Attend A Secret Gig In Somebody's Living Room, Courtesy This Global Music Community

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This is your chance to head to a complete stranger’s living room and get to listen to emerging artistes in the most intimate and relaxed setting that doesn’t involve anyone taking selfies or checking in on Facebook constantly.

In Tune

November of 2015 was the first ever Sofar {Songs From a Room} show in Bengaluru. Starting off in London in 2009, the gig series now takes place across the world’s top cities with multiple shows every month with an emphasis on nothing but the music and the performance. Both, the location for the gig and the lineup of artistes picked from the city’s independent music scene, are not revealed until the day of the gig to those who sign up and get confirmed for a +1 invite. Everyone from actor Robert Pattison to Bastille have performed at these gig series, while Indian artistes giving an up-close performance at Sofar include Shaa’ir + Func, Alisha Pais and more.

Hitting All The Right Notes

We went to a gig at Lavelle Road a while ago, and caught singer-songwriter Anand Vijayasimha {one of the city’s better-known buskers} with Marcus Horner perform bluesy, melancholic acoustic tunes that swayed between being influenced by Buddy Guy as well as Radiohead, while guitarist/beat-boxer Anup K.R. turned up with rap rhymes and a few Ed Sheeran covers. The crowd of about 30-40 sat in silence {for a change}, for Vijayasimha, but Anup got them to clap along and sing to Shaggy’s early 2000s hit Angel. We’ve also caught a performance at the lovely Bose Compound with The Boy Who Cried Wolf, RGT Trio and Siddhartho Poddar last April, and the atmosphere was intimate, energised and practically perfect!

Keeping Up The Tradition

Since kickoff, the organisers have been following up steadily with stellar acts taking centre stage. Featuring trip-hop/R&B act Blushing Satellite and soulful crooner Mahesh Raghunandan, easy Wanderlings, orange rockers Mad Orange Fireworks, Parvaaz and Abhi Tambe, Sofar Bengaluru has its programming down pat. And unlike previous editions which have taken place in Mumbai and New Delhi, it looks like they’re committed to keeping the Bengaluru Sofar shows a monthly affair. If you like music in its most intimate, almost exclusive setting, Sofar is the place to be.

So, We're Thinking...

Once you’ve heard these artistes play to you as though you’re the only person in the room, you might never look at a concert the same way again.

When: Saturday, June 3 and June 16

Where: Secret location.

Price: Pay what you want

Find out more on their Bengaluru website here.