T hree corporate solo singers and three bands are all set to grab the spotlight tonight with their musical perfor- mance at The Official Gig, India’s first corporate music y b d e s i n a g r o l a v i t s e f Hindustan Times and Experion developers. The musical platform gives an opportunity to corporate bands and singers to battle it out and rub shoulders with some of the biggest bands in the country. The event, now in its third week, will see popular rock band Parikrama give an t r a p a , e c n a m r o f r e p c i t c e l c e from judging the contestants. Participation for corporate bands and singers, as well as attendees, is free of cost. The stage is set for corporate bands Adjustment, Restless Redzz, Raag n Roll and solo singers Ajay Malik, Gaurav Upadhya and Akhil R Pillai. Don’t forget to mark your presence! NAINA ARORA City corporates turn rockstars for a night CATCH ITLIVE WHAT: Hindustan Times - The Official Gig WHERE: Oysters Beach, Sector 29, Gurgaon ON TILL: Every Friday TIMINGS: 6.30pm onwards Popular band Parikrama is set to perform and judge the show Fusion rock band Raag n Roll Solo singer Gaurav Upadhya Solo singer Akhil R Pillai NEAREST METRO STATION: Huda City Centre on the Yellow Line PRESENTS Pre-event
Transcript
Three corporate solo singers and three bands are all set to grab the spotlight tonight
with their musical perfor-mance at The O�cial Gig, India’s �rst corporate music
yb desinagro lavitsefHindustan Times and Experion developers. The musical platform gives an opportunity to corporate bands and singers to battle it out and rub shoulders with some of the biggest bands in the country.
The event, now in its third week, will see popular rock band Parikrama give an
trapa ,ecnamrofrep citcelce from judging the contestants. Participation for corporate bands and singers, as well as attendees, is free of cost. The stage is set for corporate bands Adjustment, Restless Redzz, Raag n Roll and solo singers Ajay Malik, Gaurav Upadhyaand Akhil R Pillai. Don’t forget to mark your presence!
NAINA ARORA
City corporates turn rockstars for a night
CATCHITLIVE
WHAT: Hindustan Times - The O�cial GigWHERE: Oysters Beach, Sector 29, GurgaonON TILL: Every Friday TIMINGS: 6.30pm onwards
Popular band Parikrama is set to perform and judge the show
Fusion rock band Raag n Roll
Solo singer GauravUpadhya
Solo singer Akhil R Pillai
NEAREST METRO STATION: Huda City Centre on the Yellow Line
GURGAON: In yet another scintil-lating musical evening in the city, popular Indian rock n roll bandParikrama delivered a memorable performance at Hindustan TimesThe O�cial Gig, presented byExperion.
Muti-genre music of four cor-porate bands and performancesof solo singers added to the excite-ment of the evening at OystersBeach, Sector 29.
First on stage was an employ-ee of Avizva Solutions, Akhil R Pillai, who opened with KailashKher’s hit song ‘Saiyan’, andShafqat Amanat Ali’s ‘Mitwa’.
“It was very encouraging to seepeople give a good response to myperformance. We do not usually get time to showcase our talentand passion, but The O�cialGig has given us a platform. To come from a corporate o�ce tothis stage means a lot to me,”Akhil said.
Another solo performer, Ajay Malik, who works at IntergraphSystem Private Limited, sangsoulful numbers like ‘Main TenuSamjhawan Ki’ by singer ArijitSingh and ‘Teri Deewani’ byKailash Kher.
The third solo performer ofthe evening, Gourav Upadhyay,from Tata Consultancy Services, mesmerised the audience with thesongs such as AR Rahman’s ‘LukaChupi’ and Abida Parveen’s ‘MastKalandar’.
“A platform like The O�cialGig matters a lot to people like me, who are always busy with work. I have the passion for music, but o�cial duties do not allow me tolive my passion,” Gourav said.
The �rst band performance of
the evening was by J aggervilleDodws from American Express. This band of six members wasformed in January 2015. Theyperformed various numbers like ‘Still Loving You’, ‘Black Dog’ andQueen’s ‘The Show Must Go On’.
“This is an out-of-the-worldexperience. We are delighted tobe here at this stage with such an energetic performance. Weare grateful to Hindustan Timesand Experion for giving us such opportunity,” Krishnendu Das, lead guitarist of the band said.
The next band on stage wasAdjustment, a corporate bandformed in 2013. This band per-formed Bollywood and Punjabisongs, which got the crowd onits feet.
“The O�cial Gig will de�nitely help us get public recognition.This experience has been like no other for us,” said DhaaniLorwaal, guitarist of the bandand employee of Yum Brands.
Restless Redzz, an eight-mem-ber band from Vodafone Delhienthralled the audience withsongs such as ‘Subah Subah’ and‘Dil Se Re’.
“We formed the band 10 yearsago and The O�cial Gig is a judg-ment stage for us. It is a way toshowcase our passion of music,”said Shashank Gupta, the vocalistof Restless Redzz.
The last band on the HT stagewas Raag ‘n’ Roll, a Maruti fusionand alternative rock band. Theysang famous songs like ‘Mahi VeMahi Ve’ and ‘Badra Bahara’.
“Days like today are somethingwe all look forward to. This oppor-tunity that The O�cial Gig hasgiven us is just superb,” saidNischay Sukhija, keyboardist ofRaag ‘n’ Roll.
Finally, loud cheers welcomedParikrama — an eight-memberband formed in 1991— for themuch-awaited performance of theeveing. They started with theiroriginal composition ‘Sweet AsSugar’ and played covers of someother songs as well.
“The O�cial Gig is a great ini-tiative to bring people from thecorporate world together. It wasa nice venue and a great crowd.Giving a chance to the young ladsis wonderful,” said Subir Malik,founder of Parikrama, said.
RHYTHM AND RIFF Evening began withsolo performances and ended with the foot-tapping numbers of the four bands
they say The O�cial Gig is an amaz-ing show. Watching artistes performing di�erent genresof music is very energising.It is a good platform to promote young talent.Nikita Gupta, employee of IBM
The performance of bandswas excellent and I cannot believe that there are somany talented corporate employees. The O�cial Gig isan awesome idea.Manu Aggarwal, employee of InterGlobe
The O�cial Gig is a well-planned and well-managedshow. We get to meet a lotof people from other compa-nies. We enjoy the music aswell as the interaction.Nisha Aggarwal, employee of TCS
The O�cial Gig is perfect foranyone who is a music lover.This is a fantastic initiative by HT and Experion. I amde�nitely looking forward to coming here every week.Charvi Tandon,employee of Accenture
Parikrama, corporate bands rock Gurgaon
� (Clockwise from above)Parikrama — an eight-memberband formed in 1991 — was themost awaited performance of the evening. They were welcomed with loud cheers andapplause. The band started with their original composition‘Sweet As Sugar’ and played covers of some other songs aswell; Raag ‘n’ Roll, a Marutifusion and alternative rockband, sang famous songs like ‘Mahi Ve Mahi Ve’ and ‘Badra Bahara’.
They are in formal wear and in work mode during the day,but funky star
performers by the night. The solo corporate singers and bands were rockstars in true spirit when they took to the stage this past Friday, taking a giant leap from performing in-house at their workplaces to a musical platform as big as Hindustan Times and Experion Developers’ initiative — The O�cial Gig. The concert, held at Oysters Beach, Gurgaon, had popular rock band Parikrama sending the crowd into a tizzy with their spectacular act as well.
“We are pleased that we have established ourselves as
a must-see, must-visit place, and this tie-up with Experion and Hindustan Times for The O�cial Gig has helped us immensely in bringing the best of the best to our guests,” Saurabh Saxena, general manager, operations, Oysters Beach, said.
While solo singers Akhil R Pillai and Ajay Malik opened the musical evening with hit Bollywood numbers. Gaurav Upadhyay, an IT professional and a solo singer, impressed the crowd by belting out popular Su� number. “I’veonly ever sung at o�ce events. This is my �rst one outside my current workplace and I’m really thankful to HT and Experion,” said Gaurav.
From popular Bollywood numbers to a Punjabi song, fusion rock band Raag n Roll
kept the crowd hooked, and got a huge round of applause for their performance. Astha Maheshwari, a corporate from Gurgaon and one of the lead vocalists from the band, said, “Performing in front of Parikrama kept us all motivated. We really hope we make it to the next round and win it.” Corporate band The Jaggeryville Dodos, with strong vocals and great stagepresence, got the crowd grooving to hit rock numbers. Rock bands Restless Redzz and Adjustment, too, kept the momentum going with their original compositions.
Sugato Palit, executivedirector, HR and Admin, Experion, said, “Experion’s�rst two projects were inspiredby music. So somewhere,music is in our blood. There is a resonance. Music is a universal language and has the power to reach everyone. These corporates are young
achievers, and have lot ofaspirations. We hope to provide them the platform.”
Rock band Parikrama’s performance was worth the wait for many eager fans that thronged the venue to catch them live. Subir Malik, keyboardist and one thejudges for the evening, said, “My judging criteria depends on who I am judging, and those who performed were all corporates, not professional musicians. I am not very strict… I like to encouragethem. I was happy to see they are living their passion ofplaying music.”
Attendees, too, marked their presence with sel�es and tags on Facebook. “This is my �rst time to The O�cial Gig. I really enjoyed being here,” Arpita Bhattacharjee, a corporate attendee.
CORPORATES TURN SHOWMEN
The band Restless Redzz made way
into people’s hearts with their original
composition
Popular band Parikrama pumped up the crowd with
a rocking performance
Solo singer Gaurav Upadhyay
Vocalist from the band, The J aggeryville Dodos
The band Raag n Roll belted out hit Bollywood and Punjabi numbers
(L-R): Gaurav Balani and Subir Malik, from Parikrama, judges for the evening
I was really happy to see that thecorporates are living their passionof playing music
Subir Malik of ParikramaEmcee Sonam Chhabra
PHOTOS: MANOJ VERMA/HT
Parikrama band members mid-act
Corporate solo singers and bands captivate concertgoerswith their musical repertoire at The O�cial Gig, a Hindustan Times and Experion initiative
