KATHMANDU: The Meghamalhar Hall at Soaltee Crowne Plaza was filled with rock fans rocking to the music played by their favourite bands competing with each other at the grand finale of the Sprite Band Challenge on August 14.

The Challenge was won by the band Anuprastha. The other bands in the finals were Alt F4 and Bequeath.

As it was an indoor event, sadly the real flavour of a rock concert was missing with the invitees reluctant to scream and head bang. This actually made the finale a bit boring. But the performances by the three finalists were excellent.

The event was attended by not only rock fans but also various music personalities. The panel of judges had legendary Dev Rana along with the well known rockers Robin Tamang (Robin and The New Revolution) and Manoj KC (1974 AD).

Alt F4 performed Saayas’ Pahilo Maya and Bharat Sitaula’s Huncha Hudaina, Bequeath performed Arun Thapa’s classic Jati maya laye pani and X Mantra’s Salik, and Anuprastha presented Nima Rumba’s Catwalk and Shadow’s Prakriti. The crowd was also entertained by Nima Rumba, Preeti Kaur and Mt 8848 with their popular numbers.

After a long count of votes received by the bands via SMS, Anuprastha was announced the winners and walked away with a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh including an offer to record a music video. The second and third prizes of cash prize Rs 50,000 and Rs 30,000 went to Bequeath and Alt F4 respectively.

The event was presented by Sprite, managed by Vogue and coordinated by Prisma Advertising.