One thousand and two hundred plus students, eight mind-blowing performances, one stage.
An Event To Immortalize
The Music Club of Thames International College conducted a massive-scale event called “Thames Music Fest” on the 7th of July, 2023 at Purple Haze Rock Bar, Thamel. More than 1200+ people gathered together to witness performances by the extremely talented rockstars of Thames and of course, the main event, the performance of a lifetime by the multitalented Sabin Rai and The Pharaoh.
The event started bright and early around 11:30 AM accompanied by the constant buzz of people entering the venue. The crowd was getting pumped up to watch the upcoming performances. The event was hosted by our ever-so-charismatic host Abhisha Shrestha.
Once the crowd settled down, the performances were spearheaded by our dearest, amazingly talented “High Hopes” with Lazzu Shrestha as the melodious singer, brilliant Samrik Bade on the keyboard, and skillful Sokhin Singh on the guitar. They took the crowd by storm when they performed “Ranga” by The Rockheads. Hundreds of voices came together to sing along with Lazzu’s hypnotic voice. One would think nothing could top the famous song, but just as Lazzu sang “When I feel cold”, contrary to the lyrics, the crowd was charged with enough energy to power an entire town for months.``Cold/Mess” by Prateek Kuhad, the awe amongst people was crystal clear. It was as if thousands of people gathered together to scream about their broken hearts in unison. Their passionate performance ended with, “Dancing on my own '' by Calum Scott and Tiësto.
The second performer was our very own college idol, Anjan Ranabhat with the talented Samrik Bade on the keyboard, they managed to take the crowd into a trance with the mesmerizing “Until I found you” by Stephen Sanchez. Hook, line, sinker. Once they got the crowd going, they introduced bangers like, “Naganya Maya” by Sajjan Raj Vaidya, “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles, and “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction. They had the crowd singing along to every lyric. Let's just say the dormant directioner in everyone’s body was awoken by Anjan and Samrik alright.
Janjati Slayers lived up to their name and absolutely slayed their performance with “Maili” by Ankita Pun, lulling the crowd with Akansha Budha and Rohit Rai’s harmonious vocals along with Ishan Giri and Sandesh Upreti's guitar making sure the crowd swayed along with their mastery over the strings. Then came everyone’s all-time favorite, “Basanta” by Jpt Rockerz followed by a beautiful rendition of “Zombie” by The Cranberries with Akanksha’s powerful vocals mixed with Rohit’s deep baritone acapella. They ended their performance with the soulful “Hawa Jastai” by John Rai with Yabesh Thapa’s “Firfirey”, an unexpected mashup but it managed to steal everyone’s breath away.
Then came The Pirates, who gave an amazingly well-done tribute to the late Rahul Rai with a set list of Tribal Rain songs which included massive hits like, “Sahara”, “Narisawna”, “Traditional Swang”, “Hunude Je Hunuchha”. The band included the raspy, husky singer Bibek Nepali, Aakash Ranabhat the guitar prodigy, the talented Arpan Rai on the Keyboard, the masterful Subin Tamang on the classical guitar, and skillful Bibhusan Pandey on the cajon. The band managed to captivate the audience into a whirlwind of nostalgic memories, feelings of immense happiness, and despair.
Their soulful performance ended with “Bhanai” with the audience lighting the venue with their phones, the ambiance was another sight to behold.
The event had a small break where a game of musical ball was introduced to the audience where a ball was to be passed around with music playing in the background. The winner would be the one who ends up with the ball at hand once the music stops. Two lucky winners got a wonderful gift hamper from Profumo Nepal.
SNJV was truly on the beat when he made his presence known by absolutely tearing the stage apart with his cool moves and hip presence. A true marvel to behold, our beloved brilliant producer and now an exceptional artist got the crowd bopping their heads to “Hustle Up” (an original unreleased song). He had the crowd going wild when he performed “Ravana”, and “Sakdina” by dong dai, that he produced. He continued to perform more unreleased songs, hoping we get to hear the very soon!
After SNJV’s rejuvenating performance, the stage held “Anonymous Yatri” with Prithvi Ghale as the phenomenal singer, Phurba Sonam Sherpa on the drums, Avi KC on the bass, Sokhin Singh on the Guitar, and Samrik Bade on the Keyboard. They performed their original, “Simit” along with a few unreleased originals like, “Ma”, “Shanta Khola”, “Andaniyam”. They wowed the crowd with their amazing talent, a performance worthy of praise.
The Rocking Apes, our rockstars, hyped the crowd so much that the entire venue shook. Everybody knows when Anudit Shrestha’s powerful husky vocals get mixed with Akash Chaudhary’s smooth bass, Manoj Gautam’e electrifying guitar, and Abhinav Hingmang’s show-stopping drums, a performance of a lifetime will always follow. They performed all-time bangers like, “Gari Khana Deu” by the legendary Albatross, “Bagaicha” by Kta Haru, “Juni Vari Lai” by Oasis Thapa, “Hukka Mero” by Karma Band, and “Another Brick In The Wall” by Pink Floyd. They had the audience screaming out the lyrics, screams encompasses the entire venue as they gave it their all for the performance.
And in the end, the main event, Sabin Rai and The Pharoah, while members of The Pharoah were readying their instruments, everyone was already beyond excited, and screams erupted every second. Everyone waited with bated breaths for the showrunner. When Sabin Rai made his way up to the stage, the crowd went crazy. His stage presence was phenomenal, his vocals don’t have to be talked about. An incredible and outstanding artist made the stage his home, captivated the audience, and swayed them with his movements. The Pharoah were magnificent, and with the two, a breathtaking musical journey was started. They had the audience on their feet, hoping to capture the rays of brilliance they exuded. With John Shrestha and Nikesh KC on guitars, Jeevan Lama on bass, Binod Lama Tamang on the drums along with Sabin Rai as the vocalist, they were an unstoppable force and were on a mission to change lives that day. And changes lives they absolutely did. With nostalgic hits like, “Timi Nai Hau’, “Suttuka”, “Jau ki basu”, “Malai Angali Deu”, “Komal Tyo Timro” and modern hits like “Samarpan”, “Samjhanchu”, “Paisa”, “Baimaani”, “Raftaar”.
Thames Music Fest will be immortalized as a legendary event to be remembered and praised. A big thank you to Purple Haze Rock Bar for letting the Thames host an event. Kudos to the Music Club of Thames for making dreams come true and organizing such a big event perfectly. The Students of Thames played their part in volunteering and performing for the event and were an integral part of the show. A big thank you to all the wonderful people in the crowd who attend the event and made this possible.
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