It was all about team dynamic and performance on Saturday night! The Semi Final Round 1 of TNL Onstage 2012 challenged eight bands to bring their best; and they did just that! We heard a couple of repeats, a few covers and plenty of original tracks this time round. Urged on by success and the prospect of the title “TNL Onstage Winner” they all upped their game. A great night!

Taking the stage first was Harvest who took a calculated risk by performing two original songs; the first of which was a cool acoustic track “Tell Tale”, and the second was the much louder “Catalyst”. The audience appreciated them, and I think showing different facets music-wise was a smart move.

Unsung Conflict started their set off with the original track “The Lost Soul”. The Black Sabbath fans had to pay homage to one of their idols with an inspired cover of “Crazy Train” which sent a shiver down my (and everyone else’s) spine with the truly maniacal laugh at the end!

Up next, “Unveiled”, an original track, was the first pick for Trojan Arc (after they warmed the audience up with a bit of a chat I must add). They really did a good job with their second song, “Burn In Hell”, (which they had previously performed in the preliminary round) by Twisted Sister – definitely worth the repeat.

Twisted Minit are the only hip hop contenders for this year and the crowd really enjoyed their unique flavour. They brought down the house with their first selection, a mash-up of three ‘90’s classics (“Shine”, “Jump Around” and “Return of the Mac”) which they entitled “Back to School”, then capped off their performance with an original track: “Uzzy”.

The biggest cheers of the night were reserved for a band not even participating in the competition, the TNL Big Band! Kirsten (show producer) and Ishara (of the BIG Show) took the helm on the vocals and were backed up by Dilshan Michaels and Zach (from TNL Rocks) on guitar, Lahiru (productions) on keyboard, Avril (from Lite FM) on drums and competition winner Viroshan Tissera on bass. They sang versions of “Gold On The Ceiling” and “Times like These” to tremendous applause.  

Killfeed brought metal back into play with their first track, Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”.  Their version of Iron Maiden’s “Fear of the Dark” was spot on, and the mob could be heard singing along with the song from the very first note.

Magicians Tool Box could have raised the dead with the screams issued out of the frontman’s mouth at the beginning of their first song; a cover of Guns ‘n' Roses' “Mama Kin”! “Hot Shot”, an original that they played at the preliminary round was the second track of choice. With their amazing chemistry and performances I think it’s fair to say the crowd went wild for this band.

The seventh band to hit the stage was Disclaimer. They started their performance with an original song “The Outsider” which seemed to have the audience enthralled. “Hollow”, by Submersed was their second choice – and this was probably the crowd favourite of the night. The cheers and applause just kept coming!

The last act of the night was Rivera! Deep Purple’s “Strange Kind of Woman” was belted out first – a very interesting choice which really brought out the band’s cohesion. Kamelot’s “Wings of Despair” was next and their version proved that this is a band to watch!

The audience loved them so they came back for the encore round! Of course I am talking about Magicians Tool Box! They showed exactly why with their rendition of a Led Zepplin song – ending the night, literally and figuratively, on a high!

 

(Carlene from Lite FM)

 

TNL Onstage 2012 Semi Final 1 - Highlights