Venue: DLF Cyberhub Gurgaon
Date: 20 July 2017

Canvas Laugh Club has just stepped into a new zone. Popular as a venue for stand-up comedy, Canvas Laugh Club has recently forayed in the field of music. This new phase started with a concert by the well-known fusion music band Advaita.

Advaita’s fans had thronged the venue and the biggish concert hall was full with an enthusiastic audience. The concert started fashionably late and this added to the anticipation among the listeners. Consequently when the much loved band came on stage, they were greeted by huge cheers. And this, accompanied by heavy applause, continued throughout the span of the concert of about one and half hours.

The Sanskrit word Advaita means union of the self with the universe. The band Advaita also practices union – they perform fusion music. They mix Hindustani or Carnatic vocal music with English lyrics. The tabla and flute are played with drums, guitar and synthesizer. The result is an eclectic combination steeped in our tradition yet contemporary in flavour.

Advaita played some of their popular numbers that evening. Many of the songs started with Hindustani alap singing before it would transform into light classical like thumri combined with English pop and soft rock like verses. One of the numbers was just a long chant of bols – with no words – and the audience went ecstatic at the energy of the singer Ujwal Nagar. The English portions were sung by Chayan Adhikari who also played the acoustic guitar. Before the last few numbers, the band members requested the audience to clear the chairs and this area was soon a dance floor. Advaita played peppy high beat numbers in this concluding part and the audience danced their week’s stress away.

And that is where Canvas Music Hall as well as Canvas Laugh Club in DLF Cyberhub is successful. Be it comedy or music, The People and Co manages to rejuvenate us with enjoyable performances and we always look forward to being back here.