BLOT, Dhruv Visvanath, Prabh Deep and More Brought the Music at American Eagle’s India Launch

Aurobindo Market in Hauz Khas, New Delhi teems with life almost every night of the week thanks to Summer House Cafe and its next door neighbor Auro Kitchen & Bar. At a time when the capital’s Hauz Khas village was known for multiple venues that blared music through the night, many have gone silent due to the ban on playing recorded music came through in May. Even then, a party’s not too far.

U.S. clothing and accessories retailer American Eagle launched their first Indian outlet in New Delhi earlier this year, and to mark the moment put on their very own mini music festival on November 16th. Spread across Summer House Café and Auro Kitchen & Bar (and three stages), the experience ”“ apart from the music ”“ included a rooftop bar, motion-sensor photo booths, henna tattoos and more.

Dhruv Visvanath, Ankur Tewari and Sidd Coutto kick things off

New Delhi guitar maverick Dhruv Visvanath opened proceedings at Summer House Café’s Rooftop stage with a spellbinding performance. Visvanath ”“ accompanied by keyboardist Rohan Rajadhyaksha (from Mumbai alt rockers Spud in the Box) and violinist Ajay Jayanthi (of prog rock/fusion band Paradigm Shift) — opened with the jumpy “Botswana” off this year’s The Lost Cause. The percussive guitarist showcased plenty of material from his latest record (the symphonic “Afterglow,” the dynamic “Jungle” and emotive “Wild”), but it was his hit track, “Four,” off 2015’s debut album Orion that got everyone in attendance to sing along. Visvanath closed his set with the euphoric “The Enigma,” featuring a sublime solo from Rajadhyaksha.

Next, two Mumbai artists, composer Ankur Tewari and multi-instrumentalist Sidd Coutto, took turns to sing at the Summer House Cafe rooftop. Coutto ”“ armed with his electric guitar and looper pedal ”“ initiated things with his saccharine track “Baby.” Tewari treated us to songs from his repertoire which included the jazzy acoustic rock bender “Jaanu,” the folk-punk “Mohobbat Zindabad” and the melodic “Yaaron.” Keeping with the theme of “Yaaron” which includes the lyric ”˜chillum,’ Coutto segued seamlessly into full on reggae vibes with “Smoke Some Ganja.”   

Prabh Deep ups the ante

Over at Summer House’s Hip-Hop stage, Mumbai DJ Paper Queen showcased her rap, bass and groovy elements at the deck albeit to a rather low turnout. We then made our way to Auro to catch the end of Mumbai dreamy electro artist Kumail’s set. The producer’s chilled out lo-fi sounds was the perfect dose for what was to come next.

After scramming back to Summer House to make it in time for New Delhi MC Prabh Deep’s set we were in for a treat – the club filled up to listen to the rapper’s fiery bars. Prabh Deep put on a power packed display from showboating, talking about how he loves his hometown and delivering strong rhymes from his debut album Class-Sikh.

Hip-hoppers Asian Dub Foundation performing at the launch party of American Eagle at Summer House Cafe, New Delhi.

Techno time

U.K. electronica group Asian Dub Foundation took over Summer House next and treated attendees to a scrumptious reggae/hip-hop DJ set. Over at Auro, English DJ Eton Messy brought all things dance music before New Delhi techno artist BLOT encapsulated his raw power and groovy beats to close quite a fun-filled night.

With American Eagle now up and running in India and hosting a successful launch festival – it’s a welcome sight for more brands getting involved in music curation and experiences involving noteworthy talent from the circuit.

All photos courtesy of PR Pundit.