Dolcy D’Cruz
For more than a year, the crowd in the UK had been longing to hear Remo Fernandes live, and the wait finally ended at the UK Goan Festival, attended by over 10,000 guests at Cranford Community College grounds in Hounslow, London. The moment Goan pop icon Remo performing along with his band The Microwave Papadums stepped on stage, the audience that had travelled from all across Europe, rose to their feet, dancing to every rhythm and singing to every beat. They were treated to a spectacular set as Remo delivered some of his finest originals, reminding everyone why he remains one of Goa’s greatest musical treasures. Remo was originally scheduled to perform at the 2025 UK Goan Festival, but a fall, subsequent operation and continuing mobility issues forced the organisers to cancel his appearance just weeks before the event.
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When he decided this year that his London performance would be his final public appearance, preparations were made with his health in mind. On medical advice, he chose to perform seated on a high chair. Coincidentally, The Goan Overseas Association UK (GOA UK) President Ravi Vaz, who hosted Remo for the performance, had a high chair at home that perfectly suited his needs, the same chair that was later placed on stage for the historic occasion. The performance also carried a deeply personal significance for Ravi. He grew up listening to Remo’s music and never imagined that he would one day be involved in hosting the musician’s final public performance in London. “Over the past two years, coordinating closely with Remo has given me a deeper understanding of the man behind the icon. His relentless pursuit of excellence, his commitment to giving audiences his very best, and his fearless authenticity are what set him apart. Remo didn’t just perform, he gave Goan musicians an identity on the global stage,” he says. For Remo, the decision to retire from live performances was not made suddenly. After decades on stage, he had already spent a year thinking about how and when to bring that chapter of his live performances to a close.
Asked how he felt after announcing his retirement and completing his final performance, Remo says, “Quite relieved, though I know there will be times when I’ll miss performing live.” He has been performing since he was a schoolboy, but saying goodbye to the stage was “Not too difficult, as I’d been planning this for a year already.” The decisive moment came when he realised he could no longer give a performance that met his own exacting standards. “It was when I realised I was no longer able to give 100 percent of myself on stage. To me, carrying on would be cheating firstly myself and also my audience, even though most of them might not have noticed it,” says Remo. Yet retirement did not mean Remo was prepared to turn down the opportunity to perform for the UK Goan community. He had already cancelled his planned appearance the previous year after his fall and operation, and when Ravi approached him again, Remo decided to make the effort, “Ravi Vaz had already gone through all the trouble of organising our visas, air tickets, hotels etc the previous year, when my unexpected fall and operation rendered it all null and void. So when he again expressed a great wish to have me perform this year, I too made a great effort against many odds and made it possible somehow. And well, I had performed for the Gulf Goans, for the Canada Goans, and I was dying to try out the UK Goans experience.
They were fabulous too.” For more than an hour, Remo performed before an audience that had clearly been waiting for this moment. The song list was carefully chosen with his physical limitations in mind. “I avoided the ‘Guitar Raag’ and ‘The Flute Song’ which required extremely fast and intricate finger work. But other than that, I chose our normal songs which included my originals, Konkani and Portuguese folk songs and a few of my Hindi songs too,” says Remo. The emotional high point of the evening came after Remo had completed his set. Ravi had secretly arranged a special tribute involving some of Goa’s leading bands that performed for the evening and were influenced by Remo. The bands performing at the festival included ClayJar, West Coast, Altitude and Raagas2Riches gathered on stage to give a tribute to Remo. Ravi informs, “Remo has inspired musicians for nearly seven decades to write their own music. Since this year marked the Goan Association UK Diamond Jubilee, we had some of Goa’s best bands performing.
I requested the bands to come together to honour Remo by performing ‘Maria Pita Che’. I kept this tribute a secret from Remo until the very end. As the band performed ‘Maria Pita Che’, I brought Remo on stage. When he joined in the chorus, emotions overflowed, on stage and in the crowd. The audience joined in, creating a powerful, unforgettable moment that will remain etched in their memories for ever. We then presented Remo with a handcrafted memento celebrating his legacy.” Explaining the significance of the memento, Ravi says, “We wanted a memento that truly captured the essence of Remo’s legacy. After exploring several options, we selected artist Krystel Fernandes, whose work resonated with the spirit we wanted to portray. The memento features an excerpt from Remo’s autobiography “Music is how I breathe when the world steals my air”, a flute, his first album ‘Goan Crazy’, ‘Maria Pita Che’, and a vibrant representation of Goa, all woven together to reflect his extraordinary journey.” The moment became an emotional tribute from one generation of Goan musicians to another. The response did not end when the concert was over.
Videos and photographs of the performance circulated widely, with fans from across the world sending messages to the musician. “Most messages have been very emotional, and some have even moistened my eyes. There are too many to mention,” Remo says. For an artist whose influence stretches across generations, Remo sees his contribution to Goan music not simply in terms of individual songs, but in the way he carried Goan musical expression beyond the state. He says, “I guess my contributions were made by taking Goan music out of Goa to mainstream India by including songs such as ‘Maya Ya’ and ‘Maria Pita Che’ in my Hindi album ‘O Meri Munni’; by composing original songs not only in English but also in Konkani; by singing Konkani songs in Hindi films; and yes, by influencing young Goan composers who say they were inspired by me to write original songs.” Such a grand final performance deserves to live beyond the night itself.
With the event already documented through photographs and video, plans are underway for a short film preserving Remo’ last public appearance. “We plan to work on a short film documenting Remo’s final stage performance for posterity. His last public appearance deserves to be preserved as a timeless tribute to his contribution to music and to Goa,” says Ravi. Remo’s final bow in London was less an ending as he might have left the stage but the music will continue. “Although I have left the stage, I shall keep on composing and recording new songs in my home recording studio, as and when I feel like it. But after the Mother Teresa opera, which I consider my biggest and best work, I don’t have any other particular musical projects in sight.”
