Underground recharge
BD music icons reincarnated!!!

The 25th of June is one date BD music lovers will not forget very soon. New kids on the block UNDERGROUND INCORPORATED definitely showed up ALTERMETAL's big bash with their even bigger and much better concert, "UNDERGROUN RECHARGE." The BD music scene was set on full recharge as bands like Artcell, Cryptic Fate, Breach, Nemesis etc. made a major comeback into the lives of all the music fans!

With a strong line-up and aided along by ULTIMATE ORGANIZATIONS, UG INC., as they are commonly known, made their debut concert a definite hit with nearly 1200 people attending the show. Such was their popularity, as well as the popularity of the venue, many people could be seen milling about the gates of ISD all day, unable to get inside, not that they did not try! Of course this was all for a noble cause since most of the proceeds, if not all, will be donated to the Ahsania Mission cancer funds.

To most people's surprise, the organizers were able to start the show on time at 1:30 with "CnG". These guys put up a great show as they did "Radio," "Lithium," and their own song "Bastobota." Vocalist, Tarab, certainly outdid all his past performances with Lithium and much can be said about Sameer (guitarist), Turaj (bassist) and Rayan's (drummer) fantastic performances throughout!

Following them came BD's very own punk band "Baahsznought!" With Shayer (vocalist), Rushdee (guitarist), Farhan (bassist), Faraz (drummer), Mufrad (guitarist) and Omar (guitarist), it was frequently on everyone's minds and lips to comment that this band's members made up most of the concert going population. Even then, their co-ordination was superb and their overall performacnce was highly enjoyable s they did "Blitzkreig Bop," "The Grouch," "She's a Rebel," "Walking Contradiction," "Holiday," "Shut Up" and "Dammit."

Next up on stage was Obhishap. Vocalist Raseen did an impressive job covering popular tracks like "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Wickerman" and ending their performance with their own track self titled as "Obhishap". Daiyan's precise drumming and Akil's deft guitar works and those of Arman and Moin, were skillfully harmonized with bassist Nadir and the band gave probably its best synchronized performance so far.

Soothsayer came on next featuring Akil (guitars), Majed (vocals and bass), Imrul (guitars), Arman (drums) and Nadir (guest bass). Starting off with "Enter Sandman" with Nadir as guest bassist, the band moved on to give a truly rocking performance of two of their own compositions, "Shesh Kobita" and "Hotta Kore Amae."

Then came Delude, giving a fabulous performance of "Be Yourself," "Megalomaniac," "All my Life," "Times Like These" and their own composition. Vocalist, Rizwan, had everyone absolutely speechless with his high pitches as did guitarist, Adnan, with his guitar leads. Drummer, Omair, guitarist, Shajib, and bassist, Faiaz, were amazing as well.

Kral equals Metal! Taking us back in time to Steve Vai and keeping alive the names of Dream Theatre and Pantera, Kral, with Rafa (vocals and drums), Saadi (guitars), Imtiaz (vocals), Nowfel (keyboards) and Aldnane (bass), gave us a stunning show. Their covers of "Shy Boy," "Fatal Tragedy," "This Love" as well as their own songs "Obhishap" and "Opekhkhay" had the crowd on their feet and headbanging like crazy, lead by Kral's even crazier manager, Khaled. Another mentionable fact, while speaking or rather writing of Kral, is that their guitarist, Saadi, sported a "wireless" guitar, and the very sight was nothing short of hypnotic.

Favourites Breach, then made an apprearance. Doing "Shopno," "Stairway To Heaven," "Calm like a bomb" and another song. With spectacular vocals Ashraf, guitarists Omair and Onaicee, guest bassist Opu, guest drummer Ashfak and guest keyboardist Tehzeeb, Breach too made a splendid comeback, though maybe not exactly up to the band's expectations as they may have had some problems with the sound system.

The performance we had all been waiting for. Cryptic Fate graced the stage after what seems like ages, and the response was stupendous! Never before has any other band in BD made such a huge comeback. Starting with their newest song "Onnadorer Shontan," "CF" made a smashing start to their electrifying performance. They then went on to play "Prem," "Jaatra," "Raag" and "BYOB." They ended with "Cholo Bangladesh" as a tribute to Bangladesh's recent victory versus the Australian cricket giants. This last was hardly sung by vocalist Shakib, since his voice was completely drowned out by the energetic fans who were singing along. Nafi (drummer), Farhan (guitars) and Sarfaraaz (guitars) were celebrated just as much. Heroes of the day? Absolutely!

As always Stentorian lived up to their name. The raucous cheers of the crowd greeted them all the while as they made their way up to the stage. With new vocalist Tanim, James (guitars), Shams (bass), Tutul (Guitars), Rafiul (drums), and Jon from black as guest vocalist, Stentorian further energized the already enthusiastic crowd. They started off with their own "Bhoy" and then "Breaking the Law," "Rock You Like A Hurricane," "Obinosshor," "Bisshono Adhar" and as a very grand finale, "Oddrissho Juddho." With a song list like that, it was little wonder that the organizers had the worst time ever, just trying to keep the crowd from getting up onto the stage.

Nemesis, another "hot" favourite, though more for the ladies with their starstudded line up of Zohad (vocals), Nandito (guitars), Maher (guitars), Ratul (bass) and Dio (drums), unfortunately were able to do only four songs. Even then, this performance was probably one of the best in the entire show. Only Cryptic Fate received such awesome response from the crowd, and it was indeed a sad misfortune that the organizers had a slight mishap with the band timings. Nevertheless the show went on and what a show it was! Nemesis, intriguing as always, covered "Megalomaniac," "Vertigo," "Gone" and after many days they went back to performing their own much loved composition, "Obocheton."

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end, and time does fly when you are having fun. However, as UNDERGROUND INCORPORATED showed us, all good things can certainly end with a BANG! And it did. Artcell, reincarnated, as more glorious and magnificent, finally came on stage to a loud chorus of "Artcell! Artcell!" Their performance was truly something worth watching. An instant "mosh pit" was formed from the minute Linkon (vocalist and guitarist), Cezzane (bassist), Shaju (drummer) and Ershad (guitarist) came on stage. Performing "Chile Kotar Sepai," "Bhul Jonmo" and "Onnoshomoy," Artcell proved that they are indeed back in business and ready to ROCK AND ROLL!!!

To all those music fans who missed this show, all we can say is that we sympathize with you, because this show was truly one of the biggest, thus far, this year. Hopefully there will be many more to come, but none will probably be able to reach the heights that UNDERGROUND INCORPORATED and ULTIMATE ORGANIZATIONS have been able to achieve with this show. Hats off to all the organizers and volunteers and to Duray and Mollick, without whom the sound system would never have worked out as well as it did. And on this note, before we finish, we would also like to thank ISD school, because without the venue, the concert would not have been as immense a success, or as enjoyable an occasion as it has been.

By Rohini Alamgir
[Those who do not agree with the views of the concert or bands written in this article, feel free to express your thoughts to the writers by mailing them at [email protected]. Also, for more views or in order to express your own views, please visit the forum at www.uginc.org]

The North South University Cine and Drama Club rendered their presentation of William Shakespeare's, Merchant of Venice. Directed by Dr. Israfil Shaheen and translated by Abdus Selim, The Merchant of Venice was held for two consecutive days on the 25th and 26th of June at the Shilpakala Academy.

The Merchant of Venice is the timeless tale of greed, revenge, love and friendship. Categorized as a 'dark' comedy it has in itself a number of sub-plots that all culminate in one final scene, leaving the reader with a good taste in his mouth. The story revolves around Shylock the Jew who wants revenge over Antonio, the merchant of Venice. He sees the perfect chance when Antonio's best friend Bassanio comes to borrow money from him in order to go to Padua to woo the lovely maiden Portia. Bassanio wants the money and Antonio acts as his guarantor. But the devious Shylock plays a wicked trick. He asks not for the money back but says that if Antonio cannot repay in the desired time he would have to part with a pound of flesh from his heart.

In the meantime, Bassanio travels to Padua with another friend Gratiano and manages to win the heart of the enchanting Portia by cleverly choosing the right casket and thereby passing a test that Portia's wealthy father had left for all of Portia's suitors. All is well and it gets even better when Gratiano is captivated by the beauty of Portia's maid, Narissa. So, they all decide to get married and then live happily ever after? No.

News comes of Antonio's failure to pay back the money and Shylock is hell bent on taking a pound of flesh from the good merchant's heart despite pleas from higher authority. Finally however the whole play culminates in a court scene that rivals the very best in court scenes. The play ends through a comedy of errors. It should be noted though that The Merchant of Venice was probably the most female empowered play of its time.

Elita Karim and Tony Gomes gave accomplished performances as Portia and Shylock respectively. Mashum playing Bassanio's role added a touch of humor to the production, as did Hasnain Ahmed as the Prince of Morocco.

Credit also goes to the backstage staff and everyone who was involved in the play as they all contributed to make the production a huge success.
Chalk up another for the North South Cine and Drama Club!

By Quazi Zulquarnain Islam

“Hedwig will turn evil. This rumor has had much dispute. Some wonder how an owl turns evil. Some try to explain that she could be an animagus or controlled by Dark wizards in some way, if not by Voldemort himself."

Source: http://harrypotterrumours.net/rumours
That and other rumors are buzzing all over cyberspace as the world awaits the unveiling of yet another JK Rowling masterpiece: Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince. The controversial fifth book says goodbye to Harry's childhood and, with the return of Volde…oops! He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and the death of Sirius Black, and, interestingly enough, the addition of Neville Longbottom into the whole prophecy deal, the sixth is subject to wilder rumors than ever before. Potter-ologists are taking a deeper look at the symbology behind the books. Here's what we found:

Wide-Mouthed Tree Frog - We've known ever since Sorcerer's (Philosopher's) Stone that Harry was going to be replaced as seeker! At the beginning of the chapter right after Harry catches the snitch in his mouth, Draco is making fun of Harry and saying how a "wide-mouthed tree frog is going to replace Harry as seeker" next. This didn't exactly come true, but in Order, Umbridge (the wide-mouthed tree frog, check all the toad references about her) bans him from the team, essentially replacing him with Ginny! Thanks to Leah for this one

The Marauders - James, Sirius, and Remus, all end in 'S', are loyal members of the marauders and would never betray the group. Peter, who's name ends in an 'R', betrayed the marauders by giving away James' secret and then let Sirius be wrongfully sent to Azkaban.

And here's another marauder thought: Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs aka Lupin, Pettigrew, Black and Potter, the best friends who invented the Marauders Map, listed their names in no particular order. But, first Prongs (James) dies, then Padfoot (Sirius)...could Wormtail be next?
Source: http://www.mugglenet.com/books/oddities.shtml

The book's not the only thing that Potter-philics are looking forward to. The fourth movie Goblet of Fire is in the works, due for release on November 18, is also something we're all waiting for with bated breath. If you want a sneak peek at what's coming your way, click on to http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/gobletoffire/index.html

Well, that's enough pre-HP juice for one week. Join us next week as we continue to count down till the big release!

By Sabrina F Ahmad