Swiss funk meets Bangla folk-rock
Swiss band Starch and local band Lalon (inset) rock a full-house.
To celebrate 40 years of Swiss-Bangla friendship, the Embassy of Switzerland invited the Swiss funk-rock band Starch and popular Bangladeshi folk-rock band Lalon to perform at an indoor concert at Goethe Institut, Dhanmondi, Dhaka on Tuesday. A second concert is taking place today at 4pm, at Rabindra Sarobar, Dhanmondi. This open air concert is open to all.
Starch, who is touring throughout Asia and who had just arrived from Kuala Lumpur, opened the concert on Tuesday. Starch presented a splendid fusion of funk, rock and hip-hop with different instruments, such as trumpet, trombone, electronic guitar, bass, drums and keyboard. Only after one or two songs, the first slight retention of the audience disappeared and everyone wanted to be in the first row -- dancing and singing and jumping with the performers. Especially the solos and an amazing mix of transverse flute and beat boxing were given a big hand. “That was just amazing,” a young man in the audience said. His friend nodded. Starch was excited about the Bangladeshi audience: “It's all happening here in Bangladesh,” singer Simon P. Winiger said. And he added, that they were hoping to have a chance to play with the band Lalon. “Lalon is great, since they incorporate traditional music.”
For the second part of the concert, the stage was ruled by the glorious Lalon. The fusion of Bangla folk and rock cast a spell over the international audience. Singer Shumi enchanted everyone with her powerful voice. The band's music is dedicated to the philosophy of the mystic bard Fakir Lalon Shai. “We adapt Lalon classics to make it popular to younger people,” band leader and drummer Thein Han Maung AKA Titi said. “Our goal is to take Bangladeshi culture to the world,” he added. The band has spent the last months in the studio to record its third album, which will be out in the market soon.