The first of its kind, it was usually held annually in cities like Delhi,[1] Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Shillong,[2] with a cumulative audience of approximately 50,000 people.
[4] The festival was founded by rock journalist and promoter Amit Saigal, who died in 2012.
Subsequently, according to Mint, the "Great Indian Rock Festival in Delhi called it a day after 15 years…in 2012.
[citation needed] Each edition of Great Indian Rock was also accompanied by an album compiling the songs of the shortlisted bands known as the "GIR Compilation,"[8] consisting of 12 original compositions by 12 bands from various regions of India.
[9] In addition to featuring Indian musicians like Parikrama,[2] Orange Street,[2] and Indian Ocean,[2] the festival has also hosted international artists like Shawn Lane,[citation needed] Jonas Hellborg,[citation needed] John Myung,[citation needed] Meshuggah,[10] Tesseract,[10] and Intronaut,[10] and Satyricon.