With the refreshing breeze and the aroma of kotthu, “Xtaztic 2013” kicked off with the acoustic and reggae tunes of Ryan and Sachi who made an unforgettable debut.
The remarkable renditions of “Hold Yuh” by Gyptian, “Strength of a woman” by Shaggy and Bob Marley’s “Could you be loved” by Ryan drew in reggae fans from across the grounds to the stage. The “Accidentals” got the ground vibrating with “Knocking on heaven’s door” by Guns N Roses and “Crazy little thing called love.” A slowly dispersing crowd then bordered the stage once more with a rock ‘n’ roll version of the well known Sinhala song, “Aadare hithenawa daekkama”.
“Glory” made their presence known with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” filling the air with a powerful voice that got the legend’s voice playing in one’s mind. The atmosphere was fired up with their own version of “Long train running” by the Doobie Brothers, pumped up with bass guitars.
The contagious energy of the singer who sang several covers of Pitbull such as “All my people”, “Rain over me”, “Give me everything” and Don Omar’s “Danza Kuduro” got the crowds groovin’. With a powerful rendition of “I want to break free” by Queen, proving the multidimensional aspect to the singer’s voice, “Glory” marked a ‘glorious’ end to their act.
“Black” in keeping with their formula of entertainment, stood out as one of the bands that engaged the audience in their performances of “I’m yours” by Jason Mraz. Proving their versatility in rock and contemporary music, “Black” kept the crowd on their feet with “Summer of ‘69” and “Nadee Ganga tharanaye”.
Their performance was marked with the excellent rendition of “Sweet child O’ Mine” by Guns N Roses that got the ground vibrating with the bass guitars once more. “Doctor” opened with Gavin DeGraw’s “Not over you”, moving on to their original “Aeththamai Kiyanne” in true “Doctor” style.
Beginning with the mellow tunes of acoustic and reggae music, the show then built up to resonating bass sounds. The monotonous beat and covers of songs too well known at times, failed to keep the audience together throughout the show. A nucleus of ardent music lovers however flanked the stage and proved to be a very responsive audience encouraging the bands with screams and loud applause after every performance.
“Doctor” was not the only band to add local essence to the music but prior to their performance, the “Accidentals” and “Black” too sang renditions of Sinhala songs. Each band proved versatility in not confining themselves to one particular genre but of varied nature and songs from different eras that didn’t fail to get the feet of parents tapping too! It was indeed a colourful and diverse musical extravaganza!
Each act was linked by the dynamic voice of the night’s host Dominic Kellar who was instrumental in maintaining energy levels of the audience, spreading a bit of humour every now and then with his unfailing efforts to pronounce the tongue-twisting name of event – “Xtaztic”.
The atmosphere overall was relaxed with ample space for people to walk and many stalls offering a variety of food (of which the aroma was sufficient to lure people to them!).
The food was no doubt delicious as was seen by the empty plates and tissues that kept piling garbage bins! This was the first time “Xtaztic” was held out of doors, and for a first, the event was a result of a great deal of time and effort on the part of the Thomians.
The success would no doubt have been rewarding to the boys who worked towards it and whose efforts have been commended by many.
A good sound system managed by experienced Sound Managers ensured the smooth running of “Xtaztic” that made it a milestone in the history of outdoor events organized by a school.
Audience comments:
"It was awesome! But we expected a bigger crowd." - Yelani
"It was good. It's different. More entertaining than usual." - Azmankha
"It was ok. Not how I expected it to be. I expected more of a crowd. Music was pretty good though!" - Chalsy
"Fantastic! Enjoyed it! Overall, performances are great!" - Nisal
"We had alot of fun. Loved Black!" - Rashmalee
"It was awesome! Glory was good!" - Jason
By Sapthika Jacob
Pics by Waruna Wanniarachchi
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
0 Comments
Dilan says:
Apr 17, 2013 at 12:00 amFrom looking at these pics all I can say is that Sri Lankans are very plain looking and unattractive. I am not insulting, just telling the bitter truth.