Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, January 31

If the crowd outside the gate was anything to measure success by, ‘Anil Singh Live in concert’ on January 31, 2004 was a big success. Organised by the first batch of the Golden Jubilee Scholars Society at the Birendra International Convention Centre, the event was managed by MediaXcell, supported by the Indian Embassy, sponsored by Colgate and Real fruit juice. The official visual media was Image Metro and the official print media The Himalayan Times and Annapurna Post. The crowd outside the venue was unmanageable but somehow the organisers managed to get things straightened out. Once inside, the people were more controllable. The ground had been divided into two parts — one, a special seating area just below the stage and the rest for the audience. When the concert began, as to be expected, the people broke through the net fence and soon the chairs were either being broken into pieces or used to see above the many heads. Nabin K Bhattarai began the show with some of his recent hit numbers. But even this veteran singer’s performance had not killed the eager anticipation with which many had come. “I love you…” sang Anil Singh as the crowd began screaming. It was amazing to see this otherwise shy persona come alive on stage. Once the music picked up, he had the show rolling. For a first solo concert, the turnout was remarkable. Singh sang “Pari”, “I love you” and others but his biggest hit “Engine Gaddima” fanned the waning interest alive again. The backup band Angel’s with Sunil Bardewa were great. Singh did seem a little carried away but then the exhilaration of the excitement was contagious.

“It’s nice to see the youth enjoy themselves so much,” said Sanjay Verma, first secretary of the Indian Embassy. “There must be an approximate of three to four thousand here,” said Ajit Kumar Kanta, organiser, “This is awesome, way beyond our expectations.” According to the organisers, the funds raised at the concert will be put in the Society’s treasury from which it will be invested in charitable causes.

Raju Lama made a special appearance and sang the Nepali version of “Musu musu” much to the crowd’s delight, and Sunil Bardewa also followed suit with one of his songs. Anil Singh took over for a while singing encores again and again before bidding his fans farewell.