ODEN Holds Peace Concert
Empress Attends concert and Meets CitizensSulari, Duchy of Suldanor
October 17, 5473Empress Nicolette looks forward to Peace ConcertODEN-K joined with KRTVN 7 to hold the first major Concert event in Kalistan in decades. The concert, titled "The Peace Concert" has been hyped on KRTVN radio and television for more than a month, and aimed at bringing a celebratory atmosphere back to Kalistan, as the rest of the world continues to destroy itself in inexplicable warfare. The event was held at Sulari Stadium in downtown Sulari. In attendance was Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Nicolette, who flew to Sulari for the event, and more than 55,000 music fans who packed the stadium and partied all night long to great Kalistani Music.
The one night event featured more than 15 bands. It was largely held to be a Mini-GanJam, mostly because the music showcase was sponsored by ODEN-K and recreational drugs were available on site. Empress Nicolette, interviewed by Ananto Hoy, said of the event: "We would not miss this event for anything. We have arrived with our friends, and ODEN has thus far treated us very well. We had the opportunity to meet with other concert goers here at the stadium before the program began and we were asked to offer a short statement to start the show. Now that this is over, we look forward to all the bands, and the sights and the sounds, and yes, we dare say, we do intend to sample some of the Products."
Alternative Hip Hop quintet Ganja Conscience Leads off ODEN/M7 Peace Concert in SulariThe show opened with Yoshimi Hip Hop Band Ganja Conscience, who got the crowd to their feet with several conscious hip hop tracks. "Its a peace concert," said MC Free Thought. "So naturally, we talk about what we know, which is peace, and unity of all the scenes, and living life to the fullest in full positivity. War can't get us down, but maybe people in the world can check how we do here in Kalistan, and feel like maybe they should join us here." The band completed their set and then played three encores to wild applause.
Explode with a Whisper debuts at Peace Concert in Sulari StadiumThe show continued with more hip hop and hard rock as the sun went down, and then the gritty rock quartet Explode with a Whisper took the stage. "This was our first like really big show," said rhythm guitarist Diane Poe. "It was so intimidating through Green Mountain's set (the band that played before EwaW) to see all the crowd going crazy and all these mosh pits and everything. But thankfully, I think they like noisy distortion and so once we kind of got into the groove, the crowd's energy sort of carried us." Lead Guitarist and Diane's sister Helen finished the set by starting her acoustic guitar on fire. "A sacrifice," said Helen, "To the God of war. Maybe he'll give the people of Terra a rest from combat." The band dedicated their set to the sailors of the Third Fleet, presumably from Lourenne.
Rasezanai Youth mixes reggae, Dub and Hardcore Punk for a wild set starting at MidnightAs the clock struck midnight, the mood shifted from rock, grit and hip hop to hardcore punk and dub reggae. Those two radically different sounds were represented by one band, Addisjah's Rasezanai Youth, who are primarily punk rockers, but take a lot of inspiration from reggae and dub. "We like to play a likkle dub to kind of cool the crowd out," said Lead singer and band frontman George Mendes. "It also gives me time to light a spliff and have bout half a puff before we kick it back up again!" The set was filled with moshing and stage diving while the band whipped the crowd into a fevered pitch, and, according to ODEN-K, more marijuana was sold during the Rasezanai Youth's set than at any other point in the evening. The RY were followed by protest rockers Fist in the Air, who sang songs promoting peace and an end to the so-called Hubris War, and symbolically protested the war by disrobing on stage and encouraging concert goers to follow their example.
Show Closers Lysergamide brings the Acid back to Kalistani FestivalsThe final act of the night was Lysergamide, who took the stage well after 3am, and played a three hour long set. Lysergamide promoted LSD from the stage and opened their set with a public service announcement about Flash Blotter, which was being sold at the ODEN K tent. "This acid is far more powerful than ODEN's normal dose," said front man Max Harrison. "I'm just saying, if you aren't too experienced, I would try something a little tamer." With that announcement out of the way, the band kicked into their latest hit single "Nebula" from their second record "Bisque". Lysergamide has moved away from their alt-folk roots and have embraced alternative rock, and their set showcased their harder music what was far more straightforward rock and much less groove/jam style which was featured on their debut. Harrison's put maximum energy and emotion into the show, and by the end of the three hour set, due partly to the length of the set, and partly to Harrison's consumption of acid, weed and rum on stage, his voice was absolutely shredded. The band closed the Peace Concert with a sing-along rendition of "Time for Change", which Harrison asked the crowd to sing, as he no longer has the ability to sing. The 55,000+ crowd happily obliged and then cheered wildly as they began to filter out of the stadium toward their cars.
Saturday Morning in Sulari was a traffic nightmare, but traffic jams and long lines at the NatRail Stations were cleared by Saturday Evening, as people slowly made their way back to their homes.
ODEN reported that the concert was a success, with many voluntarily buying tickets for the free concert. Spokesperson Fran Jensen said "We reported earning more than ₭2.3 million in profits off the ticket sales and concessions. I think Kalistanis were just ready to get back to living life, despite all the dark clouds on all our horizons, and they spent a mountain of money to have a good time." Jensen said the Empress being in attendance was really a very unexpected addition to the show. "We certainly didn't expect her to show up. I think they sent her an invitation on a dare almost. When I heard she came to the show, I took my interns over to meet her. She was very polite and very kind to these teenagers who were working with me, and asked them questions like if they wanted to work for ODEN when they completed National Service, and what they liked about school and who their favorite bands were. She really showed that she was interested. Totally not what we expected. I was happily surprised."
The Peace Concert in the books, ODEN says it is considering sponsoring a full scale GanJam in the near future. "Maybe when the war is over. I don't think many foreign countries are focusing on anything except killing each other at the moment, but we'd ideally like to have international acts at the GanJam, so we will look forward to peace in the near future, so we can do it proper."