Music returns to stage after 18 months
After fretting over the coronavirus outbreak for nearly two years, music aficionados' hearts and heads were finally bopping with beats again.
It has undoubtedly been a long break for Bangladeshi music enthusiasts who have been deprived of watching their favourite rock bands perform in a live concert. Nonetheless, the break was necessary.
The Covid-19 pandemic has not yet perished, but live performances have returned to the stages at long last, and the hiatus was broken with the first-ever 'Coffee Carnival' of Bangladesh, presented by Dan Cake and powered by Nescafe.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The event was held at International Convention City Bashundhara Hall-2, Pushpo Guccho, of International Convention City Bashundhara on Friday.
Brandmyth Communication arranged the event to celebrate 'International Coffee Day 2021', to bring the coffee community of Bangladesh under a single platform and to entertain coffee lovers.
Gates to the hall were opened at 4pm although the crowd started to pour in inside the venue from 1pm, growing rapidly as evening approached.
The concert's lineup included celebrated bands such as Nemesis, Shironamhin, AvoidRafa and Artcell, while also welcoming emerging and fresh bands such as Encore, Arekta Rock Band and Savagery.
The lineup was strong enough to restart the gears of concerts. The cheering crowd and their overwhelming reactions testify to that.
Encore was the first band to spark the fire on stage. With hits such as 'Srotoshinni', Encore managed to give the crowd the boost of energy and nostalgia they needed to get started off.
The next band to perform was 'Arekta Rock Band', who did tremendously well with some of their most popular tracks such as 'Chaap' and 'Eden'. However, the crowd did not take it well when the band arrived on stage once more after their performance to announce their latest collaboration 'Ojana' with Xefer Rahman, booing the single as soon as it started playing on the speakers.
One issue with both these early bands was their sound was not tuned properly. The guitars and bass needed better mixing to sync with the drums and vocals. At times, the drums were too loud and drowned the vocals, and at other times the bass sound was completely lost.
After the Arekta Rock Band, Savagery took to the stage and opened their performance with a cover of 'Sweet Child of Mine' and followed it up with Ayub Bacchu's legendary track 'Ghumonto Shohore' before moving on to their original 'Shadhinota'.
What was surprising was that Savagery had the best sound in the house. Every instrument was well coordinated and the mixing, both on monitors and master, was impeccably executed.
For a band as underrated as Savagery, ensuring good live sound was a great feat of success. This truly shows that more concert organisers should make room for newer and rising bands.
Next up was AvoidRafa who excited the crowd with their famous tracks such as 'Ami Akash Pathabo', 'Har Kala', 'Cholo Arekbar Uri' and 'Anmone'.
AvoidRafa's performance blew the crowd away and their sound was mixed to perfection, like always.
After a break, Nemesis walked up to the stage and the crowd's anticipation exceeded all bars as they cheered for Zohad.
They opened their set with 'Janala' and sang more of their popular tracks such as 'Gonojowar', 'Bir' and 'Obocheton'. Arbovirus drummer Nafeez Al Amin crowd surfed while Nemesis was performing, at which the crowd went wild.
Taking cue from Nafeez, Zohad also crowd surfed while performing 'Obocheton'. He, however, did it more carefully, as opposed to Nafeez who crowd surfs spontaneously.
Once Nemesis finished setting fire to the stage, Shironamhin stepped up to fuel the fire. They started their performance with 'Jadukor', where Sheikh Ishtiak took over the cymbals while Kazi Ahmed Shafin played the flute part of the song. They also sang some classic Shironamhin songs such as 'Ei Obelay', 'Abar Hashimukh' and 'Pakhi'.
The last act, the showstopper, was none other than Artcell. We last saw Artcell perform live in 2019 at the 20 Years of Artcellism. It was the mega concert that celebrated the band's 20th anniversary.
As music lovers of the country got to experience Artcell live again after almost two years, the anticipation and excitement went through the roof. They started their performance with 'Odekha Shorgo' and followed up with 'Dukkho Bilash'. They also performed the first bit of 'Oniket Prantor' and moved on to 'Poth Chola' and 'Onno Shomoy'.
Although Artcell's performance was well-received by the audience, we did miss the presence of Cezanne and Shaju, who remained absent.
'Coffee Carnival' was the first concert after the Covid-19 pandemic put a stop to such events. Meanwhile, the pandemic managed to change our social engagement pattern and lifestyle.
Whether it is a concert or any other event, we cannot afford mass gatherings until most of our population has been vaccinated.
Along with the overall concert management, the organisers, Brandmyth Communication, should have prepared the venue adequately to meet the Covid-19 health safety protocols.
While we agree that it is impossible to attend a concert while maintaining social distance, as the stakes are still high, we cannot help but think about an alternative way to keep these shows going.
Nonetheless, vibing to masterpieces such as 'Ei Obelay' and 'Oniket Prantor' in a live concert took the audience back to the normal days, even if it was only for one evening.
'Coffee Carnival' has proven once again how much the music lovers of the country missed live concerts with headliner bands, and enjoyed spending an eventful evening with their friends and loved ones.
