Civilization One at TNL Onstage Finals (29/11/08)
I walked into the Sri Lanka Exhibition and convention centre (SLECC) feeling as exited as a kid who was about to get a really fancy toy. In all honesty, I didn’t pay much attention to the competition. I was there for one reason and one reason alone. And practically all rockers and metalheads I met there had the same words in their mouths. “Chitral, Chitral, Chitral, He’s finally here.” We’re finally going to see him performing”. The energy was brilliant. But at this point all the rockers were scattered all over the place.
For those of you who might not know who he is, Chitral ‘Chity’ Somapala is a Sri Lankan artiste who left to Germany 22 years ago to follow his dream of singing Rock ‘n’ roll and his own music. He has played for bands such as Avalon, Court Jester, Moonlight Agony, Firewind etc. I can safely say that despite whatever trials and tribulations he faced during those 22 years, Chity in my opinion has emerged as one of the best metal vocalists of his genre. And also without the doubt one of the most unique and distinct voices I have heard in a metal vocalist. Civilization one, Chitrals newest band, is a heavy/power metal outfit that recently released their first album titled “Revolution Rising” which was received with great enthusiasm by fans and critics alike. In my opinion the best Power Metal release of last year.
Getting back to the event, I got word from a friend that Civilization One was on after the band that was playing at that time. I guess word went around pretty fast. As I was making my way to the front, looking around I saw many rockers coming together from all over the place at that enourmous hall and making their way right in front. Chitral is a legend among the local rock and metal community and he was going to play in his home country after 22 years. As I said before, the energy that was building up was amazing.
Reaching the front of the stage, much to my dismay and everyone else, there was a line of security guards about 15 or 20 feet in front of the stage to prevent the crowd from going any further. I think they sensed danger because even before the band started, they started asking us to move even further back.
So finally the compeer announces Civilization One and the crowd goes nuts. But nothing happens. The stage is dark. Then a recording of an oriental sounding melody begins. The stage remains empty. This piece of music continues for a few minutes and once again everything goes silent, only to explode a few seconds later as Civilization One finally comes on to the stage with a thunderous intro riff which is their song “Life of Agony”. The crowd at this point was going wild, and the security guards were still holding them at bay. When Chity finally came running onstage, myself and the horde of metalheads around me just lost it. The security guards could no longer keep us back. In an amazing display of unity, everyone in the crowd pushed past the line of guards and the sea of people made their way right in front of the stage. A perfect example to the statement “power of the people”. The mosh pit was intense, the crowd was so full of adrenaline.
Civilization one played an amazing set of originals from the “Revolution Rising” album. The entire band was amazingly tight. And they performed with only one guitarist, whose leads and riffs were played brilliantly. The bassist was a pleasure to watch. His playing was really powerful and provided the perfect backbone for the lead guitars and the drums and his interaction skills with the crowd was brilliant. I could see he was having an absolute blast playing for the approximately 4,000 strong crowd. Chitys vocals were breathtaking. I wasn’t headbanging most of the time but just watching him in awe and just absorbed in the music. So passionate, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride to see this Sri Lankan ripping the stage with a band of international acclaim. and doing one killer job as well. They played songs from the album such as “Dream On” and “lost souls” (which is a song dedicated to the victims of the tsunami), and “Welcome to Paradise” among many others. They were to close their set with one of their songs titled “Wishing well” but the crowd wasn’t going to let them go just like that. For their encore they played another song from the Revolution Rising album titled “Legends of the past”, after which Chity sang that famous Tune “Nadee ganga Tharanaye”, which was recorded by him in Sinhalese and has become a favourite among metal fans and non metal fans alike. He sang this unaccompanied by the band and he got the crowd to sing lyrics. It was an amazing show and also an amazing statement. “My friends, you have made a change tonight”. Those were Chitys words after the very first song. The night made a statement to anyone who might have doubted the power of Heavy Metal and the impact it has on society even if it is a minority compared to the popular music in Sri Lanka right now.
To Chitral and Civilization one – Keep ripping always, keep it metal and see you guys again very soon (I hope).
Also check out :
www.myspace.com/civilizationone
and
Photos – Sandy N
