The Showcase at the Nehru Center

Our gig at the Nehru Center was the most important one of the entire tour! This is where we had invited a whole bunch of people from the music industry and we were officially going to show London’s music biz that the Raghu Dixit Project had arrived! With our tour manager and tech, Gary and Ron, we have already worked out the entire flow of events for the day we have a gig. We land up at the venue, separately, since we don’t stay together. Quickly run through the set up, sound check, chill and then the show!

This day was not much different, we pulled up at the Nehru Center, loaded in and then to our horror found that there was no PA system! So it was time to pull out our best contingency plan! Gary set up the amps we had and everything that was available to him there, and managed to put together some decent sound. The band on the other hand, took a swift decision and we were going to go on stage with only Raghu, Vijay and Karthick and doing an acoustic set.

The reception was fun, the Indian food served was the first traces of good Indian food we had in a week, so I think all of us devoured it! We then headed up quick to get ready for the big showcase.

Its a very different feeling when you know that the entire audience is there to critically look at your performance, the room is filled with nervous energy and that got to Paul Knowles, our manager who officially gave the cutest intro ever! :p

Raghu came on next, started with a solo rendition of Sorutihudu Maneya Maligi, then moved on to Hey Bhagwan with Vijay on acoustic guitars, followed by acoustic versions of other songs with Karthick and Vijay alternating through the set and closing the short set with a nice energetic version of Mysore se Aayi.

Following the show was a short interview with Neil McCormick which was targeted at getting the audience to learn about Raghu and his story so far. That was a fun short interview that brought out some really interesting stories that I will get Raghu to blog about someday!

After the interview it was time for us to wait for feedback and here is some of it

“Really impressed by Raghu, such a powerful voice.” – Alex Lloyd (Mainstream Artists)

“Just wanted to say good work on tonight – thought you did really well and thought Raghu – as always – was excellent and the Q&A was great.” – Andy Edwards (Connected Artists)

“Raghu Dixit was pretty amazing, great singer blending Hindu folk with western instrumentation.” – Neil McCormick (Freelance journalist)

“Thanks again for a great show last night. Jakomi and I are listening to Raghu’s CD in the Music Void office right now.” – Chris McLellan (The Music Void)

“Cheers for the invite last night mate! Really enjoyed it.” – Jules Parker (PRS)

“What a huge voice Raghu has! – Greg Parmley (IQ Magazine)

“Thank you for inviting me to see Raghu Dixit last night. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and would love to see him with his full band. – Carrie Davies (The Half Moon Putney)

“Thanks for the invitation to a wonderful evening, found the music very fresh and different. I would like to write a blog about event.” – Rita Payne (Commonwealth Journalists Association (UK))