2010-December-2010 In Review: 20 Countries, 50 Cities

20 countries – 50 cities

we began 2010 in australia
we made friends with the gyuto monks, who came and blessed our ecstatic chant retreat with a powerful and amazing healing puja

deva was gifted a mala from senior monk sonam dorjee at the recording sessions

you can hear sonam chant the white tara mantra with deva on the album ‘tibetan mantras for turbulent times’

yes, even tibetan monks have digital cameras for those special moments!

melbourne

big fun on stage down under
deva finally realises who her real guru is!

new zealand

we meet biologist and best-selling author, bruce lipton and his wife margaret.
here they are with our australian sound tech, kamal engels.
by the way, this is the beach where the movie ‘the piano’ was shot.

spring in america

we hit the road with fellow road warrior krishna das and his band - a coast to coast chant extravaganza -15 concerts in 23 days
here are our tour buses
deva reclines pensively on ours, maybe she’s picking up britney spears vibes - this does happen to be the britney spears personal tour bus complete with a double bedroom in back!

here’s our crew at the head waters of the sacramento river

john (driver – with the long blond hair), paul (tour manager – with long brown hair and phone), manartha (support – with no hair and hat), parmita (merchandise - with red jacket), nadaraj (sound tech - with tongue), anton (pal - in blue)

los angeles concert

on stage with friends john densmore (of the doors), michael beckwith and rickie byars beckwith, who joined us for ‘in the light of love’ and ‘you gotta move’

we took the mantras to some of the great rock theaters of america

this is the warfield in downtown san francisco where we noticed the signatures of jerry garcia and cosby stills and nash (to name a few) on the wall of our dressing room!

the tour was a blast - all the way

santa fe

deva celebrated her 40th birthday on stage with a surprise showering of rose petals and an audience chorus of ‘happy birthday to you’ conducted by manose

15 concerts in 23 days – we wrapped it up in nyc

...and headed for the highlands of scotland and the findhorn community

sound tech sakha and miten feeling no pain

road sign in findhorn

england

sharing the mantras in the psychedelic gorton monastery in manchester

scrubbed up and celebrating with my son sam, at his wedding in bristol

sweden

we share the mantras at the royal philharmonic hall in stockholm

latvia

manose finds some street musicians to jam with in riga

germany

homecoming at the rainbow spirit festival in baden baden

italy

we visited the asvanara horse ranch for a week in the saddle...

...with time to hang out with horse whispering friends ariane and edwin and their sweet family...

...and take in the wonders of medieval tuscany

corfu

what to say...!?

...life is a beach...

nourished and inspired by a week of tantra mantra with rafia,the happy happy couples take a photo op

new york

ecstasy at the omega ecstatic chant weekend

joshua tree

we had the pleasure to be reunited with our new friend radhanath swami – who sweetly presented deva with a garland of roses - in the desert at the bhaktifest

canada

inspirational writer andrew harvey visits our dressing room in vancouver

big in russia!!

the largest poster so far

full flight in moscow

so many people attended we had the overspill on stage

deva meets the audience after the concert in st.petersburg, watched by tv cameras

romania

always in our hearts, the intensity of the beautiful audience in bucharest

holland

moonbeams and mantras

czech republic

the roof tops of ancient prague

taking care - special moment with manose and manartha

back stage family shot with sakha, manager rajen and road manager jalal (who obviously needed some sleep – or more coffee)

hungary

kora maestro ravi joins us again on stage, this time in budapest

on the road again - to slovenia

slovenia

manose gets down on the djembe

spain

we meet one of the most expressively ecstatic audiences of the tour in madrid

...and get to explore the palaces of alhambra

with jalal, sumano, tour co-ordinator from prabhu music, and malaga concert promoter anne marie

poland

an exhibition of spiritual masters through the ages at the venue of our concert in warsaw

switzerland

moody guitar wallah pic at the zurich sound check

france

happy manose outside the louvre, in paris

regensburg

our final - and in some ways, most poignant - concert of the year, in the sports hall of the forensic psychiatry ward, chanting with 60 inmates

denmark

we attempt to channel a year of blissful encounters and inspirational music into the recording deva’s new album

working title - HOMECOMING

footnote

deva serves the dahl to our beloved prabhu team in corfu - naveen, sumano and okka.

at the back, on the right, sits okka who, through no fault of her own, was involved in a tragic road accident not long after this photo was taken, and still lies in a coma in a hospital in germany.

we dedicate this year to her, and to her healing.

we ask you, please keep her in your prayers

okka