Do you love listening to live music but without the loud crowd? If you’re the kind of person who enjoys listening to beautiful live music but can’t really stand the crowd — which basically results in you ending up on your bed just every other weekend – then we have some amazing news for you.
Sofar has arrived in Kathmandu.
Yayy! Yes, you are supposed to be super happy. Don’t worry if you don’t really know what it is and why exactly you need to be “super happy”, we’re right here to tell you all about it.
Ekadeshma, dui jana sathi haru thiye. Too dramatic, right? Okay, here you go. It’s 2009, two friends Rafe Offer and Rocky Start have just returned from a concert, disappointed and annoyed. They hated the way people kept talking over the music and gazing into their smartphones while Friendly Fries, an English indie rock band, performed. They suddenly think of an idea and invited eight of their friends to listen to live music performed by their friend and musician Dave Alexander in his North London flat.
The low-key intimate gig turned out to be great as the attendees sat on the floor, attentively listening to the music. For the second gig, more people showed up. And then the idea spread from London to Paris and New York; and now, there are over 400 cities where these intimate gigs take place. The startup is called Sofar Sounds, an acronym for “Songs from a room.”
Sofar arrived in Kathmandu in November 2017 and the first gig took place on December 2nd in …….shhhhh….. a secret venue, of course.
The second gig then took place on January 13th, followed by the other one on February 24th and then on March 2nd. The videos from Sofar Kathmandu’s first gig have now been released on the official YouTube channel of Sofar (Global); and they will make you wish you were there to witness them. But don’t worry, you can still attend the future gigs.
Listen to Shreeti And Frineds perform ‘Climbing up the Hill’.
Phosphenes with their single ‘Dust’.
Mi Ku performing ‘Lachhamaniya’.
Amazing, right? We told you.
“All the gigs are secret and they take place in an intimate setting, that’s the essence of Sofar. You register on the website to attend these gigs and if you get the confirmation, you will receive the venue details just a day before the gig. You don’t really need to buy your tickets, and you can just donate whatever amount you like”, Aman Karna, one of the Sofar Kathmandu team members and the guitarist of four-man band Phosphenes, told NeoStuffs. “We’ve organized five Sofar concerts in Kathmandu so far. We try to do at least one concert every month in some cool venues. The main objective is to promote artists and their original music.”
Typically, three artists or bands perform in a Sofar gig. Like the venue, the lineup is secret as well. But don’t worry, they would be amazing artistes for sure, and you won’t be regretting attending one of these gigs. There’s no opening band or the headlining band — everyone’s equal and all of their performances are equally valuable. In order to attend these gigs, you will need to be stay updated with Sofar Kathmandu’s official Facebook handle to know about the upcoming events, and then let them know on their website that you want to attend a gig. If you are lucky, you will receive an invite.
Isn’t this whole idea so cool? So damn cool.
