says, “I’ve been given a slot to open the concert, and my act will be followed by an Indian band (Guillotine). After that, Biffy Clyro will perform. Since I was told I’d be the first one on stage, I’ve been sh***ing bricks. To share the stage with the biggest of the big four, Metallica, is a dream come true for any rock fan.” Sidharth, who’s been deejaying since 1997, adds he is still to figure out his exact line-up, but it will definitely include some Indian acts. “The Indian underground rock scene is my chosen genre and I’ll be putting together a lot of Indian acts. On a stage like this, I want to put forth non-commercial bands. I want to use this platform as well as I can.”