Sir John Wilson School hosts charity concert “Salvation 2.0”, with Dameer as surprise guest

On December 17, Sir John Wilson School hosted a charity concert in their campus. Salvation 2.0, the successor of the first Salvation, is a student-led initiative aiming to raise money for charity to help the underprivileged as well as provide memories for students to look back to.

The concert kicked off at 10:30 AM, welcoming a crowd of mostly English medium students from Dhaka to enjoy the performances of school and alumni bands. Amongst the performers were Ayman Raakin, Zarhan, BAE, Toothfish, Parampara, Yesnomaybe, Hammerhead, Algorhythm, Aftermath, Afrid, and Ecstacy.

Around 600 guests, including parents and alumni were present at the event, and the invited schools were Aga Khan, Chittagong Grammar School, Scholastica Mirpur and Uttara, South Breeze, Sunbeams, and International Hope School Bangladesh.

One of the most enticing parts of the concert was when Dameer, a popular singer-songwriter, came out to the unsuspecting crowd as a surprise guest on the show. He got on stage and wooed the crowd with his performance.

In a later conversation with Dameer I got to know how excited he was to pull off this surprise, something he had never done before. 

"My main audience is young people, and I'm part of the youth myself," said Dameer. "That's why coming to a high school made a lot of sense to me. Everyone knew every word to each song and the energy was incredible. I feed off that energy and then get to put out a better performance because of it."

The organising committee, consisting primarily of students, had decorated the campus with banners bearing the Salvation logo. The stage overlooked the fields of the campus and allowed the artists to deliver electric performances. 

Soumyabha Sankar Das, one of the organisers and an A Level student, said, "It's not easy trying to hold a concert for so many people. For the past six months we just breathed, thought about, and dreamed about Salvation. We all worked immensely hard to ensure the best possible experience for everyone."

From keeping in contact with the secret artist and revealing hints while maintaining secrecy, to producing merchandise and filming promotional videos, the organising committee put in a lot of effort to bring about one of the best school-based rock concerts in Dhaka. 

From a conversation with Sir John Wilson School's Vice Principal Dr Farhana Khan Zaman, it was revealed that the proceeds from the concert are to go to Bidyanondo Foundation, an educational voluntary organisation.The school always aims to deliver high-quality English medium education to its students while emphasising on helping underprivileged people in the community. Funds will also be directed towards an animal welfare organisation in Bangladesh. 

Amongst the beverage and snack partners were Pizza Roma, Chatime, Thanda Gorom, Indulge, Madchef, and Glazed. The sponsor for this event was Petronas, and the media partner was SHOUT.