The universal love of musical steel
View(s):A decidedly non-commercial event, with a melting pot of people both on and off the stage, Guitar Fest in Kandy inspires and enthrals music lovers
Take some of Sri Lanka’s best guitarists, put them on a stage together and let people watch them rip some steel, for free. No, this is not hypothetical, because the Sri Lanka Guitar Association is set to make an impact.
Guitar Fest 2014 kicked off for the fourth time with the show coming to Kandy and Chilaw on January 26 and 27. The event covered the whole range of genres and styles, and inspired many budding artists. The line-up in Kandy drew a full house at the E.O.E Pereira Theatre. The audience included ladies wrapped in their shawls, pale-skinned teenagers dressed all in black and hippies in bright colours, all in a hodgepodge.
The stereotype-cracking audience was only a hint of the variety on stage. Vietnamese guest artist Nguyen Von Phuc thrilled with the lightest and most fluid classical western guitar. On the other end of the spectrum, Tenny and Andrew from Stigmata paired up to really power the metal engine.
In between, Indika Abeysinghe played some classical north Indian tunes, while Mohammed Iqbal put his mellow baritone and “AK-47” guitar together to sing some provoking thoughts. Derek Wikramanayake also showed off some finger and vocal work with Pathum Fernado. As Derek himself mentioned, it was refreshing to see these artists playing outside of a commercial setting, and this is just one of the many ways in which Guitar Fest is potentially groundbreaking.
With months of hard work, the Guitar Fest team created opportunities for some of the island’s best performers to rock a stage that is not governed by the commerce of the industry. As this happens, enthusiasts around the country gain an opportunity to experience the kind of genre-bending acts that they are not likely to encounter too far outside of Colombo; and definitely not for free.
One such act was Billy and Nigel. They subtly ran the gamut from rock to reggae to jazz, topping the set off with that infectious exuberance which characterises the duo. And among this star-studded line up were many talented students from the universities at Colombo, Peradeniya and the Visual and Performing Arts University, making the event a true festival – a melting pot celebrating the universal love of musical steel.
Anyone interested in working with the Guitar Association of Sri Lanka could contact them on 011 2513997 or 0718690494.
