Jan 2009 - Karaoke Nights Review

Looking back at this month this is what I felt about all the gigs.

Mumbai city LOVES karaoke. Loads of places are starting karaoke during the week for their patrons and I think its a brilliant idea. Its the perfect stress buster and a great way to chill out with friends after a long day at work.

Places take a while before they start getting mad crowds...but thats okay as well. Every new venture takes time to take off but while the crowds are lean its important for the venues to believe in the idea and promote it well. Once they do...eventually the crowds will follow.

The best places for karaoke that I saw this month were Soul Fry (#1 for sure), Not Just Jazz By The Bay and (very surprisingly for me) All Spice!
I hope that in the weeks to come the other places will catch on and lots more places will pick up the idea as well.

I'll be there to meet you at a lot of places...and I'm sure I'll have tons of goodies for you from a channel that really cares about you, a channel that really wants to reach out to you and make sure that you're having fun...Zee Studio.

Its been great associating with them and I can't think of anything better to do than what I'm doing right now. Singing songs and bringing smiles on the faces of all the other people singing in all the clubs in Mumbai these days :)

See you all in feb!

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Karaoke @ D'Ultimate - Zee Studio Musicman Night #10 (29th Jan)

This was a new venue for me to check out...and I must say...it was pretty neat. I love the decor and the comfort of the VIP lounge of D'Ultimate. This is where they have karaoke. The place kicked off just last thursday and I was told that it was a packed house. Today however it was not as crowded.
I'm sure things will pick up in the weeks to come.
But it was a lot of fun and the people who were here were really enthusiastic about the singing and there were some really good singers as well.

Here are a few photos from the night:

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Karaoke @ Bootleggers - Zee Studio Musicman Night #9 (28th Jan)

Bootleggers is a beautiful place. I said that before and I'll stick by it.
People! Come over!! :)
We'll have a lot of fun. I'm hoping to see a lot more of you there in the weeks to come.

Here are some photos from Bootleggers:

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Karaoke @ Not Just Jazz By The Bay - Zee Studio Musicman Night #8 (27th Jan)

This was the first night we showed the beautiful guitar signed by the big Bollywood stars and the venue was the fabulous Not Just Jazz By The Bay.
Radio One had promoted the event and it turned out to be quite a lot of fun.
Loads of young people singing tons of songs.
Lotsa fun :)

Have a look at these pics and you'll see what I mean:

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Zee Studio Guitar Auction!!

Let me say this right away. I think this is a really cool thing that Zee Studio is doing.
What is this...let me tell you.
Zee Studio has got themselves a BEAUTIFUL Takamine Guitar, one of the best acoustic guitars in the world, which they are getting signed by some really big Bollywood names and they are auctioning it on their website www.zeedio.tv. The proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Central Society For The Education Of The Deaf.
This endeavour was started off to promote two very cool, almost cult type, musicals that are being shown on Zee Studio this month - High School Musical and High School Musical 2.

The guitar has been signed by Farhan Akhtar, Luke Kenny, Vishal - Shekhar and Shakar-Ehsaan-Loy.
I have the pleasure and previlege of taking this cool guitar with me to the various Studio Karaoke Nights that I'm going to in this month.

I got the guitar signed by Shakar, Ehsaan and Loy just today.
Here are some pictures from my meeting with the brilliant trio!


And here is the guitar itself:


Check back here or on zeedio.tv/events/musicman.aspx to find out where you can see the guitar with me next week!

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Karaoke @ Soul Fry - Zee Studio Musicman Night #7 (19th Jan)

I LOVE SOUL FRY! :)
I have to say that. It is without a doubt one of the most fun Karaoke Nights in Mumbai city.
Great crowd with some easily recognizable faces as well. Siddharth (from the Band Of Boys) was there, as was Mohan (from Agnee) and Shweta Salve was also there with her friends.
Everyone at Soul Fry really gets into the songs and the best part is that everyone...even people who don't have the mike in the hand join in on the songs. Absolutely brilliant night this was.

Here are some of the lucky winners from the night: (By the way...all of you who are in these photos and in the photos in the posts below...do leave a comment under the post when you see it. Would be awesome to get your feedback and comments:) )

Shweta joined in on "Twist And Shout" by The Beatles with me. It was a whole lotta fun!

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Karaoke @ All Spice - Zee Studio Musicman Night #6 (17th Jan)

Great crowd, great food, awesome singers...Chembur scores again!
Check out all the pictures from the night:

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Karaoke @ Bootleggers - Zee Studio Musicman Night #5 (15th Jan)

Surprisingly there were very few people here this night...though it was a holiday.
Don't know why that is...but hey...listen up...the place is fabulous. Great ambience and some really nice people here...so you guys better get here soon.
I'll be here again next wednesday...and I'm hoping to see a LOT of you here as well.

Here are some photos from the night:

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Karaoke @ All Spice - Zee Studio Musicman Night #4 (10th Jan)

What a BIG surprise this was!!
I was blown away. Honestly I did not expect the kind of crowd I saw that day or the number of people. I'm from Chembur and it was BRILLIANT to see a Chembur club that is this happening!
Fab people...great song choices and really good singers.
Also I have to say that All Spice has a fabulous look and feel to it and the food here is absolutely wonderful. I had a pasta in a red sauce with mushrooms, olives and sun-dried tomatoes with an orange juice on the side. Brilliant food! :) My compliments to the chef!
Overall...an outstanding night. Can't wait to go here again!

Here are some photos from the night:

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Karaoke @ Bootleggers - Zee Studio Musicman Night #3 (7th Jan)

Bootleggers is just picking up the Karaoke concept...but seeing the kind of people I did today, I know that its going to be hugely successful in the weeks to come.
Check out some photos from tonight's party:

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Karaoke @ Not Just Jazz By The Bay - Zee Studio Musicman Night #2 (6th Jan)

This was a surprise date for me. Wasn't expecting to be at Jazz tonight. Got a call from them earlier in the day asking me to host the Karaoke tonight and I thought why not!?
So we had a Zee Studio Musicman Night at NJJBTB and we had a LOT of fun!
Loads of people and some really nice singers.
NJJBTB...I'll definitely be coming back for more Karaoke fun soon!

Till then here are some photos from the night:

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Karaoke @ Soul Fry - Zee Studio Musicman Night #1 (5th Jan)

What fun!!! :)
That's the most accurate description of Day 1...or should I say Night #1 of my association with Zee Studio. (If you've not read about this first check out: http://www.zeedio.tv/events/musicman.aspx )

I got to Soul Fry around 10pm and it was already quite packed. Surprisingly this was the first time ever that I'd been to the place...and now I'm beginning to wonder why that is so! The place is absolutely brilliant. Great venue, good food (so I've been told), affordable liquor (so I've been told again ) and most importantly an INCREDIBLE crowd.

From the very first song I knew that there were going to be a LOT of singers and quite a few really good singers. There's that look in some people eyes and the way they calmly sit waiting to go on for a song that just tells you that they're going to nail the song. And for sure last night some people were brilliant!

I gave out quite a few prizes sponsored by the good folks at Zee Studio and I can tell you that they were thoroughly deserved by the winners.

The whole endeavour of this activity initiated by Zee Studio is...to reach out to you...if you're a movie lover, music lover or someone who loves the good things in life Zee Studio wants to help make your night times a LOT more fun.

I will be doing these nights about 10 times in a month...so I'm sure I'll see you around soon.
And everytime we meet come back and check the blog because you'll see write ups and photos from the parties right here! :)

Here are some photos from last night:

Finally one of the coolest moments for me in the night was when I got to jam with my friend Mohan, singer for the awesome hindi band Agnee! We did sang together on "Stand By Me" by Ben E King. It was a lot of fun and very special to see one of my favourite songs getting a very interesting treatment. Mohan did aalaaps while I was doing rock/blues style improvisations. It was something else...and I would love to jam with him sometime soon again :)

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