A major rock music event titled “Overload Festival” is set to take place on July 10 at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Centre in the capital, bringing together eight of the country's leading bands for a night of live performances.
Organised by Live Wave Entertainment, the concert will feature Artcell, Aurthohin, Black, Cryptic Fate, Nemesis, Powersurge, Level Five and RockSalt. The event will also mark the first live appearance of both Aurthohin and Artcell with their new line-ups.
For Aurthohin, the festival will signal a new chapter following significant changes to the band's roster. On March 5, drummer Mark Don and guitarist Ehtesham Ali Moeen announced their departure from the group.
Later that day, the band introduced three new members. Former member Shishir Ahmed, who left Aurthohin in 2023 after nearly two decades with the band, has rejoined and will once again perform on guitar and keyboards. Adnan Atik has also joined the line-up, while Mechanix drummer Sheikh M Reaz will perform as a guest drummer.
The concert will also serve as Aurthohin's return to the local stage. Owing to health issues faced by band leader Saidus Salehin Khaled Sumon, popularly known as Bassbaba, the group has remained largely inactive in live performances.
Aurthohin last performed in the United States in November and December last year and says he will be returning to perform for Bangladeshi audiences after an absence of nearly 16 months.
Meanwhile, Artcell will also take the stage with a new vocalist. The July 10 concert will mark the first live performance of Bakhtiar Hossain. Founding member and longtime vocalist George Lincoln D'Costa recently announced that he would be stepping away from the band indefinitely due to personal commitments.
In a video message shared on Artcell's official Facebook page on Wednesday night, Lincoln revealed his decision and introduced former Bay of Bengal vocalist Bakhtiar Hossain as Artcell's touring vocalist.
Artcell, too, has been performing infrequently over the past year. The band's most recent concert took place in Australia last November, while Lincoln has been residing in Canada for some time. To ensure that Artcell's live performances continue uninterrupted, the band collectively decided to bring in a new vocalist for upcoming shows.
With two of Bangladesh's most influential rock bands debuting new line-ups, “Overload Festival” is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated rock concerts of the year.
