It is not the first time that Eastern London’s star producers, Ges-e, Osmani Soundz and MC Aktarv8r (former member of Asian Dub Foundation) are in town. The last time we saw the DJ’s from the independent label was at Club Clandestino at Nefertiti, Christmas day, 2005 and about a year ago at a much talked about party for the graduating students at HDK, at the Museum of World Culture. Both times, they were in front of a surging sea of happily dancing people.

But we are not going to repeat ourselves. This is the first time that all three members of Nasha Experience are in town as a live act. They have also brought with them Kumar on electronic violin, Aref Durvesh on tabla and VJ Sobur who, on the night, will perform with VJ Betranol. The front person of the group is singer Swati Natekar, who has a classically trained voice. Her voice is known to most people through her collaboration with Nitin Sawnhey and Talvin Singh, who played a set at Clandestino #2/2004 with his Tab Tek Project.

It is hard to categorise this form of music. Nasha made grime before the term was even invented and they refuse to use the term Asian Underground even if they, to a large extent, were the originators of the scene - a scene which had its headquarters at club Anokha at Blue Note in London in the middle of the 90’s. Eastern drum ‘n’ breaks have become a way to launch the music that moves in a cultural inter-space.

It is not a question of a performance limited in time. The concert is followed by a DJ set that goes on until dusk. After recently arriving home from Beijing, Ges-e will arrive at the festival with Osmani Soundz and MC Aktarv8r. They will play in the restaurant area, which, by the way is called Tabla. This night will bring a new dimension to the room’s terraces’, nooks and hideouts.

Dj Mleccha