These musicians want your blood!

This weekend, the city sees a first of its kind 9 hour-long musical blood donation drive. Rush of Blood, a free-for-all music concert features 22 bands who are out to promote blood donation among the city's youth

This weekend, the city sees a first of its kind 9 hour-long musical blood donation drive. Rush of Blood, a free-for-all music concert features 22 bands who are out to promote blood donation among the city's youth

George Michael did it for Freddie Mercury. U2's Bono and The Edge did it for Nelson Mandela. Michael Jackson did it for the jobless from Maharashtra. Now, a group of 22 bands, including famous faces in the world of Indian music (playback singer Shaan and former VJ Luke Kenny), are doing it for Rush of Blood. This Sunday, Mumbai will see a first-of-its-kind 9-hour-long musical blood donation drive at the Carter Road promenade in Bandra.u00a0

Daniel Pohnke from Full Moon Rising does a namaste around musicians and organisers of Rush of Blood, a day-long concert scheduled to be held at Carter Road. Pic/Ashish Rane

Youth for People (YFP) and Bombay Rock Association (BRA) decided to organise a concert with a twist, with a simple agenda in mind - to get Mumbai's youngsters to donate blood. "The youth are India's strength. We need to mobilise youngsters towards social initiatives.

Donating blood is a noble cause that doesn't take much. It's the simplest, most basic way to support someone in need," says Dipesh Tank, founder of YFP. Sujeet Ramanna from BRA says there couldn't have been a better platform than a music concert to promote the message. "The crowd at a rock concert is inadvertently young - whether it is college-going teenagers or yuppies or even those who claim to be young-at-heart. These guys are passionate about what they believe in."

Rush of Blood will kickstart at 12 noon and continue till 9.30 pm, with each artiste/band performing for ten minutes to half an hour. After each performance, a team from Tata Memorial Hospital will step in for a brief talk on areas connected with blood donation.

A mobile van will allow those of you who don't believe in waiting, and wish to donate blood right away. The undecided can make a commitment by registering for a drive that will be held later. "The idea is not to get everyone who comes for the concert to sign up. But it would be great if a huge number register as donors," says Tank.

The artists are gearing up for the extra-special concert. "I'm going to make sure my performance is power-packed and fun. That's the best way to attract crowds and spread the message," says Akriti Kakkar, a playback singer with numbers from Dus, Namaste London and Billu Barber to her credit. Daniel Tyler Pohnke from the ambient rock band Full Moon Rising, has another plan. "I believe in the power of words. I'm going to get the crowd to learn a bit of the chorus so that they can sing along and get together in supporting the cause."

On: September 6, from 12 noon to 9.30 pm.
At: Carter Road Amphitheatre, Bandra (W).

Artist Line up
Artist
7 Spokesu00a012 noon
Black Pumpkinu00a012.30 pm
Black u00a01 pm
Seher u00a01.30 pm
Dog Ate Disco u00a02 pm
Psycotic Cymbals u00a02.20 pm
Simran u00a02.40 pm
Garreth D'mello u00a04 pm
Aftertaste u00a04.30 pm
The Works u00a05 pm
Full Moon Rising u00a05.30 pm
Lionnel Mascarenhas u00a06 pm
Akriti Kakkar u00a06.30 pm
Vidhyadhar Bhave u00a06.40 pm
Jimmy u00a06.50 pm
Saim Bhat u00a07 pm
Something Relevant u00a07.10 pm
One Night Stand u00a07.40 pm
Shaan u00a08.10 pm
Zedde u00a08.20 pm
Luke Kenny u00a08.50 pm

20-30%u00a0u00a0of people in America donate blood regularly, but here in India, there is a serious dearth of blood donors.u00a0 Statistics reveal that even if 1% of the Indian population were to donate blood, it would be enough to cover the basic requirement.