Thaindian News

New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS) Celebrated band Indian Ocean filled the air with their usual contemporary rustic flavour and electrifying energy at the Games Village here, paying tribute to the Commonwealth Games.

The band Wednesday evening brought the curtains down on the whole range of cultural activities in the Village.

The daily evening gigs at the Village were part of ‘Delhi Celebrates’ - an initiative of the central and state governments to highlight India’s music during the Games.

The band used long instrumental antics that kept changing hands between lead vocalist and bassist Rahul Ram, lead guitarist Sushmit Sen and drummer Amit Kilam.

They won the audiences with a tribute to the country’s big ticket sports event.

“Hilale CWG ki goriyan to hilale puri dunia… hilale pura CWG,” Rahul Ram tweaked the lyrics of their Bhojpuri hit “Hilale zhakjhor dunia” to a cheering audience.

“This one goes to the whole Indian contingent who have done us proud and have done some great work,” he said before breaking into the band’s all-time hit “Kandisa”.

The band also displayed some antics when their new member Tuhin Chakravarty went down on knees to strum the bass hung around Rahul Ram’s neck.

Chakravarty, who plays tabla, went a step further and left spectators agape with his skills when he competed with Kilam on drums in the same position.

The band also performed their other hits like “Bandhe” and “Des mera Rangrez” before breaking into “Ma re tera paani nirmal” - a tribute to the river Narmada.

Paula Morris, a team official from Jamaica, was enthralled.

“It was very good. They are good. I couldn’t understand the words but I thoroughly enjoyed the music. They are so much in sync - especially the drummer,” Morris told IANS.

Bands like Parikrama, East India Company, Pentagram, Themclones, Soulmate and Euphoria and singers like Mohit Chauhan, Daler Mehndi and Hariharan-Sivamani-Louis Banks also performed at the Village.