Dhaka, Dec 25 – Country’s one of the oldest and most popular bands – Miles – celebrated its glorious journey of four decades with its fans at a gala concert in the city on Tuesday demonstrating that the music stars still remain young at heart.The special celebration, titled ‘Miles 40 years celebration concert’, took place at the International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB).
The hall No 3 of the ICCB named ‘Rajdarshan Hall’ was fully packed with music lovers from all age groups making the indoor venue so vibrant with much-engaging approach with the performers till the end of the show.
Before Miles took over the stage, five other prominent bands of the country – Vikings, Warfaze, Souls, Dalchhut and Feedback – performed five songs of Miles one after another as tributes to the band that generated dozens of hit songs which fans at home and abroad will continue to keep close to their hearts.
“Miles had started their journey when we started our own journey too. Our timeline is pretty similar. So, we actually know how hard it was to establish something out of the box during that time,” said Foad Nasser Babu from Feedback prior to his band’s performance.
“Today we’re celebrating their journey of four decades, similar to how they paved their tribute in our four decades celebrations – and we’re here to cherish and celebrate the lasting friendship,” Babu, one of the most respected musicians of the country, said.
Bappa Mazumder, another talented musician of the country and Dalchhut front man, said, “We grew up listening to Miles and we’re incredibly lucky and grateful for Miles’ existence.”
After the tribute performances of the five bands, Miles then went to the stage with their full lineup consisting Shafin Ahmed (vocal and bass guitar), Hamin Ahmed (vocal and lead guitar), Manam Ahmed (keyboard), Iqbal Asif Jewel (lead guitar) and Syed Ziaur Rahman Turjo (drums) – amid huge ovation from the crowd.
They started with the song ‘Pahari Meye’, and throughout the rest of the night they performed their most popular tracks, including ‘Prothom Premer Moto’, ‘Ar Kotokal Khujbo Tomay’, ‘Priotoma Megh’, ‘Ki Jadu’ (also the English version ’It’s Magic’), ‘Chand Tara Surjo’, ‘Jala Jala’, ‘Dhiki Dhiki’ and other songs, including a medley of some of their popular tracks, as well as acoustic performances of several other songs.
As part of the campaign ‘Sing with Miles’, three lucky fans shared the stage with the band and performed their popular track ‘Nila’ together.
In addition to that, the winner of lead guitarist Hamin Ahmed’s acoustic guitar auction campaign was awarded the guitar at the event, which was auctioned for Jaago Foundation’s fundraising campaign for 35,000 unprivileged children.
Also, renowned laptop brand HP launched its new laptop at the event and presented five laptops to all the members of Miles.
Miles is also known for its English tracks, as the band became the first Bangladeshi group of artists who debuted with an all-English album.
Commemorating that, the band covered two English tracks- ‘Time’ by Pink Floyd and ‘Hotel California’ by Eagles.
The enthusiast crowd, featuring a great number of both young and middle-aged fans of Miles, seemed very much captivated by every performance of the band.
“I came here with my friends, as we enjoyed our young age with the songs of Miles back in the 90s’. We’re so deeply attached to the band emotionally and we’re incredibly happy to attend this concert of a lifetime,” Shekhor Samad, an elderly fan of Miles, told UNB expressing his feelings about the band and the event.
The performances ended with their much-anticipated track ‘Firiye Dao’, and the band members thanked the crowd for the love and support.
“Miles is nothing without you – our loving fans. You spend your money on this show and we can’t thank you enough for your continuous support over the years,” vocalist and bass guitarist Shafin Ahmed said, expressing the band’s gratitude to the crowd in the ending.
The concert was arranged by Windmill Advertising Limited in association with sponsors Center Fresh, HP, Igloo, Yamaha and Pujo. Online digital media platform Bongo was the digital partner while the payment partner of this event was bKash, technology partner Dhaka Live, ticketing partner Shohoz, television partner Gaan Bangla TV, beverage partner Acme, merchandising partner Baggiceut, logistics partner Laz Logistics and hospitality partner Tasty Tibet. – UNB
