By Varun Mannava (The Author of the *Bestseller book “Polite Pickup Lines in Indian Pubs” buy now on Amazon — http://www.amazon.in/Polite-Pickup-lines-Indian-Pubs/dp/9386073137 )

True to the above meaning, Capricio, the Hyderabadi band which is gaining a lot of popularity, chooses some of the liveliest songs in Tollywood and generates short and free medleys out of it.

Ever thought of enjoying all songs that the band plays? Ever thought of being lively and involved through out the performance without taking a break (except when the band takes a break)? It happened to me last night. Capricio live performances at The Moonshine Project are magical! Let me tell you why!

Medley is IN these days and Capricio will exploit this format to the full extent. Medley simply means mixture of varied things, here it applies to tunes of course. Usually the band starts off with a popular song, they wont tell you which song it is, they will start singing the first song from the ‘charanam’ and then by the time you figure out what the song is they will jump off to another popular song’s ‘pallavi’. This format works wonders, and its here to stay.

Emphasizing on the need to provide complete freedom to the artists, Hemender Reddy, co-owner of The Moonshine Project, says that his pub is the only place in Hyderabad that encourages bands to play regional tunes exclusively. Although upon requests the bands do play some bollywood and english tunes. Capricio debuted at The Moonshine Project in January and has been performing every Saturday with the same amount of freedom. “They find themselves at home here which is why they get even more creative” says Hemender.

To be able to handle a Medley successfully, one needs to know the ingredients correctly. Capricio has researched extensively and chosen their tracks with great care and innovation. The handshake between one song to another song in every medley is amazingly smooth. For example they start off with “Urvasi Urvasi” move on to “Chiku buku chiku buku rail” and then jump into “Mudhinepalle” before moving on to some other song. They know they are teasing your brain but what they don’t know is the extent of fun you are having with each song change tailor-made to entertain. So you can help them by being expressive if you are having fun. Claps and the occasional whistles would suffice.

While Ganesh and Eknath are handling the vocals they are perfectly in sync. Ganesh usually does the high pitch very well. In fact so well that I am yet to come across another singer in Hyderabad who can match SPB’s or Shankar Mahadevan’s control on breath. When you hear him sing “Mitwaa” you will know what I mean. Eknath does the base singing pretty efficiently. Sai Teja on the rhythm keeps coordinating Pandu on the Piano. While Ganesh and Eknath are busy singing away, its Sai Teja and Pandu who seem to be having the real fun smiling and giggling away after key tunes matching.

Overall an evening well spent!