2016 Jan 2
Its only been a day into 2016 and we’ve already found a new boy band to drool about and draw doodle-y hearts around, and the best part is, they’re from our own island nation. On 31st night, at the dawn of the new year, my friend and I experienced a revolutionary all boy- Sri Lankan band- Magic Box Mixup.
When I first heard that they’d be performing that night, to be honest, I didn’t expect them to be this mind-blowing. I had done a bit of snooping around on youtube and got nothing drool worthy. Their originals were nice, and covers seemed good too. But as the night grew older I realised that labelling them so mediocre was more than a minor blunder. They were the farthest from a mediocre band.
On the 31st night at Water’s Edge, there were attendees of all ages. From toddlers who would boogie to anything, teenagers who were the pickiest with their music, young adults who were tipsy, hence shared several characteristics with the toddlers, middle aged parents who would enjoy as long as their children weren’t clinging on to their arms, and finally, a majority of the party goers were the elder crowd, who well, would enjoy golden oldies. So with a myriad of different tastes there was rarely a point at which everyone was on the 50 ft dance floor at the Water’s Edge. Until of course, Magic Box Mixup performed.
The boys managed to soothe the kids high on caramel popcorn and well, bring the freak out in everyone else. We saw the wild side of a lot of achchis andseeyas, thanks to Magic Box Mixup, and bringing about the wide smiles and hindered rhythm to their lives again itself, deserves some praise.
They performed fairly new songs, but with their music, the content didn’t even matter. The culture of their performance was nothing Sri Lanka had experienced before from local performers. The lead vocalist, Shaun P, not only had the entire area of the 5ft dance floor packed, he had us dancing with him.He got us to jump, sing, dance, yell, and repeat. So it wasn’t just the vocals that we enjoyed, but their dance moves, stage presence, showmanship, head bangs- and their all all-round performance. It was a performance so engaging, each individual on and off the dance floor felt as if they were on a world stage with the band, absolutely enticed.
Another commendable characteristic of the band was how consistent they were. There was no picking between which song they did better, and every single one of their covers were equally enchanting. Each member of the band seemed to be giving their 110% with each song as they tirelessly sweat during the items. But their were no sloppy, fatigue-driven performances, just a perfect consistency of pure musical delight. They seemed to take each song as a new challenge, and out-do themselves time and time again, eventually managing to put the originals of to shame.
And ladies, I know they already seem perfect- talented, amazing showmanship, engaging, energetic, but there’s one more perk- their hotness. Shaun P’s man bun alone was a heart stopper. They were all individually handsome young men and together as a band- they were even more attractive- we didn’t need firecrackers on NYE as long as they were there.
After their performances so many seemed to be excited to hire them for their events, even those one year from now. For “this one’s cousins’ daughter’s wedding,” for “that one’s son’s birthday party,” for “this uncle’s niece’s fundraiser” and it all made sense. They were a band so versatile that they’d fit in anywhere. They’ll serenade your achchi, ammi, your nandhi, even thaththi, bappi, aiyya and akki. So if you don’t want kids to be on their phones the whole night and aunties and uncles to be “aney dhan natanna baha” till they eat and leave, and instead want everyone to enjoy your event, Magic Box Mixup are your guys.
Towards the end of the night on the 31st- rather 3am on the 1st, we had danced for what seemed like a whole year and our feet were swollen, eyes were sore, stomach was pinching and we just wanted to go home and sleep. Until of course from a distance we noticed the man bun and white shirts approaching the stage and we sprinted like crazed fan-girls (which we were by the end of the night) to the front of the dance floor. And finally, we had to be dragged home because we just didn’t want to leave them, as exhausted as we were, their music seemed to trump every thing.
So at Water’s Edge on 31st night, I had the best night of 2015 and possibly the best morning of 2016, unless that is, you’re hiring them for your party and I’m invited 😉 I danced until my feet were numb, got personally serenaded by the god-like Shaun P during their amazing rendition of “Rude,” and danced with him for what I believe were the best 60 seconds of my whole life and had an overall, 10/10 experience.
Now this, would have been worth 35k 😉
signing off,
Magic Box Mixup’s self-appointed #1 fan.
