Marcin Brings His ‘Art of Guitar’ To India With Electrifying Mumbai Debut At NMACC

There are guitarists who play the guitar beautifully. Then there are guitarists who make you realize, in the moment, that you might have been doing the guitar injustice by thinking of it as just an instrument.

Marcin did the latter at The Grand Theatre, Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC), Mumbai, yesterday, when the 25-year-old Polish guitarist launched his four-city Art of Guitar India Tour. The Mumbai leg of the tour, presented and ticketed by District by Zomato, kicked off the young virtuoso’s trip to India, which will see him perform in Bengaluru and Gurugram before the finale in Shillong on August 12, 2026. 

My evening at the Grand Theatre was tinged with awe and disbelief, as I saw Marcin realize the kind of music I’ve seen him make online, but in real life, with my own ears. His mastery over his guitar has always been astounding, but seeing it come together as a full-fledged performance that immersed the audience in a world of sound was something else entirely.

While on a screen it is easy to rewind and pause and think through how exactly one man could be making so many sounds at once, live there was no time for that. Marcin’s guitar truly is an orchestra in his hands.

He used loops to layer sound upon sound, but that did not make his music any less special. If anything, his use of the loop pedal as another instrument in the orchestra only made the performance more special. He played rhythm, created basslines, built melodies. He hit the body of his guitar to add percussion to the mix. Watching him do it was fascinating - and then it was not, because suddenly there was more to it all.

Right there, in the middle of the performance, one of his loops became the backbone of the arrangement for an even more thrilling set of sounds and rhythms.

That was the magic of Marcin, really. His music existed in this wonderful space that somehow contained classical guitar, flamenco, rock, metal, and contemporary pop all at once.

He did not dilute any of it; he threw it all into a blender and let it all come together to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Marcin’s setlist saw him perform his wonderful renditions of the Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven, Toxicity by System of a Down, and Kashmir by Led Zeppelin, among others. But no matter how many variations on the aforementioned styles he played, his music always retained its identity as something thrilling and exciting.

In particular, his rendition of Kashmir was one of the most fascinating displays of his power as a guitarist. The music had the rhythmic intensity of something far grander than a lone man with a guitar, while the melody still retained its recognizable form. Similarly, Marcin’s interpretation of Smooth Operator was one of my favorite performances of the night.

I had heard him perform it before, and while seeing it performed in real life was incredible, there was something special about the power of it all being in the hands of one man and one guitar. Marcin’s music has a certain hypnotic quality to it that captures your attention and will not let go until the very end. You feel as if you are listening to something far grander than what there is on the stage.

That was especially the case for Smooth Operator, where Marcin’s guitar captured the full breadth and power of the arrangement. His hands rarely seemed to stop moving on the guitar, with fingers plucking at the strings, and his palms hitting the body to add percussion. The rhythm would often come across as conversational. At several points, I felt as if he was playing multiple instruments at once.

It was not all technical wizardry, though. Marcin had a certain charisma on stage that made his music all the more special. He arrived at Mumbai with barely four hours of sleep, but once on the stage of the Grand Theatre, there was barely a sign of exhaustion in him. He was having fun up there, sharing his music with the audience who, in turn, gave him a resounding ovation.

Marcin also had a wonderful sense of camaraderie with his audience. He invited the Indian brother-sister Shreya and Harsh to come on the stage and jam live with him, covering Crazy Kiya Re. The choice of song was fitting for a Mumbai audience, but the manner in which Marcin opted to do it was even more special. It was clear that he was excited to do this little surprise jam for the audience in Mumbai, and it came together beautifully. The Grand Theatre exploded the moment Marcin’s guitar linked up with that familiar Bollywood rhythm.

It was that kind of night for Marcin. His music was powerful and captivating, surprising his audience again and again. He was able to blend his guitar mastery with Bollywood beats in ways that made the entire room feel alive. He had a sense of mischief on stage, and I think it was that mischievous streak that made Marcin such an endearing performer.

It was also the reason why I think Marcin’s shows are so special. It is easy, when listening to a technically gifted instrumentalist, to get caught up in the showmanship and forget that, at the end of the day, it is all about the music. Marcin did not fall into that trap. He was undeniably gifted, and his mastery over the guitar allowed him to create arrangements that were simply breathtaking to experience.

But there was always something more. There was always a melody we could recognize. There was always a rhythm that was immediately accessible. There was always a change in tempo that caught us all off guard and drew gasps from the audience. These were the moments that reminded us all why we were there. We were there for the music, and Marcin made sure that none of us left without it.

The acoustics of the Grand Theatre were perfect for such a performance. They allowed us to hear Marcin’s sensitive playing as well as the powerful percussive strikes of his guitar body. We could hear the subtleties and feel the power - and that is what made Marcin such an incredible guitarist. He did not fall into the trap of using his guitar as an extension of his fingers only. He used the whole instrument, and the magic of the concert was that we could hear every single part of it. Even more magical was that I think Marcin made his guitar sound the way it did.

I mean, he did not make his guitar sound like something that was not itself. He made his guitar sound like any number of instruments in the span of a few hours. He did all of that with a guitar and a loop pedal, some pretty amazing technical skill, and a sense of rhythm that was truly unparalleled.

By the end of the evening, all I could think about was what a privilege it was to have witnessed Marcin perform. Not just because he played the guitar beautifully or because it was the first time he had performed in India, but because I think his music truly found its home in that beautiful hall.

Marcin, by the end of the night, had made some truly incredible music. There was something for everyone in his performance. There was music that allowed his fingers to work overtime and music that made us feel as though we were listening to an entire orchestra. There was music with deep bass, music with heart, music that had a certain rhythmic intensity to it. It was all there, in Marcin’s performance. It was all there because he had made it happen, and he made it happen with music we could all recognize and enjoy.

The man did not need an orchestra to fill up that hall. He had a guitar, a loop pedal, and an amazing sense of rhythm, and somehow, by the end of it all, he had filled us all with music we will no doubt carry with us for a long time.