KATHMANDU – All tickets for the Nepathya concert had been sold in advance. Even so, young people who arrived hoping to buy tickets were seen turning back disappointed, while inside, the ground prepared for 8,000 spectators had audience members dancing everywhere. Band frontman Amrit Gurung kept the crowd moving.
Kirtipur is where the Nepathya band first performed. About three and a half decades ago, students of the English department at Tribhuvan University invited the newly formed band for its first performance. In the university’s auditorium hall, Nepathya held an acoustic concert with just two guitars. On Saturday, the band reached Lab School ground in Kirtipur after travelling from that starting point.
The band and its founder and lead singer, Amrit, have both matured in every respect. For audiences of different generations who have grown up liking the band, Nepathya has become steadily more energetic, which Saturday’s concert further confirmed.
During the performance, Amrit recalled his university days. “At that time, the fields of Kirtipur looked empty everywhere,” he said. “We especially used to hold many debates about language and culture.”
Before performing the band’s latest song, “Karnaliko Chhaila,” collected from the Karnali region itself, Amrit also spoke about the Sinja valley in Karnali, the place of origin of the Nepali language.
“If language remains, melody remains,” he appealed. “Let us all together save this Nepali language.”
The concert drew audience members of all ages. Among them was Prem Khanal, a former head of the Department of Diplomacy and International Relations at Tribhuvan University. Khanal, whose home is in Lekhnath, Pokhara, was seen dancing as the song “Ghar Hamro Pokhara” was performed. It was his fifth Nepathya experience.
“I had just read Nepathya’s biography. Coming to the concert after understanding the band’s journey and the background of the songs makes it even more enjoyable,” Khanal said, linking it to his own field. “Art has meaning in international relations too. Amrit Gurung’s music is also working to connect the world.”
During the show, Amrit also raised the country’s repeated natural disasters and appealed to the audience to help the government and affected communities as far as they can.
The concert began on schedule with two music videos. Amrit ended the show with the song “Rato ra Chandrasurya,” praising the national flag.
After the concert, audience member Pravin Ranabhat wrote on Facebook, with photos and a video: “Including this one, I have watched Nepathya live more than six times, but no matter how many times I watch, feeling the same joy, strength and energy as at the first concert is Nepathya’s specialty.”
Ranabhat wrote that the evening in Kirtipur was not limited to the concert, and was an example of how music connects different generations, touches people’s hearts and stays as a sweet memory forever.
Another audience member, Reshma Shakya, posted a video on Facebook and wrote: “Dream come true. I felt that such a dream should never end in my life.”
On stage, Dhruba Lama played drums, Subin Shakya bass guitar, Niraj Gurung guitar, Dineshraj Regmi keyboard and Sundar Maharjan the madal, supporting Amrit.
The Nepathya team will next travel to neighbouring India soon after Dashain. The band will perform at Paljor Stadium in Gangtok, Sikkim, on October 31 (Kartik 14). The T-shirts and tickets prepared for that concert have been made public by Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang Golay. It will be Nepathya’s fourth performance in the Himalayan state.
After Sikkim, Nepathya will perform in two cities in eastern Nepal: Itahari on November 4 (Kartik 18) and Charali in Jhapa on November 7 (Kartik 21). After Tihar, the band will tour four small and medium-sized cities in Nepal.
Nepathya will then travel to Australia. The band has published on its official website a schedule for the series of concerts there, with the first performance in Adelaide on December 7 and the last in Perth on December 27.
For all of these concerts, the manager, Nepalaya, has arranged for tickets to be bought online. Seats can be reserved through the band’s website, www.nepathya.com.np.
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