Aquarius – ready to make Arena a happening place

Benjy Ranabahu’s new Aquarius is certainly on the right track…for big time fame.

Although the group is still in its infancy stages, in comparison to the more established outfits, the guys have already tasted stardom.

Their first groundbreaking event was the live streaming concert, “Arise Sri Lanka,’ held last month, at Nelum Pokuna.

The band members appeared on stage, just after the intermission, to do their version of The Eagles’ ‘A Hole In the World.’

It was a commendable effort from a band that came into existence, just a few months ago, and with no prior stage experience, as a group.

Having showed the world their capabilities, since the concert ‘Arise Sri Lanka’ was live streamed to the world, via Facebook and YouTube, Aquarius is now ready to give their local fans, and those who love the nightclub scene, a taste of their exciting sounds.

I’m sure many of you would remember The Colombo 2000, at the Galadari Hotel!

This particular nightspot was the ‘in place,’ in town, when it existed, and was always full to capacity, especially during the weekends.

In fact, there were queues to enter and latecomers invariably found themselves out of the vibrant action…at The Colombo 2000.

Well, the exciting news, I have for nightclubbers, is that there is a new setting, at the old venue…in the form of Arena.

Arena is the new nightspot, in town, at the Galadari Hotel, and will open its doors to the public on Saturday, October 10th, 2020.

According to Aquarius leader, Benjy, action will be from 7 pm, onwards, and he did mention to us that it’s going to be an explosive night of music and fun.

“We will certainly make it a happening scene and I would love to see all my friends, colleagues in the music scene, music lovers, and nightclubbers, on opening night.

“Let’s all get together and have a ball.”

The band has been hard at practice, the past few months, working on a repertoire that will give the public something to think about.

“We are going to do it differently,” said Benjy, adding that music lovers should be there, on the evening of Saturday, October 10th, to experience the difference.

For the record, it was the original Aquarius who did the needful when the Margarita Blue, also at the Galadari Hotel, opened its door to the public.

The band then had three female vocalists – with two from the Philippines.

The present lineup is equally impressive, with Benjy on bass, Shiran Munasinghe (drums/vocals), Jayan Fernando (keyboards/vocals), Nirosha Wattaladeniya guitar/vocals, and Sajith Gunaratna and Ruwini Ranrekha (vocals).

Benjy also did mention to us that there won’t be an entrance fee – only a minimum charge.