Gigs Across India Worth Showing Up For
The September gig guide, curated. Live music events across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai worth booking. From indie folk to fado, listening rooms to secret parties.
Bengaluru
Post-monsoon is when the live music scene stops being a rumour and starts being a schedule. The mud is drying. The gig venues have finished their basement repairs. The touring calendars are back. And for the first time in months, you can plan a Friday night that ends outside somewhere loud without checking the rain radar three times.
September's lineup is quietly one of the strongest of the year. Live acts that you'd usually find only through a group chat. A folk chamber set from one of India's most beloved indie voices. A Portuguese fado guitarist at Bengaluru's most storied jazz venue. A classically trained vocalist in a home turned into a listening room. A brand-run listening bar in Mumbai. And one of the tightest gig weekends the city has seen in months, all landing on the same first Saturday of the month.
Here's the full lineup, by city.
Bengaluru: the September centre of gravity
OTJF Presents 'What They Do' at Indiranagar SOCIAL
On the Jungle Floor's night at Indiranagar SOCIAL, one of the venue's more music-forward evenings. Book if you're after a warm-up Friday that promises high energy without the weekend markup.
Friday, September 4 · Bengaluru · ₹826 onwards → Book What They Do at SOCIAL
SECRET PARTY
CONCEPT01's cryptically named night, with venue and lineup revealed only on booking. If you like the idea of turning up somewhere without having Googled it first, this is your gig.
Saturday, September 5 · Bengaluru · ₹1,532 onwards → Book Secret Party
The Sanctuary Sessions [vol. 1]
The Blue Room's newest curated series. Priced at the higher end of the collection, which suggests premium production and small capacity. Vol. 1 always sells the story for what comes after.
Sunday, September 6 · Bengaluru · ₹3,000 onwards → Book Sanctuary Sessions
Abhi Tambe and Friends
Also at The Blue Room, a week later. Softer, jazzier register with Abhi Tambe leading a rotating cast of collaborators. Sundays at Blue Room have been quietly building a reputation.
Sunday, September 13 · Bengaluru · ₹800 onwards → Book Abhi Tambe and Friends
Evening with Bindhumalini at Daak64
Bindhumalini in an intimate evening at Daak 64 in Avalahalli. A classically trained vocalist whose independent work has been drawing serious critical attention for years. Show up as if you're going to a recital, because you are.
Friday, September 18 · Avalahalli · ₹1,200 onwards → Book Bindhumalini at Daak 64
Venkat Raman Collective
Courtyard Koota in Kambipura hosts the Venkat Raman Collective in a courtyard-forward setup on the last Friday of the month. The most accessibly priced pick of the Bengaluru lineup.
Friday, September 25 · Kambipura · ₹500 onwards → Book Venkat Raman Collective
Marta Pereira da Costa at Windmills Craftworks
The month's international headliner. Marta Pereira da Costa is one of the very few women playing Portuguese guitar in the fado tradition, and one of the finest in the world at it. Windmills Craftworks, Bengaluru's most storied jazz theatre, hosts her across two nights. This one will move fast.
September 25 to 26 · Bengaluru · ₹1,178 onwards → Book Marta Pereira da Costa
Mumbai: quieter month, sharper picks
Suede Sounds: a listening room by PUMA India
A brand-run curated listening room experience, positioned as first-of-its-kind in Mumbai. Low ticket price for a Sunday session. Book if you want to see what happens when a global brand tries its hand at intimate music programming.
Sunday, September 6 · Mumbai · ₹300 onwards → Book Suede Sounds
Brine x Janisht Joshi
Brine in Navi Mumbai hosts a mid-month Saturday with Janisht Joshi. Navi Mumbai's live music scene has been catching up quietly with the mainland, and this is one of the nights that makes the drive make sense.
Saturday, September 19 · Navi Mumbai · ₹850 onwards → Book Brine x Janisht Joshi
Delhi: JBABE at Gully Labs
JBABE LIVE at Gully Labs
The single Delhi entry in this month's collection, at Gully Labs. Shimmering synth-pop, lo-fi grooves and that tender, self-aware songwriting and dreamy hooks made for swaying, not standing still.
Saturday, September 5 · New Delhi · ₹1,798 onwards → Book JBABE at Gully Labs
Chennai
Live at The Nook: The Tapi Project
The Nook in Chennai brings in The Tapi Project, one of India's more distinctive indie acts, blending spoken word, folk and a wandering jazz sensibility. If you're in the city or in the mood for a weekend, this one earns the drive.
Saturday, September 5 · Chennai · ₹649 onwards → Book The Tapi Project