Rock Monsters Romania

Another month, another concert in the Stray Lights series at Control Club. The Bucharest audience is invited to a new evening dedicated to alternative energy, featuring two bands that not only take risks, but turn them into sonic statements: Baby Elvis and Mock Surprise.

Tickets here

Born in the basement of an abandoned mill in Oradea, Baby Elvis built its identity out of pure spontaneity. The name came naturally, following intense jam sessions in their rehearsal space, and that instinctive freedom has remained the band’s DNA. Their distinctive sound blends the energy of garage rock with the visceral vibration of fuzz and the punch of thunderous drums, resulting in an explosive mix that has carried them onto stages across the country and beyond.

In 2024, Baby Elvis took to the Main Stage at INmusic Festival in Zagreb, sharing the bill with names such as Viagra Boys and Sleaford Mods a moment that confirmed their steady rise. The concert at Control marks a new chapter for the band: the release of their third album, World Fame, a record that promises to push even further the raw power and authenticity that defined them.

Joining them on stage will be Mock Surprise, an alternative quartet formed in 2019, returning to Control for the release of their new single, “thumb.” The Oradea-based band juggles alternative rock, post-hardcore, and experimental influences, crafting a sound that shifts from noisy aggression to gentle restraint, in a constant search for new directions. Their debut album, Portmanteau, released in 2025, marked an important step in their evolution, capturing the transition from a more prog-oriented beginning toward a noisier, post-hardcore-influenced territory. They are currently working on a follow-up album set for release at the end of 2026.

Aware of the importance of stage presence, the members of Mock Surprise measure a concert’s success not by the size of the venue, but by the intensity of the experience: for them, it is enough if a single person in the audience feels that the music truly means something. Without turning political messaging into a central focus, the band chooses to put the music first, embracing a simple yet bold manifesto: “try everything” and “be afraid of nothing.” They are not afraid to experiment, to be dissonant, ironic, or uncomfortable and it is precisely this freedom that defines their artistic identity.

Mock Surprise don’t come to please they come to challenge. With a cocktail of indie rock, post-punk, carefully composed noise, and musical sarcasm, the band creates a space where the boundary between rehearsal and brilliant structure becomes intentionally blurred.

This new edition of Stray Lights promises, therefore, an evening where spontaneity, experimentation, and raw energy meet on the same stage. At Control this month, the underground breathes loud and without compromise.

Stray Lights operates as a support network among dozens of active alternative bands including Cardinal, Orkid, D.E.N.I.S, Zammorian, Second Wave, Baby Elvis, PLANT, Valerinne, Methadone Skies, Midpoint, and Air Lines a form of cultural resistance within a fragile musical ecosystem.

“Stray Lights 2.0 is a necessity. A form of coagulation, collaboration, and mutual support among as many bands as possible that create alternative, relevant, and non-anachronistic music in Romania. (…) It’s not an agency, it’s not a label it’s a small group of people trying to help each other and, from time to time, put on a show.”
— Vlad Ilicevici, Orkid / Stray Lights initiator

Media partners: Clivaj, Critic Eyez, Happ.ro, Infomusic, Observator Cultural, Radio Guerrilla, Rock Monsters, Subversiv, Sunete, Trăiește Muzica, Utopia Balcanică, Zile și Nopți.