Beat-boxing performances, needless to say, are quite rare in Kathmandu. So when Benjamin Stanford aka Dub FX made his south Asian debut in Nepal last Sunday, it probably shouldn't have been surprising to have to jostle through the crowds to get into 1905, Kantipath.

Those who hadn't heard of Dub FX might have been happy to find it wasn't just mad vocal beats and effects. In fact, there was a heavy infusion of reggae in his music – perhaps why the organisers, Kgarira.com and Digital Om Productions, had Babin Bajracharya set the mood with mellow tunes from Bob Marley as the grounds began to fill.

The crowd cheered as Dub FX made his entry, accompanied by the enthusiastic Flower Fairy, who performed alongside. With no instrument other than his own vocals, Dub FX began live looping to create songs for his audience. The crowd couldn't sing along to the compositions, except maybe to Dub FX's own rendition of 'Jack and Jill', but were tapping their feet, moving their heads and finally, dancing to his beats. A great night for Kathmandu's youth, though they may have missed out on the virtuoso tricks that pure beat-boxing can really impress with.
PM