Playlist: Meet Your Headliners at Bacardi NH7 Weekender!

Steve Vai: For The Love Of God

There are going to be thousands of rock fans in Meghalaya & Pune just waiting for Steve to play those first few notes of what is popularly and critically considered his finest song. If you've never heard Vai before - or even been exposed to pure-guitar-instrumental, there can hardly be a better introduction. This has been voted #29 by Guitar World as greatest guitar solo of all time, and it features a variety of guitar techniques that will have nerds with their jaws wide open.

From The Album: Passion and Warfare, 1990

Catch Steve Vai at: Bacardi NH7 Weekender Meghalaya & Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pune

Textures: Awake

The Dutch metallers are returning to India as part of their farewell tour, and is imminently head-bob-inducing. With a mix of loud guitars, melodic singing-meets-growls and terrific drumming, this is going to be one of the most-anticipated tracks on their setlist. The video is also quite slick, given that it came out in 2008. The song, if played in Pune, will feature a few tears as well, since it's the last ever time it'll be played live - since that's the band's last show - ever!

From The Album: Silhouettes, 2008

Catch Textures at: Bacardi NH7 Weekender Meghalaya & Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pune

The Dillinger Escape Plan: Prancer

There is no easy way to introduce TDEP - at one level, they're incredibly cerebral with their music - going through tempo shifts and time signature changes with gay abandon. At another level, you don't want to mess around with them - they're infamous for their stage antics and that's what makes them an awesome live act. So rather than dig out a studio / lyric video of theirs, catch one of their most outrageous performances - when lead singer Greg Puciato took to stage reading a newspaper, sipping tea (yes, the show was in Britain, how did you guess?) and lounging on a couch during the guitar show. What awaits Pune?

From The Album: One of Us Is the Killer, 2013

Catch The Dillinger Escape Plan At: Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pune

Marky Ramone: Blitzkrieg Bop

Marky Ramone is on a mission to spread the music of his erstwhile pioneering punk band to all corners of the globe and has been touring relentlessly with a new band called Blitzkrieg. Their style of music was an answer to the apparent pretentiousness and length of art-rock, prog-rock and space-rock which were prevalent at the time (think early Pink Floyd) - an as-basic-as-it-gets approach to rock: 2-3 minute songs, sans guitar solos, catchy singalong choruses. Here is the song that always gets crowds pumped up with the chorus of "Hey, Ho! Let's Go!" delivered in a drawling British accent. It also gives his band its name!

From The Album: Ramones, 1976

Catch Marky Ramone At: Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pune

Vishal Bhardwaj: Bismil

Vishal is anything but conventional - be it his approach to movies (a Hindi remake of three Shakespearean tragedies in a day and age of sappy love movies!), music or even social media (he's not on any!). Few songs reflect this better than Bismil from the Shahid Kapoor-starrer Haider. Penned by Gulzar and sung by Sukhwinder Singh (who won a national award for it), the title of the song means 'Sacrificed' in Persian. Props to the video as well - which is dramatic enough to make you ecstatic and uncomfortable all at once. It came at a pivotal point in what was a fantastic movie, and one hopes it makes it to the setlist of Vishal Bhardwaj's first ever live show.

From The Album: Haider Soundtrack, 2014

Catch Vishal Bhardwaj At: Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pune

Indian Ocean: Tandanu

Torchbearers of fusion-rock in the country for decades now, Indian Ocean is one of the country's favourite bands. While hits like Bande, Kandisa and Maa Reva are staples and things that most people would have definitely heard, songs from their latest (7th) album, Tandanu, are worth checking out, especially because each track features a special guest musician. The title track features Bollywood stalwart Shankar Mahadevan. Funnily enough, the album's name has no meaning - it was chosen instead for its rhythmic sound.

From The Album: Tandanu, 2014

Catch Indian Ocean At: Bacardi NH7 Weekender Meghalaya & Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pune

The Ram Sampath Experience: Colorblind

One of the most interesting sets to check out this time will be by Ram Sampath. Currently more popular for composing some edgy music for movies and ad jingles, Sampath started off long back with a psychedelic-rock album which is still revered by Indie music fans in the country. His band, called Colorblind, released an album of the same name and the title track has a riff you won't be able to get out of your head. You can be sure that after Bhaag DK Bose, this will be one of the most anticipated tracks on his setlist.

From The Album: Colorblind, 1998

Catch The Ram Sampath Experience At: Bacardi NH7 Weekender Pune