It’s time to bring the house down again. The Arjun Vasudev Benevolent Trust is hosting the fifth edition of the OuRJ concert this weekend at the Egmore Museum Theatre. Held annually in memory of Arjun Vasudev, who passed away at the age of 19 in a road accident in 2009, the concert has seen some of Chennai’s most popular bands take the stage by storm.
This year too, Chennai’s bands will be performing under the arclights — but with a twist. The concert this year will be a completely unplugged event, moving away from its hard rock and metal roots. The lineup for this year includes El’ Fe, The Halcyon Days, The F16s and Chennai's very own Skrat. The event will be hosted, as always by TWKC, and will also feature guest performances from various fellow musicians. The proceeds from the memorial concert always go to a charity of the trust’s choice. Vasudev Menon, Arjun’s brother and organiser of the concert says, “It started off as a tribute concert but as time went on, it grew so much that it began to accommodate other things as well.”
The inaugural OuRJ concert (a play on words of RJ, as Arjun was popularly known among his friends) was held at PSBB KK Nagar and organised by his friends, family and fellow musicians. “This was in order to keep alive the thing RJ cherished the most — music. The concert was sold out within days after it was announced. It was after that, that the money started going towards organisations in need of monetary help,” says Vasudev.
This year too, the proceeds from the concert will go towards “Shanthithreeram,” a geriatric palliative care centre in Thrissur, Arjun’s native place. “Our grandmother, T A Jayalakshmi passed away recently. We discovered Shanthitheeram when we were looking for quality hospice care for her. And we thought this would be the best place to send our donations this year,” says Vasudev. In the long term, Vasudev reveals that they would like to make a small time donation to the trauma centres of several city hospitals to make sure accident victims get the treatment they need on time. “This will take some time but we’re definitely looking at this as an option,” he adds.
The Trust also currently spreads awareness on road safety and looks to provide classical and electronic musical instruments to the needy few among school and college children free of cost — to those who have the skill, qualification and flair for music.
The concert will be held on July 20 at the Egmore Museum Theatre at 6.30 pm. For tickets and other information, log on to www.arjunvasudev.com