THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At age 63, Nandu Leo’s heart still beats to the notes of rock and roll. And this April, as he gears up for the tenth edition of the annual concert ‘Music for Peace’, the music connoisseurs in the city can look forward to a potpourri of rock classics.
Every year Nandu has been organising the music concert. Even the pandemic couldn’t play spoilsport with Nandu holding the concert on Facebook Live last year. Nandu has named the 10th edition of the music festival ‘After the Storm’, as the world gets back on its feet in these post-pandemic times.
The show was his attempt to share good music and to bring people together through music. “The show was started as one where old friends could meet and celebrate music together. And, the music takes the background,” he says. The setlist is always one to watch out for at Nandu’s show because he never repeats a song. Nandu also tries to bring in songs that aren’t that popular in the music realm.
“There is an ocean of rock classics, not just Buffalo Soldier and Hotel California. I love to do different songs every year. There is no fun playing the same song. With this, you get introduced to something new, get to look up the song when you go home and add it to your playlist,” he says.
This year, Nandu and his band will play the songs of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Beth Hart, Bonnie Raitt and so on in the show. The band Bits N’ Pieces has Nandu and Cindy Nandakumar, his daughter, on lead vocals, Sunil Sylvester on lead guitar, Clyde on bass guitar, Shibu Sam on drums and Garry Lobo on keyboards.
“We are celebrating music and everyone is welcome,” says Nandu. A self-taught musician, Nandu started singing while in school. He got introduced to the world of rock and roll during a school trip. The songs that played on repeat got imprinted in Nandu’s mind, who then went in search of the songs, listening to rock music through radios. And there has been no looking back. The show is being held at Vyloppilli Samskrithi Bhavan on April 30 and will start at 6:30pm. Entry is free.