Colombo’s beloved musical brothers Rohan and Ishan De Lanerolle hosted their first live concert after a 2-year break on the 24th of October 2022 at the Hilton Colombo. Unsurprisingly, the De Lanerolle Brothers drew in a full house at the Hilton with the concert declared ‘sold-out’ well before the show date. In celebration of their first live concert after the pandemic, the event included fantastic cocktails & canapes selection by the Hilton hotel for guests to enjoy prior to the show.

The show began (appreciatively, right on time) with Rohan and Ishan taking to the stage with a few slow numbers like Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love with You’ and Anne Muray’s ‘Can I Have This Dance’. The brothers, having opened for popular British-Australian singer Oliva Newton-John when she was on tour in Sri Lanka, also played tribute to the deceased singer with a medley of her hits. During the almost 2-hour show, the audience was treated to some of their favourite tunes by the brothers such as ‘Spanish Eyes’ and ‘Amarillo’ and, Rohan and Ishan were also joined on stage by family members Khalia De Lanerolle and Yohan De Lanerolle to perform a few individual songs and duets. 

Ending the night on a high note, the brothers got the crowd singing along to the tunes of Elvis Presley’s ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ and The Drifter’s ‘Save the Last Dance for Me’. With the crowd screaming ‘encore! encore!’ they wrapped up a successful evening with one last song for the road.  What truly elevated the show was the fantastic live band that backed Rohan and Ishan throughout the night. Musical director Shobi Perera and the ensemble definitely kept the rhythm of the night alive. Commenting on the show afterwards, Rohan expressed that though they had doubts about the show given the situation and the past 2 years, he was very happy to see the response. “We are back on stage after over 2 years so we did have some doubts, especially given the situation right now. But we pulled it off and we are very happy about the sold-out show. I thought tonight went very well!” 

Having hinted at a festive return in December during the show, Ishan also added that they are planning a merry celebration at the Hilton lobby this December. “Christmas is all about orchestras and decked-out hotel lobbies and we plan to bring that here. We hope that people look forward to it – after all, what could be more Christmassy?”

All in all, a fantastic night by the De Lanerolle Brothers reminding us of what true musical showmanship is.

Here’s what some of the audience members also had to add:

Pasqual

“Because the music was from an era I wasn’t too familiar with, it was something new to me. But I loved it! I mean, what a voice – absolutely fantastic. They make it look all so effortless!”

Shian

“I thought the concert went off really well and the organisation was really good. The food was fantastic and we had a good night.”

Tharusha

“It was nice. This was my first time watching the De Lanerolle Brothers live in concert. When Rohan and I meet occasionally he would mention how much effort and preparation goes into these shows and for the first time, I got to witness exactly what he meant. A scintillating experience. I’m very happy it happened on a Monday too – what a great start to the week!”

Nilani

“Excellent! I enjoyed it very much. They are back in concert after a break and as always, they never disappoint. I’ve been coming for their shows for the last 13 years, I’ve never missed any of them and as always, I really enjoyed this concert as well. I loved the duet sung by the cousins and when the brothers sang ‘Save the Last Dance’

Saundrine

“It was really, really good as usual. They never disappoint. I really enjoyed their relatives coming and singing also”

Chathurika

“We really enjoyed. They were amazing. I would love to come back again for another show”

Pix by Manoj Rathnayaka