'RockNation: Overload' turning up the heat

Photo: Fattah Alam Khan Dhrubo

With the city in the middle of a sweltering heat wave that has caused even the most outgoing person to remain indoors, Live Square, under the banner of Rock Inc. brought out one of the biggest rock shows of the year to turn the heat up a further few notches. RockNation: Overload promised to be the concert that reunited rock lovers all across the country, with the numbers dwindling in face of other genres of music.
The event was held on 19 April at Winter Garden, Hotel Ruposhi Bangla and the gates were open to all comers from 4:00 pm. The seemingly endless queue to get in was testament to the fact that rock is far from being dead in this part of the world. An estimated 1300 fans checked into the arena to see some of the biggest names in the local industry. From the off, the main attraction was Artcell, back on stage after a long time and it was clear what the crowd wanted with chants of 'Artcell, Artcell' almost threatening to blow the roof off the venue.
The show was kicked off by Arbovirus who put in a traditionally energetic performance and they whipped the crowd into a frenzy by the end with theatrics never before seen on a stage in Bangladesh. Towards the end of their slot, Arbo's guitarists Ranjan and Suharto proceeded to break their guitars on stage during their performance of 'JaaloAgunJaalo'. It made for a brilliant start to the evening but the tone faltered as Shunno came on stage next and though their performance was commendable, they were overshadowed by the chants of 'Artcell, Artcell'. Nemesis got on stage next and this time the crowd were just content to watch them perform. It should be mentioned, though, that the quality of the sound had started acting up by then and it continued to be a problem through the rest of the evening.
However, the sound quality was the last thing on anyone's minds as Cryptic Fate took to stage and turned the area into a mosh pit during 'Aakromon'. It was a throwback to the times when the rock frenzy had gripped Dhaka so tightly. By the time Black took to stage, though, the crowd was growing impatient and a Black without Jon Kabir were soon drowned out by the demands for Artcell. The crowd finally got their wish as Lincoln and Ershad took to stage to blast out some favourites. The night was not over yet and an entourage of All Stars then came on to wrap it all up, and what an ending it was.
Sure, there was much left to be desired and the event was not perfect. But what it did was bring together a teeming mass of rock lovers and presented them with rock stars galore, a harbinger of things to come, hopefully.
RockNation: Overload was powered by Micromax Mobile and supported by Bellissimo Ice Cream. Radio Foorti was the media partner for the event.

Photo: Fattah Alam Khan Dhrubo