A Night Under the Stars – Article 19’s ‘Unplugged’ 

​According to Marilyn Manson, music is the strongest form of magic. A blend of various styles, genres and languages, Unplugged 2016 managed to do just that, with a night of music under the stars, at the open air amphitheatre on the 26th of October. The event was not only a cathartic experience for the participating musicians, but it also acted as a well-deserved break for the audience in lieu of the impending sessionals and end-semester exams.

The event began at 6.30 and opened to a record turnout of around 400 people. The show kicked off with a soulful rendition of ‘Just the Way You Are’ by Bruno Mars. Medleys were commonplace and throughout the night – a break-up themed one, a Hindi-English cover of Photograph, as well as a western-classical fusion performance was seen. A common theme was the amalgamation of several languages like English, Hindi and Tamil. The incredibly enthusiastic audience supported the experienced maestros and first timers equally. Various performances stood out due to their unique nature like a flute rendition of the popular Celine Dion song “My Heart will go on” and a beatboxing-vocals duo.

The event brought various section of students of Manipal together as they witnessed performances from Department Of Commerce, School Of Communication and Manipal Institute of Technology, among others. The event also served as a platform for various upcoming student bands such as “One Day Shenanigans’, ‘Four Sarcastic Men’, ‘Christopher’s Band’ and ‘Alice in California’.

Josh, a performer from School Of Communication, said, “Unplugged is one of the few events in Manipal that embraces musicianship. Their organisation and conductance is impeccable. As a student, this has definitely worked as a stressbuster.” Unplugged is a concluding pre-event for the much awaited official college fest of the School of Communication, Article 19 which upholds the motto- ‘Freedom Your Right.’ According to Malavika Menon, the elected program planner for Article 19, “That is exactly what Unplugged stands for,” she elucidated, “Unplugged is about expressing yourself and about being who you are through art, which is exactly what Article 19 stands for.”

Another performance that stood-out was that of Meraki, the official dance club of School Of Communication, who displayed their versatility and finesse by dancing to ‘Side to Side’, ‘Closer’ and ‘Let’s Nacho.’ This was a publicity stunt by the dance club.

“One good thing about music is that when it hits you, you feel no pain,” Bob Marley had said, and those words came to life and rang true as Unplugged came to a close, leaving everyone spellbound and wondering about the magic of music and what Article 19 holds for everyone in the future. The tentative dates for Article 19 are from the 8th to 11th of February, 2017.

Gargi Pandey & Bhavna Subramanian for MTTN 

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