Bangladeshi band to rock Indian President’s house

Popular Bangladeshi band, LRB, will rock the Indian President’s house in New Delhi on Thursday evening alongside bands from India and Pakistan.

It will be the first time that three rock-music bands — Strings from Pakistan and Advaita from India — will enter the precincts of the iconic ‘Rashtrapati Bhavan’ in Delhi.

The President’s house has been known to host some of the country’s finest classical musicians.

It first broke away from tradition and invited the ‘Shillong Chamber Choir’ to perform for US President Barack Obama during his 2010 visit.

That is a band from India's northeast that has become very popular.

According to the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, LRB led by Ayub Bachchu is visiting India on Delhi's invitation to participate in the South Asian Bands Festival 2013 in New Delhi from Nov 26-30.

It had said the band would be among a few of the Festival participants who will perform at the President’s house.

LRB, a legend in Bangladeshi band music, was founded in 1991 by Bachchu, who is the band’s lead Vocal and Guitarist.

It released its debut album entitled “LRB 1 and 2” in 1992 that was a big hit in Bangladesh.

LRB performed in many concerts across the world, but its first concert abroad was in India in 1997 at Kolkata's Jadavpur University.

“It is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that brings much prestige (to perform at President’s house)” Bachchu was quoted as telling the 'Indian Express'.

This is also the first time that a band from Pakistan will be performing in the President’s residence.

“It is a huge honour to play for the Indian President,” Faisal Kapadia, lead vocalist of Karachi-based band Strings, was quoted as saying in the report.

They will perform some “mellowed down” rock before the President and a host of diplomats, according to the Indian Express.

All three bands — each has 20 minutes for their performance, followed by a 10-minute jam session — are aiming at a “not so loud” set, but at the same time will stick to their basic styles, the report says.

Sanjeev Bhargav, the creative director of South Asian Bands Festival, told the Indian Express that President Pranab Mukherjee’s interest in music has prompted this to be happened.

“When President Pranab Mukherjee was the External Affairs Minister in 2007, he had inaugurated the first SAARC bands festival in Delhi,” he said.

He termed it as part of President’s ‘soft power diplomacy’ by bringing together bands from neighbouring countries on a single platform.