Manipal: High Voltage, Manipal’s first ever rock jam night, was hosted by School of Life Sciences (SOLS) in collaboration with Volunteer Service Organisation (VSO) Manipal despite rain threatening to hamper proceedings on October 6 at the T.M.A Pai Amphitheatre.
With amalgamate efforts, SOLS and VSO plan on donating all proceeds to Meal for a Smile, a program that feeds the underprivileged. An estimate of 700 tickets were sold for the event, out of which 200 were printed on the same day due to high demand, despite the on-going Manipal drizzles. When asked about the rain, Akshay Neeli, one of the organizers from SOLS expressed that he had his fingers crossed. The organisers were prepared for the rain with a tin roof added over the stage to safe guard the equipment. The roof ensured that the drizzles did not affect the performances although it didn’t manage to convince the audience to stay for long, as a sizable part of the crowd headed out once the showers set in.
High Voltage provided a stage for 16 bands, out of which three bands were headliners: Cloudburst, Scintillations, and The Undecided.
“The sound quality was good but I was slightly disappointed by the headcount in the audience when we played. Most people left, I blame it solely on the rain factor”, said Atul Chaudary, a fourth year student from Manipal Institute of Technology, also a member of The Undecided.
Apart from student bands in Manipal, High Voltage also featured Passionfruit, a project that inspires worldwide artist collaborations.