Entertainment
Nepathya wrap up four-city ‘ANZ’ tour
Nepathya have wrapped up their four-city ‘ANZ’ tour—first international tour of the band’s silver jubilee celebration—on Friday.Nepathya have wrapped up their four-city ‘ANZ’ tour—first international tour of the band’s silver jubilee celebration—on Friday. The tour, which started from Melbourne and moved on to Adelaide and Sydney, concluded with a concert in the Kiwi Island at the Sky City Theatre in Auckland.
The concluding concert was the band’s first ever concert in Auckland which, compared to other three cities, has a small Nepali community. “This was the first proper concert ever organised for Nepalis living here. We would definitely call this a historic moment,” said Raj Maharjan of the organising committee. According to the organisers, given the size of the community, the number of people who turned up was remarkable. “Nepathya definitely holds a unifying charm, and it was attested during the concert,” added Maharjan.
The concert saw an assorted audience of various ages who were elated to taste the Nepali folk music in the “City of Sails”. The concert, according to the organisers, has opened the doors for New Zealand as a new concert destination for Nepali artists and musicians. “Nepathya’s concert has become a benchmark for the quality of future Nepali shows in New Zealand,” Maharjan further added.
Approximately 5,000 Nepalis currently live in Auckland.
“I had read historian Satya Mohan Joshi had visited New Zealand in 1957 for a cultural tour. His voyage to reach New Zealand took almost a month. Now, six decades later, here we are for a musical tour,” Nepathya frontman Amrit Gurung had written on his Facebook page upon arriving in New Zealand.
At the end of the concert, Gurung revealed that the band were heading back home to prepare for a new release. Gurung was accompanied on stage by Dhruba Lama on drums, Suraj Thapa on Keyboards, Subin Shakya on bass, Niraj Gurung on guitars and Shanti Rayamajhi on percussion.