Arts
Rukshan brings the house down with ‘All You Need is Love’
Unforgettable show: Rukshan backed by Flame
‘All You Need is Love’ was the theme of the 10th year anniversary of Samutthana – the Kings College London Resource Centre for Trauma, here in Colombo. What better way to celebrate than with a tribute to the iconic British band, The Beatles, whose music has been adored by generations around the world for over half a century. And who better to bring it to life than the multi-faceted, super-talented Rukshan Perera.
On August 16 at the Lionel Wendt, what a night it was. What a show. What a celebration.
All this was thanks to the planning and strategising of Rukshan Perera, who put together an amazing team of musicians, as well as a talented crew of technical experts. Shewantha Rodrigo excelled in taking the audience back to the 60s with his video backdrop and special effects. As the lights dimmed at 7.30 p.m. to a full-house, the large video-wall that spanned the breadth of the stage sprang into life with a wide repertoire of snippets of all the Beatles hits including the unhinged hysteria in the early days of Beatlemania in the UK and USA.
The main event started with the Fab Four on the video screen performing the first verse of ‘All My Loving’. The audience was lulled into a state of anticipation which then broke out into joyous shouts as the silhouetted forms of three guitarists in front with Rukshan and Flame took the song forward, live on stage – an electrifying start to the show! There was a further two hours of non-stop Beatles’ hits which culminated in the audience dancing in the aisles – under the spell of Beatlemania in general, and the finale ‘Twist and Shout’ in particular.
With thundering applause after the first song ‘All My Loving’, Rukshan continued with ‘I Feel Fine’, George Harrison’s ‘Something’, then imitating John Lennon’s singing and playing harmonica for ‘Should Have Known Better’, and ‘Eight Days A Week’. Rukshan dominated the stage with his talent, charm and charisma, looking every bit a Beatle with his long fringe and black suit.
In between, compere Savithri Rodrigo took the audience on a journey down memory lane with anecdotal tidbits that spanned the brief (only 8 years) but transformative impact of the creative genius of The Beatles.
Then the talented band Flame took over and wowed the audience with hits such as ‘Here Comes the Sun’, ‘What Life Is’, ‘If I Fell in Love with You’, and ‘She Loves You’. Special mention must be made of Kevin Almeida with his powerful rendition of ‘Oh Darling’. Flame also performed an entertaining medley towards the end, with songs such as Nowhere Man, Ticket to Ride, Get Back, Day Tripper, Ballad of John and Yoko, and Rock’n’roll Music. These versatile musicians seemed to be having as much fun as the audience!
There was a skilful arrangement and a variety of interpretations by three guest artistes. Harsha Makalande offered piano-magic in his jazzed up arrangement of ‘Till There Was You’, and Asteria’s all-girl choir harmonised a delightful version of ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘Yesterday’. Nivendra Uduman, a psychologist from Samutthana, gave a brief overview of the organisation’s mission, focusing particularly on an awareness raising and stigma shattering walk from Dondra to Point Pedro – ‘Footsteps to Freedom’ – that began on August 18. Aptly, he finished his presentation by strumming his box guitar and crooning ‘The Long and Winding Road’.
There was even a fun segment where the uninhibited Beatles fans, all fired up, were invited to sing-along to hits like ‘Imagine’, ‘Let It Be’, and ‘Hey Jude’. Most of the audience needed no invitation but joined in every well-known and well-loved line. Altogether, they performed over 28 back-to-back Beatles hits, the audience screamed for more and were rewarded with an encore of “Twist And Shout” and ‘Obladi’.
Finally, Rukshan invited everybody to turn on their phones and join him in singing ‘All You Need Is Love’ while waving the phones up high from left to right. The concert came to an end with a well-deserved long standing ovation while the musicians took several bows on stage.