SUN FM’s ninth Birthday Bash went down in style at the SLECC last Friday. I was there. Well, I reached the venue at around 8pm. It wasn’t crowded. The party was yet to start. People were still getting in. DJ behind the console was spinning some music.
Moving on to the performances of the night, the line-up included Stigmata, X-It, Section 8, Iraj, Ashanthi and Elephant Foot. The show finally got going at 8.30pm. The headlining performance of the night came from none other than Stigmata, one of the very few bands that I admire when it comes to local music scene. As usual they played their originals. They performed songs from both albums, mainly from ‘Silent Chaos Serpentine’ including ‘My Malice’ and concert favourite ‘The Jazz Theory’ plus some new materials. It was the longest set. And this is probably the best Stigmata performance I have ever seen. It was f**king awesome. Mosh pits among the crowd began happening. The performance looked like a never seen before footage. It was electrifying. Unfortunately, I missed a few minutes of their performance. Coz I had to go outside for something.
After Stigmata’s electrifying performance, Shafi took the stage along with his band Section 8. The set was all about covers. But they got the crowd going really well. They started the set by covering Rascal Flatts’ rendition of ‘Life Is A Highway’ which almost everyone in the crowd enjoyed. I totally adored it. Then, they performed a couple of laid back Alternative tracks including ‘Speed Of Sound’ and later moved on to all-time cult favourites such as ‘Summer Of 69’, House Of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’ and a few others. I was under impression that they tried to play more well-known stuff which is slightly disappointing. But except for Stigmata’s unforgettable performance, this would be the highlight of the entire night.
It’s obvious that half of the crowd were expecting some Hip-hop music. That’s exactly what they witnessed next. Ashanthi, the self-proclaimed queen of Sri Lankan Hip-hop accompanied by Randir and the guy from Cilent Project appeared on stage. They had a pretty strong performance, although the audience didn’t really accept them first. Ashanthi mainly performed tracks from her debut album. She has the potential to please anyone with her style. So everything went smoothly. But she could have done an acoustic rendition of a song or something. Coz parties are not all about thumping dance music.
Next up was Iraj accompanied by Killer B. It was pretty sad to see Iraj all alone without the company of fellow members such as BK, Krishan and Sesh. However, Iraj no doubt tried to give his best shot for the time being. They started things off with the breakthrough single ‘Roots’ which made a huge impact in the Sri Lankan urban scene. They also preformed ‘J Town Story’ and some materials from Iraj’s upcoming album. The reaction from the crowd was overwhelming this time.
The final act in the line-up was Elephant Foot, a bunch of amazing drummers from my side of the country- Hikkaduwa. Their performance was limited for a few minutes with just two percussion sessions. One of these compositions is included in their debut album, if I have not mistaken. I have got myself a copy of their album. But I didn’t give a full listen yet. With that breath-taking performance by Elephant Foot, the party came to an end at around 2am.
Apart from all these performances, there were some dance features as well. There was a fire dance courtesy of some traditional artistes. That was a big no-no…Why do we have to see traditional stuff being thrown at a Western based event? Another dance troupe consisting of about seven young ladies did their thing for the track ‘Chori Chori’ by Aneela. It was quiet okay though. I think an original station like SUN should introduce novelty into these events other than relying on ordinary shit. Talking about the music provided by SUN FM deejays in between the performances, it was noticeable that they haven’t made a proper playlist for the evening…
The quality of the event was not upto standard comparing to previous parties organized by SUN FM. Believe it or not, the smoking inside the premises was not allowed by these security personals, although there was no mention about that in the ticket or invitation. There were only three food and drink stalls located inside- KFC, the Beer outlet and another one for Soft drinks.
The atmosphere was kinda good this time. It was darker. They have brought themes like the beach and the jungle inside the SLECC. Even the sound system was working properly. And it’s always a pleasure to attend to events which feature all sorts of music, so big props out to Sun FM for making it possible. ‘Variety’ should be the key word when it comes to organizing musical events in this part of the world. The choice of venue was okay. But you can’t expect much glamour with this kind of a place. Back in the days, they used to host the B’day Bash at Taj North Lorne which is perfect for parties.
I have got some photos of the Birthday Bash. Will upload them later…
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