They admit that there’s nothing quite like plugging in and riding the lightning, but come May 19th, CryWolf, Angel Down, Circus Cult, Ethereal and R.A.G.E are stripping things down and going unplugged. And they’re going to be joined on stage by the Godfathers of Sri Lankan rock and metal, Rattlesnake.

The concert which will kick off at 6.30pm (gates are at 6.00) at the newly opened pub/lounge Fuze Colombo, also marks the first time that this particular lineup of Rattlesnake will take to the stage in thirty odd years.

“When we started organizing ‘Deconstruction’ we had absolutely no idea that we’d get to share the stage with the guys that we’ve always looked up to as the Godfathers of rock n roll in Sri Lanka,” explains Lasith Fernando from Angel Down.

“And it all came together when we spoke to Keerthi Fernando, who’s always been incredibly supportive of us and what we’re trying to achieve as young bands, and pitched the idea of him doing a small solo guest performance. Keerthi loved the idea and was on board from the get go. But just a few days back he called us up and broke the news that he’d spoken to some of his old band mates that are up for a Rattlesnake reunion performance.”

“By that point we were obviously over the moon, but we nearly had a few kittens when we found out exactly who the ‘old band mates’ were. Keerthi told us that he’d spoken to Thilak Dias, Kamal Perera and Bonny Appaswamy and that they were up for firing the machine up once more for a guest performance.”

“This is obviously a huge deal for us bands, and the local rock music industry as a whole,” adds Arfath from CryWolf, “Because Keerthi, Thilak, Kamal were part of the very first Rattlesnake lineup! I mean these are the guys that introduced bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath to local audiences. Every rock or metal band around today pretty much owes them gratitude for creating the scene that we’re now a part of. And this is the first time that they’ll be playing together as a band in 30 something years and that’s just incredible”

Rattlesnake was formed somewhere in 1975 and the original lineup was comprised of Thilak Dias, Keerthi Fernando and Kamal Perera alongside other session musicians. Not only did they pioneer the movement of rock and roll music in Sri Lanka, introducing local audiences to a whole slew of foreign rock bands, but they were also the original rock n roll bad boys that spearheaded the lifestyle that was an anomaly for mid 70’s Sri Lanka. From the ripped jeans, the long hair, the tattoos and rock n roll escapades that they probably wouldn’t want mentioned after this many years, these guys did it all.

Rattlesnake played regularly through the late seventies and early eighties with Bonny joining Thilak, Keerthi and Kamal as a permanent member. They played their last gig together around 1981 when they disbanded and went their separate musical ways. Keerthi and Bonny went on to form what is probably the first metal band in the country ‘Venom’ and Thilak and Kamal continued with a host of their own musical projects.

“I got to meet the guys yesterday after their first rehearsal for Deconstruction, and I remember thinking to myself, I hope to God I’m this down to earth 30 years from now,” says Lasith Fernando of hanging out with Rattlesnake. “If you see them together now, you’d think they’d been playing together as a band for the past thirty years. And according to Keerthi, the music is just flowing back like they’ve never been apart; and they plan on doing some old crowd favorites from Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Dio and also a couple of originals titled Prisoner’s Dream and Lost in the Fire.”

“You know these guys are guys that have played to thousands of people back in their salad days, and have since built up successful businesses and professional music careers for themselves,” adds Bernard from Circus Cult. “And it means the world to us that they’re willing to take time off and perform with us, just for the love of the music and because they want to show their support to all rock and metal artistes in the scene today. It’s going to be an incredible privilege and honor and not to mention a nerve wrecker sharing the stage with these guys!”  

Tickets for the gig are priced at Rs. 500 and due to the limited capacity of the venue the organizers are accepting pre-bookings for tickets.

You can call in and reserve yours on any of the following numbers – 0779 474 472/ 0771 128 784/ 0777 561 899.