Arts
Today, Lotus Tower comes alive with De Lanerolle Brothers’ ‘From Sri Lanka with Love’ online
View(s):“This is the new normal and we wanted to do a concert for our fans until the situation returns to what it was before. We thought of an online concert not just for our Sri Lankan fans but for our fans all around the globe,” Ishan De Lanerolle says as he talks to the Sunday Times Magazine about their online concert ‘From Sri Lanka with Love’, that will premier on their YouTube page today (June 28) at 6 p.m.
Rohan and Ishan going online with their tribute concert to health workers around the world. Pic by Preveen Rodrigo
The idea for an online concert manifested after their rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ by Gerry and the Pacemakers which was uploaded on Facebook had around 153,000 views with audiences expressing their love for the video. That video that was created amid curfew restrictions featured the De Lanerolle Brothers and Neranjan De Silva on the keyboard playing their respective parts from the comfort of their own homes.
“With this particular show we want to show the beauty of the country. This way we can attract people from around the world to come to Sri Lanka not just for tourism but for business, networking and more,” says Ishan.
With that idea in mind, the De Lanerolle brothers chose the ‘Lotus Tower’ for the location of their video. “This is South Asia’s tallest self-supported structure, not South-east Asia mind you. We want to show people Sri Lanka is capable of having such structures that are unique and ingenious,” Ishan shares.
As the tower is so high with some areas of it being inaccessible and restricted, it was quite difficult to record them singing due to the interruption of the wind, vehicle noises and more. They decided therefore to pre-record the music and the video shot at the tower. The concert video will also feature subtle shots of Sri Lanka’s natural wonders and culture to garner the interest of viewers.
The concert is just 20 minutes long and the music will pay tribute to the frontline workers who have been working tirelessly to safeguard the public from the coronavirus. Ishan shares his utmost gratitude to the healthcare personnel and others who have been in the forefront in curbing the virus somewhat locally to those overseas who are still battling this unseen enemy despite the many challenges they have to face. “This is a big shoutout to all the health workers all around the world. The songs are structured in a way to send a message that they are not alone and that we stand by them,” Ishan says.
“We hope that if people are moved by our concert, they would consider donating to the ‘Itukama’ fund,” Ishan adds. The Itukama fund is a COVID-19 Healthcare and Social Security Fund to support the heroes on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19.
Ishan thanks their sponsors, partners, the Lotus Tower administration staff, film crew, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission and especially keyboard wiz Neranjan De Silva for his musical expertise and for making the online concert possible.
Subscribe to the ‘De Lanerolle Brothers’ on Youtube in order to get a notification for the concert and any future videos they may upload.