Niladri & Foreigner's fusion in Delhi

What a combo: Fusion musician Niladri Kumar and British-American rock band Foreigner got a standing ovation from the crowd present at their concert at Talkatora stadium recently. Niladri, who plays the sitar at an unimaginable speed and commendable technique enthralled audiences at the concert with his band including drummer Gino Banks, Agnelo Fernandez at the keyboard, bassist Sheldon D’Silva and Satyajit Talwalkar at the tabla.Foreigner played to much applause and belted out numbers like, “Waiting for a girl like you”, “I want to know” and “What love is”.
Chaotic element: The concert started late and the announcer blamed Delhi’s power supply for delay. Like all crowded places, the beginning of the concert witnessed a guest shouting at a guard for not letting him in while an audience member from one of the rows at the top of the stadium shouted “maaro”. All the noise and chatter died down once Niladri started playing and one of the most exciting parts was where drummer Gino had the crowd clapping to the drum beats. Said Marlon, a spectator, “This is awesome. I have been waiting for Foreigner to play in India. This is their first concert. I had not heard about Niladri before but these guys (Niladri with the band) are really rocking it.”
Look out: We caught up with Niladri after his performance and the classical musician was very pleased with the crowd. He said, “You tell me how I performed and how was the response...it is great to play to such a wonderful audience and my band was supportive.” Foreigner vocalist Kelly Hansen took to the stage in tight black jeans and sunglasses while encouraging the participation of the crowd. Midway, Kelly jumped off stage and ran into the audience causing the guards to run around trying to control the over enthusiastic crowd. Hansen also obliged a fan by hugging her while off-stage. Spotted at the concert was Delhi socialite Anki Khurana with husband Ashwani.
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