Foreign Affair…honouring the late Desmond

Wonder how many are aware that the late Desmond de Silva also resided in the UK, from the late ’80s till 2010, and had a fan base in that part of the world, too.

His death, on 9th January, 2022, in Melbourne, Australia, shocked many, including the UK-based band, Foreign Affair.

While in the UK, Desmond became an integral part of Foreign Affair, although both Desmond and Foreign Affair worked independently.

The closeness of the band members to Desmond was destined, with the amount of time spent together practicing, and doing shows, and outside the music scene, at social gatherings, where the members and Desmond got on famously well.

Foreign Affair came together for the purpose of playing good diverse music to a good standard. The band’s repertoire comprised of western contemporary jazz, rock, pop, a bit of reggae and RnB.

Whenever Desmond came into the scene, and sang with the band, the repertoire became significantly stronger, with the singer doing his bailas and entertaining the crowds, with the backing of Foreign Affair.

It wasn’t a surprise that Foreign Affair and Desmond were widely known in the Sri Lankan expat community, in London, as most events had Foreign Affair and Desmond playing together.

They even travelled to Denmark for a show, where the bond was so strong between Foreign Affair and Desmond that made the singer say…“I have done many tours but never have I had such a crazy fun trip as this one.”

The band Foreign Affair

One can imagine, and understand, the impact Desmond’s passing had on the members of Foreign Affair…hence they have all agreed that the band must pay tribute to this great entertainer, and they are doing that on 9th September, at the Courtyard by the Marriot, London Heathrow.

‘Honouring the Legend Desmond’ will comprise of a concert and dance style segments – where the opening segment will be a total tribute to Desmond, followed by the dance.

This event will also feature singers Mariazelle and Falan Andrea, from Sri Lanka.

Funds raised, I’m told, will be donated to the Tea Leaf Trust-Sri Lanka, a charity that Desmond favoured, since they are involved in lifting Sri Lankan tea estate communities out of extreme poverty.

Foreign Affair members are not full time professional musicians and, during Desmond’s era, in the UK, the band comprised the following:

William Rezel – Bass/vocals (Sri Lankan/British)

Bandula De Silva – Guitar/vocals (Sri Lankan/British)

Greg Wells – Keyboard/vocals (British)

Jeremy Rezel – Vocals (Sri Lankan/British)

Rene B – Vocals (Caribbean/British)

Ajitha Edirisinghe – Lead guitar/vocals (Sri Lankan/ British)

Priyal De Zoysa -Lead guitar/vocals (Sri Lankan/ British)

The lineup also included drummer Rohan Dias, and Andre Martinez (vocals/guitar) who now live in Australia.