SHILLONG, JUNE 29: “Shillong Rocks” whether it is Scorpion, MLTR, Fire House or now the Hoobastank as the crowd in the 5th Polo ground on Friday was a testimony of how Shillong, nay the northeast, is home to rock music in India. The intermittent drizzle added to the romance of the rock music as Doug Robb, the front-man and lead vocalist of the American based Hoobastank band energized the crowd into rocking with him.
Adrenalin skyrocketed as Robb energized the crowd into stamping and swaying dishing out some of the band hit numbers like “The Reason, Fight or Flight, Crawling in the dark, Out of control, Inside you, Running away. The 12, 000 crowds sort of got a warm-up from the local bands including one from Nagaland and the mood was set for a bigger moment by the time Hoobastank came to the stage.
The American rock band is in Shillong as part of the sixth anniversary celebrations of the news and arts magazine, The North East Today which is popular with the youngsters of the north eastern region.
Mind you the crowd was not exclusively young, but there was a healthy mixture of matured adults and even VIPs like Meghalaya labour minister Ampareen Lyngdoh and UDP working president Paul Lyngdoh who appeared to have enjoyed every moment of the show.
The fans of this American rock band also came all the way from neighbouring northeastern states like Assam, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland just to be part of this big gig.
“I drove about three hours from Guwahati to Shillong, just because I don’t want to miss this opportunity,” a college student from Assam who came along with his group told this reporter. As if to prove their loyalty to the band the group shouted, “We are here because we are the greatest fans of the band. They are amazing.”
Another star-struck fan from Shillong said, “I could not believe my eyes that am really seeing them play before me.” The night for all the fans will remain etched in their memories as they might recall how they enjoyed rocking with 
the band live.– By Our Reporter
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