The Royalists On Stage (Special Edition) 2013 organized by the Royal College Prefects’ Council 2012/2013 was a one of a kind musical event, featuring the musical talents of Royalists past & present all on one grand stage. The event was held on the 9th of November 2013 at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium and featured some of the biggest names in the Sri Lankan Music Industry along with some of the freshest talent at College. The show pulled out all the stops bringing some of the highest quality performances to the amazing crowds, and we would not have missed this event for the world.

Most concerts generally have one or two all star items surrounded that tend to be the highlight of the event, but with the concept being “Royalists” On Stage, on or two stand out items was not going to cut it. According to the Prefects, coming up with an agenda was was a two hour long challenge because fitting in all the names to have a flow to the concert required lots of thinking and once the show kicked off, you could understand why. Santhush along with the BNS Crew (Bathiya, Ashanthi and Umaria), Randhir, Iraj and Dushyanth would be individual names that can carry out an entire show by themselves and all these acts graced the stage with unbelievable performances. As if this lineup was not enough, ROS also featured Chillie Thilanka, Mihindu Ariyaratne, Krishan Maheson, Hiran Thenuwara and the always electrifying NAADRO mixing things up to keep the crowd on their feet. Among the big names were some of the most popular up and coming musical acts. With all these names, you have to have class on the compere’s mic and that’s what Steffen Blaze had in spades as he took to the stage as the master of ceremonies.

Click on the link to view the complete album – Royalists On Stage 2013 – Special Edition

The event started off on a very cheerful note with the Royal College Choir performing songs by ‘Imagine Dragons’ that set the tone for the night. All the student acts were selected through an audition process and it was no wonder to see quality in them. One of the stand out performances came from Talent Search 2012 winner Nilesh Narendran, who was a part of the act by Ruweesha Jayawardane, Lasaru Kudaligama and Mohanjith Divigalpitiya who was called onto stage for an encore performance of his amazing beat-boxing skills.

Nilesh’s Performance

The Stewards went traditional, playing some classic Sinhalese songs to the tune of the flute and the bongo that had a massive response to the crowd, just like the Prefects performance that went on a little earlier in the event. The other school boy performances were Imaadh Dole & Daksith Jayasinghe contributing amazing vocals and prodigious guitar skills respectively to a performance of Alex Clare’s “Too Close” with Ruweesha, Lasaru, Nilesh & Deshith, Ridma Pathirana, Minura Halwathura, Dimitri De Mel and the Royal College Hostellers and also dance items by the Royal College Dance Troop who took on the first live performance of “Lion Nation” after the 2011 Cricket World Cup, Bishop’s College and Sirimavo Bandaranayake Vidyalaya. There was also a very special performance by guest performer Sachini Dissanayake who sang “Manamali” together with Iraj and really held her own. The final performance for the evening was by Shuaib Jabbar, Dimitri De Mel, Andrew Siriwardane and Eshana Gabadamudalige who are one of the most talented, popular and versatile acts out there today. ROS also brought two Dimitri De Mel’s (One is a current student and a Prefect, Choir Leader and one of the initiators of beat-boxing in Sri Lanka from the Prefects’ Council of 2008/2009) on to the same stage!

Dushyanth kicked off a string of high energy performances with his trademark dance routines that really got the crowd pumped up to be followed by NAADRO, BNS, Randhir and Iraj. This set of performance featured massive hits like “Dedunna Wage,” “Oya Mage Nam,” “Mal Madahasa,”Baila Gamuda Remix Karala” and “Manamali.”   The interaction from the crowd simply cannot be described in words and only photographs and videos would explain the electrifying atmosphere in the stadium, specially for BNS’ “Mal Pan Podak”

BNS’ Mal Pan Podak and Crowd Interaction

It’s no wonder that these artists are global hits and it was truly humbling to see them appreciate the crowd and the efforts of the Prefects for making this event a possibility during their performances. This was undoubtedly the peak of the event, but just one peak was not enough and a high-flying full throttle 15 minute performance by Glory was just what the crowd wanted and as always, Glory did not disappoint! They unleashed their brand of entertainment all over the stage and the crowds loved it, which was a constant feeling throughout the show.

There was also a very special online interview with Ranidu Lankage from San Francisco where he spoke about his time at College and on founding the new musical genre “Bailatronic.” There was a world premier of the bailatronic remix of “Tharuda Nidannee” and also one of his prototype mixes “Baila Bass.” We are very excited to be a part of promoting Bailatronic and we love what Ranidu has come up with, keeping up the innovation and leadership Royal is famous for! We wish him the best of luck!

Royalists On Stage was truly a once-in-a-life-time event that created tremendous hype and absolutely lived up to its name. The response from the high profile guests such as alumni parliamentarians, heads of armed forces, the Old Boys fraternity and even the students and all the artists was nothing short of spectacular. It’s not everyday that all these names perform on the same stage and new acts get the chance to showcase their talents to the masses alongside the best in the business. The response within the first 24 hours after the event have been astonishing and we hope to see such epic events take place in the future as well!The Prefects’ Council would like to extend their gratitude to all who supported the event from School Administration, the Royal College Union, sponsors, partners and specially the amazing artists and last but certainly not least, the crowd!