Gig Preview: Uday Benegal, Mahesh and Rohit Vasudevan Jump In for NEXA Music Live in Bengaluru

At the Bengaluru Chapter of NEXA Music Live, some of the shortlisted Top 24 artists join veteran voices and instrumentalists at Hard Rock Café on February 28th. Performances include Mumbai-based rock artist Uday Benegal (a mentor and headliner for NEXA Music), Top 24 spot holders such as Bengaluru singer-songwriter Mahesh Raghunandan, Mumbai singer-guitarist Rohit Vasudevan, plus the city’s seasoned and emerging artists including rapper MC Gubbi and singer-rapper Madhura Gowda. Entry to the gig is free.

The artists will be backed by the Moksha All Stars, who have been performing at NEXA Music Live shows ever since it kicked off earlier this month. With the able voice of homegrown singer Carlton Braganza (one of the founders of long-standing venue Opus and famous host of their karaoke nights), the band includes bassist-singer Shalini Mohan, guitarist Naveen Thomas, keyboardist Krishh Datta, drummer Jaime Dudley and singer-guitarist Richard Andrew Dudley.

Benegal, who will be headlining the night, says he’s slowly grown into the solo performer space whenever he’s been called to do shows in North East India but is glad to have the band as well. “This is a little different, I’ll do four of my tunes – three Indus Creed songs and one Alms for Shanti song, ‘Varanasi Trail.’ The rest of the songs will be covers that I know and the band knows as well.”

Mahesh Raghunandan, who was selected by NEXA Music and released “Alright,” says he’s looking forward to performing with an entirely different band behind him. In addition to performing “Alright,” the crooner will be singing Sinatra’s version of “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Feeing Good” by soul powerhouse Nina Simone, “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys and going fully solo with his acoustic guitar for “Japanese Denim” by Canadian R&B singer-songwriter Daniel Caesar. “It’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s a bit of both – to play songs I’ve liked. I used to do ‘Feeling Good’ during the Mahesh and the Mix days [his previous live band]. It’s going to be nice to have someone like Naveen playing those incredible guitar solos – who wouldn’t want that?”

NEXA Music Live – The Bangalore Chapter takes place on February 28, 8 pm onwards at Hard Rock Café, St. Marks Road, Bengaluru. Entry: free. RSVP here.