Musical Chairs

When singer Mohit Chauhan took to the mic at Delhi’s Hard Rock Café in Saket on Thursday night,crowds cheered wildly,when he convincingly mimicked Bob Marley’s drawl in his greatest hit No woman no cry. One of the acts for the theme evening “Parikrama and Friends”— this live affair was not a routine feat. Subir Malik,keyboardist and manager of the band conceptualised the performance to rejig Parikrama’s act by adding some sparkling collaborations with other musicians. “When Parikrama was invited to play at Hard Rock Cafe,we decided to do it differently since the band is also celebrating its 18th birthday. So we got our friends from the industry to perform with us,” says Malik.

So when the gates to HRC opened,the evening took off with Parikrama’s original set,which included the popular But it rained and Rhythm and Blues. Luke Kenny performed The Doors’ medley while Rabbi Shergill did a rendition of Jimi Hendrix’ Hey Joe. Shibani Kashyap,too didn’t resort to Bollywood hits,choosing The Police’ chartbuster King of Pain. Midival Punditz covered Deep Purple’s Smoke on the water in their signature style. “We have all have been friends for a very long time. It’s a great idea to get together and perform on one platform after so many years,” said Rabbi,reminiscing about the practice sessions he had for the show at Malik’s residence. Hard Rock,hazy and dark,packed to capacity,was the perfect venue to recreate the ambience of a concert. When Indian Ocean’s Rahul Ram let his hair down to sing Led Zepplin classic Stairway to heaven with fellow bandmate Amit Kilam and musician Nippun Cheema,you almost thought,it was the real thing.

Hard Rock Cafe hosts live music nights every Thursday. Contact: 47158888