A world-class camera crew, some of the best electronic musicians in the world, an exclusive crowd and of course, unforgettable locations that provide an aesthetic like no other - weâre talking about Cercle, of course. 

Over the last five years, the concert organisers have taken livestream audiences everywhere from the salt flats of Bolivia to the British Airways i360 viewing tower and finally to the palaces of Madhya Pradesh - where Gwaliorâs Scindia royal family opened doors to 19th-century Jai Vilas Palace.

Across a sundowner event that plunged the palaceâs corridors, gardens and terraces into an impressive sunset, three acts played out in continuous succession for around 750 guests - featuring the talents of New Delhiâs BLOT!, Hamburg house maestro HOSH and wrapping up with Parisâ Phil Dark. Visiting on behalf of Indiaâs recent craft-beer sensation, Simba, we dove into a 3-man, first-ever in India taste of Cercle. 

With this being yet another international feather in the cap for India as a music festival venue, we took a deeper look at whoâs playing and what more to expect in the coming months - letâs dive in.

BLOT!

© Sharan Sanil/Cercle

Kicking things off at around 4:30 pm was BLOT!âs laidback house set - rich with vocal samples and a bass-heavy beat that kept the crowd company as guests poured in. The artist, Gaurav Malaker, kicked off his career about a decade ago with prolific, skillfully designed minimal techno sets in the capitalâs basement bars - finally breaking out with superb tunes such as 2015âs Empire Waste mix, featuring fellow Delhi musician, Lifafa.

At Cercle, the producer set his sights on a crowd excited to party - reading the audience like a Sunday afternoon paperback as they sipped on Simbaâs beers. The set was an hour long and pulled us gently through exquisitely layered vocal samples, ending on a pretty incredible sample of Rangeela, which the artist released just this February. 

HOSH

© Cercle

No surprises here - HOSH or Holger Bernâs style is distinctively Hamburg in the best of ways, and yet, the musician produced one of his most unique, tailor-made sets for Jai Vilas with several Indian classical samples - layering deep house tracks with Sufi and Carnatic vocalisations - while simultaneously timing the sunset with Midnight, a recent hit from early January 2020.

As the sun finally sank behind the palace walls, HOSHâs set shifted into the realm of dark house and 70s pop/soul - giving the evening the German retro treatment, which led to an exciting finish with Woohoo, featuring Ost & Kjex. Post-set, the producer went on to sit for a 10-minute interview before being gifted with Cercleâs trademark âmystery boxâ - which contained some goodies from the Scindian royal family.

Phil Dark

© Sharan Sanil/Cercle

From studying economics in Paris to becoming one of the cityâs nightlife highlights with incredible techno scene parties, Phillipe Tuchmann eventually rose to manage the artistic direction behind Parisâ famous Club du Faust. For his Indian visit, the producer pulled out a host of 80s-inspired synth - progressively pushing on through a very hyped crowd post-HOSH.

The German returned to the decks through this set - playing right alongside Phil for a superb climax that pulled out banger after banger.

© Sharan Sanil/Cercle

Cercle takes a simple approach to hosting their curated shows - the process begins with funding usually secured from tourism government bodies, given that Cercleâs famous music videos are shot at culturally or visually significant tourist attractions. With the Indian government unsurprisingly giving this a hard pass, Cercle then decided to partner with Indian sponsors, with beer duties falling into the hands of Simba.

âWe are working hard to support local underground artists in finding them a strong foothold in the industry,â explained Simba CEO & Founder, Prabhtej Singh Bhatia. âWe want to provide artists and consumers with relevant platforms to showcase their talent. For this, we have launched our own IP called Simba Uproar where we have worked with artists such as Blot!, Sequel, Ritviz, Ten Walls, George Fitzgerald and Seedhe Maut.â

Cercle and Simba plan to keep the party going with the promise of a second, bigger India event in March - so keep your calendars free.

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