Play for a cause - Parikrama perform live at F Bar Chandigarh on 5 November 2014

Events in Chandigarh - Play for a cause - Parikrama perform live at F Bar Chandigarh on 5 November 2014, 9.pm

Parikrama@23, Play for a cause - A 15 city tour dedicated towards sponsoring meals for the underprivileged.

A rock and roll outfit based in Delhi, Parikrama has been swaying the music scene for over 20 years now.

Often fusing Indian classical music instruments like mridangam, tabla and flute with conventional instruments like guitar, drums and keyboards, they have inspired a whole new generation to foray into music. The band is yet to release a full-length album and has been giving out their music for free since 1995. They have also made their music available for download on their official website.

Parikrama rarely records music in the studio and most recordings are done during live performances. The band encouraged listeners to download their recordings from Facebook or Reverbnation and make their own album, the way they want.

The first song ‘Xerox’ was named 'the face of Indian rock'. Their first hit single ‘Till I’m No One Again’ was released in 1995 along with ‘Open Skies’. It was among thirteen other songs chosen from the demos sent by a hundred and fifty other bands in the country. The Great Indian Rock, volume 1, was produced by Amit Sehgal, owner and publisher of the India's first rockzine: Rock Street Journal.

‘But it rained‘ was released in 1996. This song was dedicated to the kidnappings in the Kashmir Valley, during that period. Cited as their biggest hit, the band had a crowd of 40000 who sang along with them in their performance for the Iron Maiden concert in Bangalore. Yet another song, ‘Gonna Get It’, was released in the same year. Their sixth number in succession was released in 1997: ‘Load Up’.

The band composed the song ‘The Superhero’ for Bangalore in due course of the visit of Microsoft’s Chairman Bill Gates to the IT capital of India.

A Parikrama original ‘Rhythm and Blues’ was created during their jam session with Usha Uthup. Their first concert was at Father Agnel School, New Delhi, Called ‘ Bandstand’ , on 15th September 1991 and has now crossed over 3000 shows.

They are also credited with self organizing and funding India's First ever Aids awareness concert, called Ban’ne’d AIDS , on September 28, 1992, on the streets of Patel Chest, Delhi University. On December 18, 2005, Parikrama performed with Saif Ali Khan at the Royal Stag Corporate Carnival, Delhi. In March 2006, they performed at Ragam '06 hosted by National Institute of Technology, Calicut, Kerala.

February 20 2007, saw them perform in Goa for the ‘Band of the sand’ which was held at Calangute beach, as part of the Goa Carnival festival 2007. They have also performed at various other gigs like Download Festival in Donington in 2007, toured all the Indian metros, with Saif Ali Khan and a lead guitarist from Kashti the band, opened for Iron Maiden on Feb. 1, 2008, Rendezvous 2008, the annual cultural festival of IIT Delhi, opened for Porcupine Tree at 'Mood Indigo' IIT, Bombay with Global Metal, Vivacity 2010, Assam Engineering College during Pyrokinesis, Manipal Institute of Technology, BITS Pilani - Hyderabad Campus, MTV stuntmania, Bacardi NH7 Weekender, Pune and the likes.

Recently Parikrama joined one of the pioneers in digital distribution Hungama in their Unreleased Music venture ArtistAloud.com.