MAKING MEMORIES WITH THE MOONSTONES
There has never been a time when a crowd remained silent when the Moonstones performed on stage or on radio, for that matter. This was the same when a beautiful reunion of Moonstones' members happened last Sunday where the main hall of the BMICH transformed into a venue that celebrated some evergreen tunes of the band. The show was presented by DK Promotions and like every other concert, its proprietor Damayantha Kuruppu had arranged the performances in such a way that the crowd didn't notice time flying. With Annesley Malewana taking the lead, the tunes of ‘Dilhani duwani’, ‘Mango nanda’, ‘Kalu mame’ and ‘Ruwanpuraya’ filled the halls of the BMICH with many
nostalgic memories. While paying tribute to its evergreen band member Clarence Wijewardena, the crowd was also able to listen to many lesser heard tunes and stories that inspired Clarence to compose them. The hit song ‘Dilhani duwani’ was composed by Clarence for Sri Sangabo Corea's second daughter, Dilhani as a gesture of gratitude as he was a major influence and a support system in Clarence's life.
A memorable highlight of the evening was that Dilhani Corea herself was present to witness the song being performed on stage, once during the opening act and also by its original singer Indrani Perera.
Moonstones could be described as the most influential band at the time that took the musical arena by storm.
Many decades later, those songs are evergreen and one can still tap their toes and hum the tunes. This will remain for generations to come. To add to its memories, the band was joined by Laurensz Manricks at the keyboard, who has flown down all the way from Brisbane to be a part of the show, alongside Chanaka Perera, Stanmore de Jonk, Feroz Asmon, Sohan Weerasinghe, Sunil Malewana and Lalith Fernando.
The concert also featured Chitral Somapala who kept the momentum of the show with three originals sung by his parents including ‘Dambulugale’, ‘Udarata Kandukara’ and ‘Isurumuniye’. He then sang ‘Dineka me nadee theere’ as a tribute to Clarence. The show ended with a medley where Annesley engaged the crowd to sing along with him.