Northeast’s tour de force Lou Majaw is taking his annual celebration of Bob Dylan to a new location this year – Guwahati.
This will be the 45th year that Lou Majaw has marked the birthday of the American music legend, with events to be held, as always, in Shillong on May 24 as well as Guwahati the following day.
The invitation-only Guwahati event at the Cafe Shillong – Gold, located at the Guwahati Address, on May 25 will begin a new journey for one of the Pine City’s iconic establishments in the heart of Assam – a day after Dylan’s 76th birthday. The evening will feature Majaw, along with Uday Benegal, the founder member and front man of one of India’s iconic Rock Bands Indus Creed, Sonia Sehgal, Arjun Sen, besides a host of guest artists. The celebrations will also act as the formal opening of Cafe Shillong, Guwahati.
In Shillong, Dylan’s biggest fan is also organizing a poetry session in Cafe Shillong, Laitumkhrah as well as an evening concert at Cloud 9, Hotel Centre Point.
Joining Majaw for the signature concert will be Uday Benegal, Sonia Sehgal, Arjun Sen, Lim and the Hell Hounds, Andrew Thabah and Friends and Ranjan Palit.
This year’s celebrations for the Modern Bard’s birthday are extra special as they come just months after Dylan, who over the course of five decades has changed the face of folk music was honoured with the Nobel Prize in literature.
The idea for such a birthday bash originated in 1972 and the tradition has become an annual and much-anticipated fixture of the Shillong calendar.
“I just wanted to do something to show my appreciation. First, I thought, I’ll send him a card or write a letter but then I decided to just organize a concert instead to celebrate his birthday,” Majaw explained.
Captivated by Dylan’s music, Majaw, a self-taught musician beloved of the Northeast, has explored the lyrical depth of the American’s writings and says that it is the eternal fire in his words that keep Dylan’s songs alive through the generations.
Over the years the event has received tremendous response from music lovers across the country who have made a beeline for Shillong to be a part of this musical homage to a great living singer-songwriter and 2017’s is expected to be a resounding tribute to an artist who will forever live in our hearts.
