The morning of February 18th I woke to the sounds of heavy metal - the neighbor's band. Although they classify themselves as "punk" (as in "Punk's not dead" - a popular teeshirt in Kathmandu), I relate punk more to Avril Lavigne and they have the gutteral screaming that I would call heavy metal going on. On the other hand, they cover a wide range of artists in their own style including Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" and The Ramones' "Hey ho! Let's Go." Anyways, to them it is punk. Since I happened to be going to Bryan Adam's in Nepal that evening I decided to interview the band for my blog.
Here is what I learned about 13th Street (their band name):
They are affiliated with Gorkhali HC/Punk. Formed in 2008, they have been made up of the same group of boys for the past 3 years. Now, one of their members is going abroad though. Their influences include Unseen Casualties, ACDC, and others. The guy who lives in the house where they practice is named Nares and they play at the House of Music in Thamel from time to time. Apparently they are on Myspace too but unfortunately, I couldn't manage to find them. I guess they have some backwards letters or something in the name (I'm thinking like: sk8r boi). I recommended they check out The Darkness - my favorite band that seems would fit their genre. They are awesomely self-aware of their own goofiness which is something a lot of punk/metal/hardcore musicians out there (in my experience) could use a dose of.
Anyways, that evening I went to Nepal's first ever HUGE concert. Bryan Adams. You may know him from his hits "Summer of '69" and "Heaven." Those and "I Wanna Be (Your Underwear)" were the only songs of his that I knew before attending his concert. It was the most money I have spent at one time in Nepal in a while - but it was worth it. It was a killer concert. There were over 20,000 people there despite the expensive tickets and most were Nepali. There was a girl standing next to me who knew EVERY song. It was quite impressive. Her singing voice on the other hand was.... not so nice, but definitely amusing. Bryan looked overwhelmed with the audience's response to him - and I don't blame him, it was stunning. 20,000 cell phones (and real lighters!) that waved through many songs looked like magic. Sima and I got right up to the fence at the front of the "silver" section and had a great view despite being short. It was fantastic.
My day of rock started with 13th Street at 7:30 am and ended with Bryan Adams until 10 or 11. It was an unforgettable day.
Addition!
We now have a band that practices near the office! Currently covering Blink 182's "I miss you," the music is pretty on, but the vocals..... well, Sharmila and I are laughing.
Also check out some Nepali rock - Nepathya is a great one to start...
Here is what I learned about 13th Street (their band name):
Anyways, that evening I went to Nepal's first ever HUGE concert. Bryan Adams. You may know him from his hits "Summer of '69" and "Heaven." Those and "I Wanna Be (Your Underwear)" were the only songs of his that I knew before attending his concert. It was the most money I have spent at one time in Nepal in a while - but it was worth it. It was a killer concert. There were over 20,000 people there despite the expensive tickets and most were Nepali. There was a girl standing next to me who knew EVERY song. It was quite impressive. Her singing voice on the other hand was.... not so nice, but definitely amusing. Bryan looked overwhelmed with the audience's response to him - and I don't blame him, it was stunning. 20,000 cell phones (and real lighters!) that waved through many songs looked like magic. Sima and I got right up to the fence at the front of the "silver" section and had a great view despite being short. It was fantastic.
My day of rock started with 13th Street at 7:30 am and ended with Bryan Adams until 10 or 11. It was an unforgettable day.
Addition!
We now have a band that practices near the office! Currently covering Blink 182's "I miss you," the music is pretty on, but the vocals..... well, Sharmila and I are laughing.
Also check out some Nepali rock - Nepathya is a great one to start...
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