It is not the familiar, formal setting for a Carnatic music concert. The venue is a private theatre and the audience is seated just a couple of arms’ length around the performers. The musicians themselves are perched in the middle of the hall, facing each other from four corners of a small square, not in the traditional way of the main performer being flanked by accompanying artistes. A 360-degree camera planted in the middle of this musical square would record the concert, to be seen on VR headsets later.
As soon as members of the audience plug their headphones into specially provided consoles and settle down in their cushioned chairs, singer Sandeep Narayan begins his concert, which is also a live recording. In three sessions of 45 minutes each, he and his team perform Carnatic kritis (songs) which can later be downloaded, to be listened while doing your workout in a gym or going for a jog.