Battle of the drummers begin

This is guaranteed to blow your mind, the first ever combination of our own drum talent on one stage, exalting the rhythm and the beats of the East and West using our own talent. Thus the 'Drummers' which is set to take place on the 11th of August at the Bayleaf at 4.30 pm will showcase greats like Ravibandu Vidyapathi, Elephants Foot, Aruna Siriwardana, Jackson from Stigmata, Lelum Ratnayake, Neeson Thygarajah and the Band Defianz along with brand new up and coming talent.

‘There will be seven genres performed: Sri Lankan, Jazz, Rock, Fusion, Latin, Ethnic Drums and Indian," spoke organizers DJ Raven and Ryah, Leader of the Band Defianz. 'Our main intention is to give prominence to Sri Lankan drumming talent and give a sense of what true percussion is to people out there," continued DJ Raven adding that most people were unaware of different styles and rhythms in various genres.

'Music is defined by the drum, drum line would mostly back the song and it would never be complete without a beat and sadly many people are not aware of the styles. People think that Rock is just loud music and don't go beyond Hip Hop and R&B when thinking of percussion' he said adding that there was much more to the drum than imagined. ‘Percussions have flavours’.

Furthermore, Ryah explained that M Entertainment was joining hands with them to create a DVD of the performances. "Another first of the concert is that the sounds will be in 5.1 DTS surround," he remarked adding that it would give depth to the performances.

The funds collected from the concert will go to the improving of the percussion and music of upcoming young artists of the country. Thus the band Defianz who are going to be among the young team are one of a kind as they provide special effects and have their own DJ.

"We hope to take these concerts in the same vein in the future," they said adding that future concerts will concentrate on one instrument like the guitar. More information about 'Drummers' can be found on www.defianz.blogspot.com. Tickets will be priced at Rs 1000. - (JP)