Nagaland Outdoors Club & Sky Entertainment, organziers of the Hornbill International Rock Contest 2014, is delighted to announce to you one of the biggest showcase musical events of the year: British country greats Smokie.
On the evening of December 3, Nagaland’s capital town Kohima will be hosting one of the most iconic country rock bands to emerge from England during the ‘70s-‘80s. Formed in 1974 in the town of Bradford in England, British legends Smokie will be paying to music fans at the Indira Gandhi Stadium. The show will begin at 500 PM.
After a lukewarm debut album ‘Pass it around’ in 1974, Smokie broke onto the scene with their second album ‘Changing All the Time.’ The rest, as history says, is history. The second album was one that demonstrated the power of strong acoustic guitar arrangements woven around exquisite harmony vocals, which would go on to become Smokie’s signature sound throughout their two decades as an international hit band.
The album spawned a song (and many ‘Naga’ songs later!) which almost every Naga from the ‘80s have grown up listening to. For instance, “If You Think You Know How to Love Me.” It quickly became a big hit in many European countries. The song charted at No. 3 in Great Britain before forging a way into US and Asia. The single followed another hit, “Don’t Play Your Rock ‘n’ Roll to Me”. Yes, another familiar song to North East India as well!
Then came the one song we all know, “Living Next Door to Alice”, in November 1976, which became and international hit, landing a spot in the UK Singes charts and Billboard Hot 100. And that’s just the introduction. You better be there in Kohima to ‘listen’ their ‘history’!
More than 20 albums later, 12 smash hit singles, and millions of album copies sold across the world, Smokie are still performing and delighting fans across the globe. They will be bringing you the delight on December 3. Be there.
[highlight]Opening bands [/highlight]
Two hard hitting, tight and incredibly talented rock groups will be opining for Smokie. K3M is a three-piece metal band from Nagaland formed in the year 2008 by vocal and bassist Thungbemo R Murry and his brother guitarist Vungshamo (“Moonshine”). They were then joined by drummer Jann Mozhui. K3M blends soft melodic sensibilities of ballads with the brutal attitude of heavy metal and Goth rock. Since their inception, the band has won numerous music titles in the district as well as state level competitions including the NSACS competitions. Besides, the band has performed with international artist Jenniffer Batten (ex Michael Jackson) and Chanderesh Kudwa (Mumbai, India). They have also opened for Petra’s John Schlitt.
The second opening band is hard rock group Highland Oracle, an upcoming band that has push more than just a few performances in the rock music scene in the state. They are influenced more by the hard technicality of the early-90s heavy metal scene and melodic leanings of the glam ‘80s. Highland Oracle is Alem on the drums, Nokrang on the guitars, Along on the bass, Imli Walling on guitars and vocals and Wati Jamir on the vocals. Together with K3M, Highland Oracle has a store of surprises waiting for you to add to the good times Smokie will be dishing out on December 3.
Like the wise old saying goes, ‘be there,’ do be there!
