ROCK 4 PEACE OR SHOULD WE SAY RAIN 4 PEACE
Rock 4 Peace started just the way it had been planned with an opening note by the Secretary Mr Jivraj Daulagupu followed by beautiful songs from The Don Bosco School Choir, Haflong and The Good Shepherd School Choir, Gunjung. The mood had been set for a wonderful evening ahead with about a 1000 strong audience already at the venue and many more still to come. It was during the last song of Bistar's performance that a light drizzle started and moments later even before the band could complete their set 'Rock 4 Peace' literally turned to 'Rain 4 Peace'.
Rock 4 Peace started just the way it had been planned with an opening note by the Secretary Mr Jivraj Daulagupu followed by beautiful songs from The Don Bosco School Choir, Haflong and The Good Shepherd School Choir, Gunjung. The mood had been set for a wonderful evening ahead with about a 1000 strong audience already at the venue and many more still to come. It was during the last song of Bistar's performance that a light drizzle started and moments later even before the band could complete their set 'Rock 4 Peace' literally turned to 'Rain 4 Peace'.
The organisers had no other option but to continue with the show inside the Cultural Hall as the audience were in no mood to go home and rightly so considering it was only 7 PM. Padma Hasnu & Rajesh Bathari's Performance was followed by a beautiful performance by Lalkroschuangi and all this time we were busy trying to find a way to somehow get the show going at the main stage outside now that the rain seemed to be tiring down. A grand experiment followed on a war footing with almost everyone who wasn't afraid of getting wet and their hands dirty collaborating at somehow building a roof on top of the stage for at least the performers and their expensive equipments to be safe. By this time half of the audience had made up their minds that they were going to watch the Bands perform at any cost even if it meant getting soaked at 9 PM and the remaining half was boozed up enough to face nature's fury head on anyways. But what everyone wanted that night with or without the Booze was to Rock 4 Peace.
Digital Suicide took the stage at 9:30 PM ahead of the other Bands as we all felt for a Band that had travelled 300+ Kms from Ghy to Hfg just for the sake of Peace and the love of Music deserved a packed house and that was exactly what they got. Digital Suicide was on the money that night belting out beautiful originals that mesmerized the audience who were always wanting more. DS was followed by Sot Recho from Umrangso who are quite the act themselves. Megadeth's - Symphony of Destruction sounded so much cooler the Sot Recho way and so did AC/DC's - TNT. Feat Sort followed with an energetic set and finally Soul Tree were left to close the show at 30 mins. past midnight to an audience of still 200+ strong and though Soul Tree were almost asleep while getting on stage once they got going it only felt as if the party had only started. Pearl Jam's Evenflow got the crowd going and it was a sight to see when everyone including Fr. Nilesh Parmar started swinging and grooving to tunes by U2, Rush, Lenny Kravitz & that Billy Idol classic that put a smile on every face - Rebel Yell.
Rock 4 Peace had its fair share of ups and downs but in the end what mattered most was the message of peace delivered through the medium of music and the rekindling of hope for a better tomorrow for the place and more importantly for its people.
Till Next Time Keep The Fire Burning.......... 4 Rock........... 4 Peace
