Nemesis’s ‘Gonojowar’ music video premiere breathes life into the year-end concert ritual
The crowd went wild as soon as glimpses of Nemesis frontman Zohad Reza Chowdhury, bassist Raquibun Nabi Ratul, guitarists Sultan Rafsan Khan and Zafir Huq and along with Jeffrey Ovijit, Nemesis’s replacement drummer for Dio were seen on the darkened stage.
After what might have seemed like the longest-running hiatus for any rock concert in Bangladesh, cult favourite rock band Nemesis came as a blessing to us - lovers of rock music - in the form of a mini, solo concert to premiere the music video of one of their most popular songs "Gonojowar".
The event was held at Bashundhara City's Star Cineplex Hall 4. As soon as the gates opened at 4.30 pm, the awaiting fans started to pour into queues designated to take them inside the hall once they sanitized themselves and had their tickets checked.
By the time almost an hour had passed, the hall was filled to the brim and anticipation of the crowd was pouring over. And that is when Nemesis drummer Dio Haque took to the stage and spoke a few words about his band before making way for Nemesis to take over before the big reveal.
The crowd went wild as soon as glimpses of Nemesis frontman Zohad Reza Chowdhury, bassist Raquibun Nabi Ratul, guitarists Sultan Rafsan Khan and Zafir Huq and along with Jeffrey Ovijit, Nemesis's replacement drummer for Dio were seen on the darkened stage.
The song that opened yesterday's evening was one of Nemesis's hit numbers "Janala", to which the crowd sang along.
From the emotion the crowd was pouring into singing along to "Janala", it was evident how much they had missed seeing their favourite bands perform live. And since winter is the season for open-air concerts, everyone's emotion was boiling over due to the halt on such events this year due to the pandemic. But this small, indoor gathering, which Zohad referred to as "family time", was more than enough to fill the gaping hole in our hearts created from the absence of live concerts.
The next song for the evening was the groovy and head-jerking "Konodin" - another one of Nemesis's all-time favourites - to which the crowd continued singing along with the addition of jumping up and down, making the wooden panelled flooring of Cineplex's Hall 4 tremble with every jump.
The setlist for this concert was nothing like that of a regular Nemesis concert. From singing the acoustic version of their alternative rock songs ("Kolporajjo", "Gonojowar", "Shesh Gaan") to singing songs they seldom sing live ("Tritio Jatra", "Egiye Nao", "Mrittuchhaya"), Nemesis revamped their whole setlist of whooping 21 songs for their fans, who surely went wild with joy.
As the air-conditioned hall room started getting warmer by the minute, Nemesis started another fire on the stage with iconic songs such as "Ghuri", "Shopnoshur", "Tomar Kotha Shune", "Shomoy Nei Ar", "Dhushor Bhabona", the latest single "Ami", "Biborno Sroshtha", "Joyoddhoni", "O Boshobash", "Nirbashon", closing the set with Nemesis concert staples "Obocheton", "Bir" and "Kobe", with the bonus of a bit of "Tumi, Ami O Bhor" thrown in the middle.
After rocking the stage for a little over three hours, it was now time for the big reveal for which everyone was waiting for. After a few minutes of cleaning up the stage and Zohad delivering a short speech of sorts, the music video of "Gonojowar" was projected onto the hall's big screen.
Studio Bangi was the brains behind this skillfully animated, flawlessly produced and impeccably scripted music video of "Gonojowar" which, at the first glance, seemed like a scene straight out of an anime from a professional Japanese studio. What makes this music video more special is the fact that it has been in the works for over three years, in the span of which Nemesis released music videos of other songs and a single.
If Attack on Titan, Code Geass and Naruto were merged and made into one short film, Gonojowar's music video is what it would have been like, but in black and white.
When it comes to the characters and script of the video, Nemesis members in the music video had suddenly conjured up different superpowers to defend their ground against external forces which replicated the look of slenderman and Storm Troopers combined. To match the ambience of the characters, the narrative was set against the backdrop of a war-torn state which needed its people, Nemesis members included, to muster up the courage to fight the evil forces threatening their homeland.
In short, the video was beautifully made, and the story's transitions were made simple enough to not get lost in translation. It also seemed like the perfect music video to be premiered on the victorious day of December 16.
"Gonojowar" is a song that speaks of democracy, the people, rights, and freedom which are often taken away from the inhabitants of a nation by forces more powerful and cunning than the locals. In this case, it is safe to say that "Gonojowar" by Nemesis is a song that puts into notes and chords the atrocities endured in 1971 to win back the nation that was almost taken away from us.
This event by Nemesis was an exclusive first look of "Gonojowar" music video, which is slated to be released on YouTube on January 1, 2021.
