Music to raise awareness on drug abuse

Bangla (right) and Hyder Husyn perform at the concert

'Say no to drugs' was echoed by thousands of youngsters who vowed to launch a nationwide movement against drug abuse.

ALO (an organisation for drug awareness) in association with djuice (Grameen Phone) organised a concert at the Gulshan Youth Club ground (behind Wonderland Park, Gulshan) on August 25.

The concert had a lofty purpose: to raise awareness at all spheres of national life about drug abuse and relentless aggression of narcotics.

Both mainstream and underground bands entertained the crowd. Among the bands that participated were LRB, Warfaze, Artcell, Black, Bangla, Ajob, Nemesis, Echoes, and Roots.

Ajob, Nemesis, Echoes, and Roots presented some pretty good numbers but the crowd seemed to expect more. Popular band Bangla performed their older popular numbers. Songs like Nodir kul lagia. Moriley kandishna, Mon torey parlamna bujhaitey and many more were applauded. The addition of traditional instruments like the dhol and khomok added extra flavour to their performance.

Hyder Husyn who recently released an album titled Phaishsha Gechhi, rocked the crowd with his solo performance. Songs performed by Hyder included Phaishsha gechhi, Shari and Tirish bochhor porey.

Artcell began their performance with Bhul jonmo followed by the well rendered Smritisharok, Rahur grash, Pothchola and Chiley kothar shepai.

Popular band Black performed one song with guest vocalist Arafat and another with Elita. After a fire spinning show the band Warfaze made its way to the stage.

Ayub Bachchu with his band LRB wrapped up the concert. LRB performed a series of their hits and kept the audience on their toes.

It should be mentioned that though the concert was for drug awareness, a number of people were smoking in the crowd, which was indeed very irritating and inconsiderate.

ALO's president Nehreen Rehman (Tootli) spoke during the show. She said, "Drug addiction is a serious threat to the society and everyone should take a stand against it."

Talking about the hopes and aspirations of the concert's organisers, Captain Ghulam Hussain, secretary of ALO said, "We intend to hold similar events every year, and our organisation will continue its endeavours to generate awareness on drug abuse."