Coke Studio Bangla concert held at Army Stadium

Conquering the brutal aftermath of Thursday's heavy showers, the first-ever concert of Coke Studio Bangla was held at Dhaka's Army Stadium Thursday night.

The special concert, which was arranged by Coca-Cola Bangladesh and Bangladesh Football Federation marking the global tour of the FIFA World Cup trophy that arrived in Bangladesh on Wednesday, was delayed for several hours as the arena was flooded due to heavy showers.

Bangladesh Football Federation even announced that the concert was postponed; however, the event finally began at 9 pm, minimising its earlier schedule while billions of viewers from home and abroad also virtually joined the concert on Coke Studio Bangla’s Facebook and YouTube Live.

The first large-scale, open-air concert featuring all Bangladeshi artistes after the Joy Bangla Concert in 2020 and the global outbreak of COVID-19, the performances began with Coke Studio Bangla season one theme song “Ekla Cholo” by the music producer of the ongoing season, Arnob, alongside Sunidhi Nayak, Zohad and more.

Team Coke Studio Bangla, along with the musicians and orchestra of the ongoing season one, then performed alongside the line-ups, which was followed by the enthralling performances of popular bands, including Lalon, Nemesis, Warfaze and the showstopper, Nagar Baul, with rock legend James.

The concert officially started showcasing the first song of the ongoing season one, Animesh Roy and Pantha Kanai’s electrifying Hajong fusion track 'Nasek Nasek'.

Their performance sparked interest among the thousands of spectators at the Army Stadium, enthralling them with the transmitted groove of the much-acclaimed fusion.

Ritu Raj and Nandita came to continue the groove with their song 'Bulbuli,' a tribute to the National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, which was followed by the magical performance of Arnob with Boga Taleb for their mesmerising track “Chiltey Roud,” spreading the tranquillity among the audience.

Folk queen Momotaz Begum took the floor next alongside rockstar Mizan Rahman to perform their folk duo ‘Prarthona.’

Before performing the song, a one-minute silence was observed commemorating the victims of the recent Sitakunda fire tragedy. Soon after that, the audience was blown away by the rocking performance of the duo, especially by Mizan for his Maizbhandari drift.

The last but perhaps the most electrifying one was delivered by Lalon band vocal Nigar Sumi and the fan-favourite Jalali Set, who blew up the arena with their energetic-rhythmic rap.

Singer-actor Tahsan came out next and immediately took the audience on a journey to the memory lane with his popular tracks “Durey Tumi Dariye” and “Alo,” also thanked the fans for keeping these tracks alive after all these years.

Lalon, Nemesis, Warfaze then performed till midnight and grooved the audiences with their fan-favourite tracks; but unfortunately, that was not the case for two young bands, Introit and Arekta Rock Band, as both of these bands were scheduled to perform but due to the heavy rainfall and its unimaginable aftermaths, their names got chopped off the list to make room for the bigshots; however, Arekta Rock Band has publicly pointed out their frustration through a Facebook post from their official page, questioning the overall management of the organisers.

With the live acapella performance of the maestro Arnob and his most popular track “Tomar Jonno,” followed by the showstopping performance of the legend himself -- rock icon James -- and Nagar Baul, the first-ever Coke Studio Bangla live concert came to an end.