Rishi Rich boasts a unique sound that mixes R&B, hip-hop, ragga and garage with traditional bhangra, and his latest solo album Simply Rich soared straight to the top of the Asian charts in 2002. Joining him on stage at Bradford was the up-and-coming Panjabi singer Juggy-D, urban singer J-Sean (who has enjoyed massive cross-over success into the UK charts) and London-born Veronica, whose distinctive voice has won her a place on the UK urban music scene, with her debut single Show Me Love proving to be a huge hit all over the UK.
 | | 'Bradford's Mela is always the best!' |
The promise of these VIPs of the Asian and UK music scene caused quite a stir in the awaiting crowd, who started to amicably throw around plastic bottles and chant. Following freestyle bhangra dancing from Back 2 Back, the compere did an admirable job of keeping the audience energised until Rishi Rich finally strolled onto the stage amid frantic cheers. The performance kicked off with J-Sean's impossibly catchy Dance With You, which had the crowd singing along straight away. Other highlights included some exclusive performances of new material – most notably Stomp which saw surprise guest Jay-D from So Solid Crew take to the stage. Juggy-D proved a real crowd pleaser, chatting easily to the crowd when technical difficulties threatened to hinder the show. Veronica's individual sound added glamour to the music, which without a doubt went down a storm amongst Bradford's revellers. Shazy, from Leeds, and his cousin Azzy from Oldham had travelled to Bradford specially to go to the Mela. As Shazy explains: "I've been to Melas all over the UK, but Bradford's is always the best." Sheena and Nazneen, both from Bradford, agreed: "Today is awesome. We came to see Rishi Rich and he was even better live. The rest of the acts were wicked too!" All in all, the Rishi Rich Project gave an impressive performance, getting the crowd singing and dancing within minutes. Only slightly marred by the ongoing technical problems, the gig was my highlight of the day, and the Bradford crowd's good spirits and cultural diversity only added to the very special atmosphere. As Benji from Wakefield commented: "I wouldn't have missed today for anything, it's such a great party! And I'm definitely coming back next year!" | 
