The Rockers United concert

The Rockers United charity concert was held on June 27th at one of the most hackneyed venues of all - RCC. Tickets were priced at 200 bucks and the venue was moderately filled with people once the first band appeared on stage. The air conditioner was turned on full blast and plenty of seats were initially still empty so overall, the audience was pretty comfortable.

Band Inanimate kick started the event with Testaments 'Low' and their power packed performance took the crowd by surprise. After doing two more tracks one of which included Sodom's 'M16', they concluded their performance with one of their own tracks titled 'Dhongshojoggo'. Their vibrant energy and powerful drums were successful in drawing out loud cheers from the audience so overall they were quite impressive.

Funeral Anthem entered the scene next and they sure had the crowd roaring as soon as they hit the stage. And sure enough, when they reached the track 'Every time I die', the audience went completely wild. Head bangers lined up in front of the stage and were banging their best and the musicians on stage too seemed to give their heart and soul out to their performance. The vocalist was exceptional and sang tracks only from the band Children of the Bodom; his voice completely suited the genre. Other than that, the band was properly in sync that the crowd couldn't seem to get enough of them even when they reached their final song of the afternoon called 'Sixpounder'.

The energy was still high in the air when the band Demise took the stage next. Their performance included renditions of 'Hallowed by Thy Name' (Cradle of Filth version) and Magadeth's 'A toute Le Monde'. Despite the band's tremendous efforts, it was obvious that something was missing in their pieces. The vocals weren't too impressive but perhaps he was just having a bad day. No one seemed too eager to hear them and remained seated all the while when they were on stage.

Anyhow, after the slight decline in energy, the next band D.O.T. was somewhat successful in reviving it with DOT's own track 'Bangladesh' and Metallica's cover of 'Fuel'.

But it was Radioactive that stepped in to take the show to the next level and it must be said that they were simply fabulous. Along with doing a couple of their own tracks they did Skid Row's '18 and Life' and finished off by placing a tribute to the late Michael Jackson by performing his track 'Beat it' from the album Thriller. The notion truly touched and moved the audience and it was evident that every mind was occupied with thoughts of the Legend himself. As a whole, Radioactive did a remarkable job, connecting with the audience and giving everyone a huge musical treat.

Radioactive's departure was followed in by Gene-splits entrance. They literally brought down the house, playing the music as loud as they possibly could, pumping the music into everyone's veins. The band covered their own tracks from their newly realeased album apart from doing a couple of other songs like 'Suicidal Anthem'.

De-Illumination came in next and after a short jam they jumped into their new version of 'Choto Shopno' with the guitars and bass being the highlight of the song. But what came in as a shock was their performing 'Ekhoni Shomouy' from the album Rage 1, which happens to be a rather soulful song and well it was a rock concert, right? Nevertheless, the keyboard work was perfect and the solos in a Deep Purple song titled 'Smoke on the Water' were remarkable. The guitarist was all over the stage, playing in different positions-leaving singing along.

As the show drew near its end, the most awaited band, Warfaze, appeared on stage. The legendary band started off with their 'Shomoy' before moving onto 'Omanush' from their latest album. 'Boshe achi' was one of the covers everyone loved and in between the guitar solo game-thing (whatever they call it) among the guitarists Oni and Kamal was a fun sight to be witnessed. Bassist Roger also left the audience doe eyed with his remarkable riffs and keyboardist Shams was marvelous as always. The entire combo of musicians was more than the crowd could take because they almost seemed ready to burst with delight.

So finally when the show ended, everyone emerged from the venue feeling full and satisfied. The event had been undoubtedly a success and the sound system had been almost flawless thanks to SAS, the sound and light sponsor of the event. The show was sponsored by Market & Trance and Co-sponsored by Radio Today and Tunesbd was the official web partner of the event. Rockers United concert had been organized to raise money for a cancer victim and we all support the noble cause. Jaago foundation too took part in helping out in the event through doing volunteer work and selling T-shirts.

By Nayeema Reza
P.S. Thanks a lot to Nadeem (Inanimate) for all his help.

Sensibility objectified
Venue: Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts

With a sculptural sensibility shaped by his early contacts with the masters of modern sculpture in the west, Sarbari Roy Choudhury is essentially a modeler in the best modernist tradition for whom sculpture is the magical act of turning clay in to flesh. Starting from 26th June a solo sculpture exhibition called “Sensibility Objectified” will give you the opportunity to catch a glimpse of this maestro's work in Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts.

Sarbari Roy's work is figurative and animated by a deep sense of hte organic, and this, despite his work methods; connect him with the Indian tradition of sculpture. He is the master of small and the intimate; his works can be held in our hands and are to be felt as much as seen. May be his works are small in size and intimate in feeling they usually have monumentality build into them.

The intimate handling of the materials also adds further uniqueness to his work. Like the work of many modern artists his fingers often seem to exist out side the rationale of naturalism, but they are seldom dehumanised. Imbued with the organic, like flesh made malleable by intimate touch, they are lyrically transformed not expressively transfixed. He himself compares this fluidity of figuration to musical abstraction.

Rahat, student of Literature of Dhaka University, one of the visitors of the exhibition said, “These sculptures seem to have souls as we humans do. You can relate to it almost as another person or another object. I'm overwhelmingly fascinated with Mr. Sarbari Roy's work”.

The exhibition runs until 5th July, 2009. So if you have some time to drench yourself with some excellent work of sculpture this exhibition is a must go for you.

By Zabir Hasan

Team Bangladesh set to fly

The Bangladeshi delegation to the World Cyber Games 2009 set off today to pit their skills against players from around the world, at Suntec City, Singapore. Clockwise from left: Faisal Jashim Uddin (AIUB), Md Aminur Rashid Asif (BUET), Mohammed Irfan Hussain (Country Manager, World Cyber Games), Shajjadur Rahman (ULAB), Saadman Sakib Rahman (Maple Leaf Intl), Md Mohiuddin Sajol (Lalmatia Housing Society Higher Secondary School), Fahad Bin Zafar

(NSU), and Ashiqur Rahman Moin Sami (NSU). Here's wishing Team Bangladesh the very best of luck !

Participating countries include Australia, Bangladesh, China, Chinese Taipei, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Japan.

Winners will receive attractive cash prizes along with bragging rights.