The De Lanerolle Brothers: Keeping it Real - Reviewed
With accommodation for over 1500 occupants at the BMICH Main Hall, the De Lanerolle Brothers drew in a full house on September 14. With downstairs and balcony sold out weeks before the concert, the view of a full house with barely any empty seats was a sight to see.
The show began right on time (as always) with the De Lanerolle brothers, Ishan and Rohan, taking the stage with Elvis Presley’s ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love with You’. After the Bee Gee’s, the Drifters and a few jokes at Ishan’s expense - the show continued with some crowd favourites like ‘Spanish Eyes’, ‘Love Me With All of Your Heart’ and the Queens ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’.
One of the many highlights of the show was when the brothers sang ‘The Prayer’ by Celine Dion. When their powerful vocals worked so well with the beautiful orchestral music, there wasn’t a single person in the audience who wasn’t engrossed in the performance. Rohan and Ishan also did a Sinhala number ‘Master Sir’ in honour of Nimal Mendis. Later into the show, in appreciation of Jerome De Silva and the Workshop Players, they paid tribute to the upcoming theatre musical ‘Les Miserablés’ by singing one of its hallmark numbers - ‘I Dream a Dream’.
Towards the end, the crowd sang along with the brothers to the tunes of Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’, Johnny Nash’s ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ and Tom Jones’ ‘Delilah’. With the crowd screaming ‘encore! encore!’ the De Lanerolle Brothers ended the concert with one last song for the road.
The show was set apart from the rest thanks to the addition of the live orchestra. The mini orchestra consisting of percussion, drums, the autoharp, keyboard, flute, guitar and piano played throughout the show. For the De Lanerolle’s – Keeping it Real was their first Sri Lankan concert using live backing music.
True to their word, Rohan and Ishan delivered an exceptional evening of music and entertainment.
Here’s what the audience had to say about the show:
Richard
Outstanding.
Aruni
It was really good.
Shanaz
They should continue many more.
Mihiri
Absolutely brilliant. First time I went to their show. I really liked it.
Harshini
I thought it was fabulous. I usually come to their show but I enjoyed this more because of the instruments. The Sinhalese number was very nice.
Sonaya
It was fabulous.
Malki
The show was very good.
Ranil
Very nice evening. The live orchestra added essence into the concert. They did a good job. The show shone brightly.
Devika
It was lovely. We really enjoyed it.
Vinod
Very good and very entertaining.
Reviewed by Panchali Illankoon
Photographs by Kushan Pathiraja
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