Thousands witness ABBA Arrival perfrom

Thousands thronged the Indira Gandhi Stadium, Kohima as the new generation ABBA, Arrival, from Sweden staged live performance Wednesday as part of the Hornbill International Music Festival 2015. The audiences comprising young and old, men and women, were taken back to the 70s and 80s as the band from Sweden mesmerized the IG crowd belting out chart-topping hits of ABBA including Mamma Mia, Dancing queen, Chiquitita, Knowing me knowing you, When I kissed the teacher, etc. A good number of tourists, both nation and international, also made it to IG Stadium to witness the ABBA show which lasted for almost one-and-a-half hour. Music lovers have been waiting for this day, and they couldn’t have asked for more as they were the ‘privileged lot’ to witness live performance of a world renowned band like Arrival here in our own city. Not to disappoint the visiting singing group, the IG crowd responded ‘so well’ in joining the band and singing along with them as the band belted out popular songs of ABBA.A good number of dignitaries including the Chief Minister TR Zeliang and his lady and other legislators, bureaucrats from both the centre and the State and military officers, were among the attendees. Prior before the new generation ABBA took the stage, other local artistes including Viriezhünuo Solo, Mengu Suokhrie and renowned male voice group Colored Keys also performed on December 2 evening. Hornbill International Rock Contest 2015 The much awaited Hornbill International Rock Contest (HIRC) commenced this evening at IG Stadium, Kohima. The rock contest will go on till December 6 with the grand finale scheduled Dec 6. A total of 25 bands including five local bands, one international band and 19 national bands (Seven from North East region), will vie for the ultimate title of this year’s edition. Close to 100 bands were auditioned for this year’s edition, however, only 25 bands have made the cut for the final list. The five local bands were selected during the State live audition held on October 17 at RCEMPA, Jotsoma, while three national bands - Grey Shack (Bangalore), October (New Delhi) and Daira (Mumbai) were selected after they emerged as winners of the ‘Hornbill on Tour Contest’. The rest of the bands were selected under the criteria set for national and international bands. The Hornbill International Rock Contest is part of the Hornbill International Music Festival, being organized by the Music Task Force (MTF), Government of Nagaland, in association with Pepsi MTV Indies and Northeast Today. The event will be managed by Sky Entertainment and Nagaland Outdoors’ Club (NOC). The winner of this year’s edition will win a cash award of Rs. 10 lakh, while the 1st runners-up and 2nd runners-up will also fetch prize money of Rs. 5 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh respectively. Attractive prizes (not cash) have also been set aside for winners of individual categories - Best vocalist, Best guitarist, Best keyboardist, Best drummer and Best bassist. The 25 bands are - Big Jumanji & The Coathangers (Melbourne, Australia), Run Pussy Run (Pune), Helium Heart (Siliguri), Feudal Accent (Darjeeling), Shred XXX (Kolkata), The Buddha Therapy (Kolkata), Ron & Me (Kolkata), Foot Wings (New Delhi), Estorica (Kolkata), Frost (Kolkata), Grey Shack (Bangalore), October (New Delhi), Daira (Mumbai), Reverse Tragedy (Mizoram), Fame The Band (Meghalaya), Retro Sonic (Shillong), The Lynx (Meghalaya), Ambush (Karbi Anglong), 2 Square (Assam), Crystal And The Witches (Sikkim), The Gluttones (Nagaland), Tune Up Channel (Nagaland), Monkey Fingers (Nagaland), Sunep Ensemble Band (Nagaland) and Rune Legacy (Nagaland).