For Natasha, organised by Arjun for his late wife – Gig Review
For Natasha, organised by Arjun for his late wife – Gig Review
20TH FEBRUARY 2020 Artist News, British Asian, Culture, R&B
A Tribute Concert by Arjun & Friends presented by Dil Mil
Tonight Arjun and his wider team had worked hard, and flawlessly organised a spectacular event as a tribute to his late wife Natasha. She passed away on 20th September 2018, just three days before Arjun’s 28th birthday.
Arjun & Friends Concert review
The event #ForNatasha was headlined by Arjun and Guru Randhawa including a giant roster of talent from the British Asian music scene. I had attended the event for my day job as a security guard and managed to capture the atmosphere of the event whilst taking care of customers and ensuring crowd safety.
Stars flew to London’s Hammersmith Apollo from all over the world, including India, North America and parts of Europe. Mickey Singh, North American Punjabi singer performed some hits including PTOLA, Yarri Yeah. London based singer Juggy D performed Dance With You and representing the female’s Vidya Vox performed a cover of Clean Bandit – Lean On.
The atmosphere was full of positivity and you could just feel the love in the room. There were many public figures at the event but the room was also filled by fans of Arjun, plus Guru Randhawa as they were the two acts heavily promoted in the run-up to the event. But for the first time at a gig I had noticed much more friends and family plus the community Arjun has built around his core team in large attendance. Old friends such as photographers, video directors, stylists and dancers were all in attendance there to support Arjun.
The room was also filled with British Asian greats, such as Tommy Sandhu, Raj Ghai, Planet Parle, Humza Productions and Sunrise radio presenters. It was almost like a game of “spot the Asian celeb”. Every step you take you would run into someone from the industry, it was the perfect networking opportunity for someone young but really the event brought together all the people who have worked tirelessly to support artists like Arjun, Zack Knight and Mumzy Stranger. It was truly heartwarming to see countless individuals come together to support Arjun for the unexpected loss of his late wife Natasha.
As the event went on fans were more and more excited for the surprise line up and mega star and mega star had performed on stage. One of the major artists included Mickey Singh, singing an exclusive performance Ptola his latest single. The video had recently been released on 18th February and already had over a million views. As Mickey danced his way through the stage, showing off his moves, I could feel the excitement from eager fans in the pit area. His strong vocals and energetic performance even led to him jumping off stage halfway through into the pit! Excited fans went wild for Mickey! Fans screamed to the top of their voices as Mickey treated the front row with his presence, shaking hands and posing for sneaky pictures during his performance. As he jumped back on stage I had to help Mickey get back up and I have always admired his style of performance, always dancing and jumping around bringing the energy to the crowd and his music.
Check out his latest single below:
Arjun’s dear friend Mickey, who has helped him through this hard time goes on to say “Arjun flew to America after it happened”. Referring to a conversation between the two artists where they spent a week together in the US and took some time away from the UK to compose what has just happened. This clearly showed the extent to how it has affected Arjun but also shows the deep bond and friendship the two artists have built over the years by supporting each other when it really counts. This bro-mance is admirable and it was clear that it was vital for Mickey to attend this event and help raise money for C-R-Y. As you could hear Mickey telling this story to fans, his eye lit up and it was very admirable for fans to see the emotional side of both artists as they took the stage to sing a song together.
Juggy D blew up the stage with his incredible dance moves, with his classic performance of ‘Dance With You’. Sadly Jay Sean or Rishi Rich weren’t there to make the performance a banger, which would have been incredible to see the legendary trio back together. But we can truly say Juggy brought his own flavour to the performance by bringing on dhol players and bringing those classic Bhangra moves out.
Vidya Vox made her debut in the UK, Arjun kindly introduced the YouTube star who has racked up over 700 million views. She performed a slightly weak vocal to start with, but as she started singing covers her confidence grew. Vidya was accompanied by two talented backing dancers. Performed covers of some pop hits, similar to her youtube channel. We would say, her vocals needed some work, but this may have been due to nerves, but she still put on a quality set and held her own.
Before Arjun approached the stage, dear friend Nihal (BBC 5 Live) introduced the singer. Then a lovely message came on the speakers, Arjun stating his painful experience and sharing his emotions about Natasha. It was amazing to see Arjun’s sensitive side as many fans wouldn’t generally see this side shared by an artist in normal circumstances but it really helped me understand the depth of what he had gone through by hearing his story. He spoke about their incredible life together, touring the world and annoying each other over the year and for the first time shared beautiful pictures of their short but wonderful life as a married couple.
Then finally it was time… the main man Arjun – appeared on stage
Performing hits, I’ll Be Waiting Kabhi Jo Baadal, Tingo and Same Girl with Guru Randhawa.
Arjun gave a very brave but professional performance, there was soo much passion in his vocals and you could see in his eyes how much this day had meant to him. This has got to be the best performance yet and it’s fair to say Arjun is back! He has bounced back with a bang, not shying away from the stage or even a glimpse of nerves.
Guru Randhawa definitely received the loudest screams. Indian star has been teasing some new material with Jay Sean in the last few weeks. On the night, Guru performed his major song Suit Suit with a guest appearance from Arjun. His set was eclectic, full of passion and quality vocals. Not sure if Guru can dance very well, but he sure can sing!
His latest single Surma Surma featuring Jay Sean released on 18th Feb, and has now become the “Most viewed video worldwide in the past 24 hours”.
In the end, there was a very special moment when all the artists came on stage at the end to say a few words and have one last party together at Hammersmith Apollo. Overall this was a very unique experience and a one-time event put on by Arjun, Milana events and the team behind the scenes. I hope more event like this is yet to come and the community can keep reuniting on stage like this once again.
Why the Asian Music Scene keeps growing
The beauty of the Asian artists is that each of them collaborates and works immensely hard to increase each other’s profile. It is not just a competition to get a number 1 song. This community is all about lifting each other higher and higher and sharing fans rather than pitting them against each other. As a fan, you get 2-4-1 with almost every song as they will always release some original tracks plus collaborations each year.
What actually happened to Tash?
Incredible but heartbreaking news about Natasha Sandhu who passed away from sudden cardiac arrest. Natasha was a qualified doctor who graduated from Imperial College London. She did not drink, did not smoke and was healthy. But the day before the couple were due to fly out to Iceland, Arjun had to complete CPR after Natasha had trouble breathing at home whilst packing her suitcases. Unfortunately, after medics arrived at their home, she was pronounced dead shortly after.
16th Feb 20′ marked the 2nd wedding anniversary for the singer. As a tribute, the concert #ForNatasha was organised and the British Asian Community came together to help the young singer and support him through what we couldn’t even imagine is a tough time.
The event was in aid of charity C.R.Y. Cardiac In The Young. Who work with young people and support them to complete screenings for potentially life-threatening cardiac conditions. Offering bereavement support to families affected by YSCD. Check out the website here and please support this cause.
- Cardiac Risk In The Young: https://www.c-r-y.org.uk
- Back story & Event: https://www.fornatasha.com
- For every App download of Dil Mil in the month of February, Dil Mil will donate in aid of National Heart Month. Full details on Dil Mil blog
