Saturday, 10 May 2014 00:00
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As vibrant and diverse as Colombo’s live music scene is, it has never really been overly-kind to the diehard fans of classic rock music. Sure, if you’re lucky and you happen to be at the right pub at the right time you might hear a good tune or two from the salad days of rock ‘n’ roll. But there never seems to be a go-to venue for classic rock fans to get their musical fix. Well, local heavy metallers, Angel Down just might have the solution.
Revisit and relive the back catalogs of The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Bad Company, Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi and the likes at Classic Rock at El Rancho happening on 24 May at El Rancho Tequila Bar & Grill. The concert featuring Angel Down, Chathurika Fernando, Prabodhya Fernando, Sam Dayaratne and Ravin Ratnam is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. and the gates are set to open at 6:30 p.m.
“This is actually the second classic rock night that we’ve organised,” explains Lasith Fernando, the frontman of Angel Down. “And what’s funny is that, like last time, the hardest part of putting the show together has been on deciding exactly what we’re going to play! As heavy metal musicians and as a heavy metal band, our roots are firmly in the sounds of bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, so deciding on just a handful of artistes to pay tribute to has been terribly hard. But after much debate (and a few fist fights) we’ve narrowed down a list that we think both the audience and the band will really get into on 24 May.”
“We actually had a bit of an ulterior motive when we organised the first classic rock night,” adds Lahiru Aravinthakumar of Angel Down. “You see, when you’re part of a heavy metal band in Sri Lanka, getting people through the door for their first rock show can be a bit daunting. That’s when we came up with the idea of hosting a classic rock night to act as a stepping stone, if you will, for fans to get a glimpse into life on our end of the musical spectrum. But getting to play the tunes that we grew up to as musicians and getting to pay tribute to the artistes that have influenced us so much is a reward in itself.”
Chathurika Fernando adds, “When my brother Prabodhya and I were growing up, rock ‘n’ roll was pretty much a constant in our household. I mean, our dad Keerthi Fernando was one of the first heavy metal singers in this country so we’d literally wake up to tunes from Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden each day. And it feels great to have a platform to pay tribute to the music that’s pretty much made us.”
Tickets for the show are priced at Rs. 1,000 and will be available at the venue entrance. However, tickets are also available for purchase online, and through the organisers who can be reached on 0779474472.
For more details on the gig you can also visit www.facebook.com/angeldownband.
