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Onstage..

Sep 28 2015.

TNL Onstage 2015 Finals : Reviewed

The Finals of TNL Onstage took place on a rainy Saturday, September 26 at the Water’s Edge Lawn from 7pm onwards. Despite the heavy showers till late afternoon, the weather was nearly all clear during the concert albeit the puddles and earthworms.

The show kicked off with Nabeeth singing two of his original songs - one especially inspired by the relationship between the Joker and Batman! Soloist Imaad sang a melody of Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith followed by an upbeat cover of Gavin Degraw’s ‘I’m in Love with a Girl’. The only female soloist Tharani started off with a Jessie J number and took the audience by surprise as she did her own rendition of Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’. The final soloist, Kamishka, sang the well-loved Kodaline song ‘All I Want’.

In the battle of the bands, Amuthu, a finalist band from Kandy, took to the stage with a hard cover version of ‘Lonely Boy’ by the Black Keys and ‘Bad Name’ by Bon Jovi while Against Gravity went along the genres of post grunge/alternative rock with covers from Creed and Staind. With the band Chains performing two originals ‘Faith’ and ‘Revolution’, the final act was Cosmogyral who sang ‘Alive’ by the local band Soul and a ‘Superstition’/ ‘Uptown Funk’ mashup.

The finalists dazzled the audience with their best but perhaps the finest part of their performance was seeing how much they enjoyed themselves on stage.

After a tough battle - the votes were in and the judges made their call. Here are the award winners of TNL Onstage 2015;

· Winner, Best Band - Cosmogyral

· Runners up, Best Band - Chains

· Winner, Best Soloist - Kamishka

· Runners up, Best Soloist - Tharani

Other awards:

· Dell’s Most Popular Band Award - Cosmogyral

· Dynamic Musician Award - Shane from Chains

· Most Popular Soloist - Kamishka

· Twistee’s Theme Song - Chains

· Best Original Song - Nabeeth

Catching up with the winners and the runners up, they had this to say about their big win:

Denham (Cosmogyral)

Best experience - we learnt a lot. Thank you TNL for the opportunity. It didn’t click at that moment that we won but it was fun and worth all the things we did.

Venura (Chains)

We didn’t expect it . It was good thing. This win is a start for us. From this stage onwards we’ll work on our album and come up with originals. This award will motivate and empower us.

Kamishka

It was unexpected. I’m thrilled and speechless. I didn’t mind when they announced I was second but when they corrected and said I was first I was over the moon!

Tharani

It’s a roller-coaster ride. After competing with everyone it was a massive surprise for me - I was really glad to get runners up.

Puddle of Mudd or Puddles of Mud?

The awards were followed by the much awaited performance from the American alternative rock band Puddle of Mudd. For weeks, TNL had been building up to the excitement of the arrival and live performance of Puddle of Mudd at Onstage Finals and this was the talk of the town among fans of rock music.

The band’s hit singles ‘Blurry’, ‘She Hates Me’, ‘Psycho’ and ‘Control’ has been the soundtrack to a lot of people’s teenage years. So wrapped up in childhood memories, the audience were literally on their toes trying to catch of glimpse of their favourite band. Phones out, chanting ‘Puddle of Mudd! Puddle of Mudd’ – the crowd was ecstatic to see the band members take the stage.

To anyone who has Googled Puddle of Mudd weeks before the concert, it’s well known that the band's frontman Wes Scantlin has had a few run-ins with the law and a small history of lip syncing during shows.

So was anyone in the crowd surprised that history repeated itself? After the band took to the stage and Wes began to sing the first few verses of ‘Control’ - a few feet away from the mic, looking up at the sky - it was pretty clear that the only ‘live’ performance we were getting were from the guitarists and the drummer.

Sure, it was surreal watching your favourite band perform physically right in front of your eyes and it was great singing along to ‘She Hates Me’ and ‘Psycho’ with a smile on your face because it brings up so many memories but perhaps we could have possibly had the same experience sitting in the comfort of our own home (dry, without mud and worms) listening to them on YouTube?

If you came to support the local talent and cheer your friends on - then your money was well spent. The finalists went above and beyond to give the audience a great concert. But if you came solely to watch Puddle of Mudd play live? Well then, it’s up to you to decide whether it was money well spent or not.

But here’s a few of the audience comments we were able to catch:

Umesh

Puddle of Mudd has been a childhood favourite. Got me through a lot of hard times. We came all the way from Kandy. The contestants were great! Really liked Chains and Amuthu.

Harold

It was a good concert. Seeing Puddle of Mudd was good. All in all a good concert.

Sachithra

I think the show was great. We enjoyed it a lot.

Malinda

It was good. Performances were very nice.

Anonymous

You really don’t want comments from us.

Lakni

Had a really good time. Wish Puddle of Mudd performed Spin you Around. Overall it was a good show.

Jaan

I was supporting Kamishka and I’m so glad he won and Tharani as well.

It was really good, but then we wish they actually sang and not lip synced.

Akalanka

I’m a very big fan of Puddle of Mudd, Blurry is like my signature song. I had high expectations. But yeah, I wish they sang live. Rock bands can’t sing 10 songs at a stretch for one hour. Loved the atmosphere but kind of wish they sang live at least a couple of songs.

Dinal