I watched Gingerfeet last Friday and it blew me away

Jul 14 • All Updates, Reviews • 3711 Views • No Comments on I watched Gingerfeet last Friday and it blew me away

Guest review written by: Abhishek Bhattacharya

Firstly, thanks to metalbase for letting me come up and allowing me to speak my views on a very impressive band around us but like always we fools hardly notice good things and keep on ranting about which is pretty far-fetched most of the time.

I watched Gingerfeet last Friday night at Jamsteady at Princeton opening for a band from Nepal called Tumbleweed. But this review is mostly about Gingerfeet.

To recount Gingerfeet’s performance last friday left no doubts in my mind that at this current hour they are the best band from Kolkata right now, and when it does come to the point where we need a proper band to represent Kolkata at a revered festival, say NH7, it always has to be something as delicious as Gingerfeet.

Backed by a super strong line up, they are churning out tunes better than anybody in the scene right now. They are heavy as fuck when they want to be and are perfectly capable in submitting a metal band into a cowering corner or could switch to a melo-mode and annihilate your senses with some super tasty guitar licks or a heady groove or purely by the splendour of Abhishek Gurung’s delightful voice. I have been watching Gurung for around 7 years now.

Image by – Nabarun Sengupta

Firstly, with Cynical Recess, another terrific band back from the days in 2007-2008. This dude was made of sparkles and magic back then with that unbelievable pitch and even today he sounds like a billion dollars, a voice to die for. Peeps, those who haven’t heard him yet I wish I had the vocational skills to make you understand how good this guy really is. He is modest and humble about his success and his intention to always remain under the radar off-stage, while being an absolute ambassador of his brand of music on stage, has made him a legend for me from this scene. His consistency is a lesson to be learnt by all young, budding, intelligent musicians who are serious about their potential. I have watched Abhishek Gurung hundreds of times now and I have never seen him off-colour ever in my life. I am sure he practices hard and tries tooth and nail to get where he wants to be. I don’t think there are good enough adjective in the English grammar that are etched out somewhere to describe the genuine talent of Mr. Gurung.

Next, I was completely swept off my feet by the sheer talent of Vedanta Razz, the lead guitarist of the band. Fuck comparisons, Vedanta Razz is one of the best guitarists across all genre that I have seen play live in front of me, and I have seen a lot, trust me on that. The band owes it sound to it’s axe-man extraordinaire, Vedanta Razz. He knows his skills and he knows his guitar and he knows he is fantastic. And he displays it all on the stage with all the virtuosic glam-cadenza that he is capable of. On his night he is a God of the Stage, wielding his axe and hacking you down bone to bone while you delve deeper and deeper into his world of perfectly timed delays and arpeggios and all those fancy guitar terms I can throw in to make this write up look special. In simpler terms if you haven’t watched this man play you are missing something really awesome.

I have a special word of mention for Abhinandan Mukherjee, drummer of the band. I know him for a long time now. Leader, motivator, manager, guide, you can call him all. He has improved his skills as a drummer by leaps and bounds since his heydays at cynical recess, racking awards left, right and center. Last night I saw him up close and personal and to reply to the question ‘Is Abhinandan a far better drummer today than yesterday?‘, the answer would be an overwhelming yes. Blessed with far-sightedness and his tendency to see potential and harness the maximum talent out of his band members has made him stand in good stead everywhere like always. If Gingerfeet has an enviable line-up today, all credits go to Abhinandan to assemble such a phenomenal group of musicians together.

Lastly, Lokesh Mangar and Dibya Raj Mukhia – the duo that complete the outfit that is Gingerfeet. Abhinandan in a conversation with me last night after the show owed his improvement to Lokesh, the Bass-Monster of the band. Super-charged, this man can crank up the voltage anytime he wants with his electrifying skills on the bass fretboard. Last night I spent a remarkable amount of time watching Lokesh slap and pop his bass enroute to pure, unadulterated fun which was total and absolute in all its meanings. Tough as nails and wild as a beast, Lokesh turns into an animal when he is in that zone of musical delirium that seems like cutting him off from the real world in front of him and time-shifting him into his own labytinth of funky and infectious grooves. More suited to be a bassist in a Metal Band, Lokesh plays his part to near perfection in Gingerfeet, which maybe as loud and heavy as any Good Metal Band, but then we fucking mortals love our ridiculous tags.

Coming to Dibya, this chap is a dream band-mate. I have also seen him perform for a Groove Metal Band from Sikkim called Damagera. I am sure plenty of people know about the band because they absolutely set The Pit on fire the last time they performed in the city. On his guitar, he is the perfect foil for the clearly superlative Vedanta. Maybe he doesn’t always get his share of labour in the band as sometimes his contribution seems forgotten by onlookers while the other four dazzle their way to glory but without a shroud of doubt Dibya lends solid support to the main cast playing out the show on a particular night. He is a solid musician and an even better guitarist who knows his role and that is to play his part when the script demands so and exit stage to make room for his more illustrious colleagues when that mad groove kicks in.

I can keep on racking praises for Gingerfeet as a Band and keep on going on and on about their professionalism and seriousness in their music but I guess I need to pull the brakes and bring this wagon to a halt. But allow me to acknowledge the support of Rahul Maity, aka Putai, friend and bassist par excellence who has time and again lend solid backup to the band whenever it has looked out of sorts. Be it covering for an absent bassist or standing in the crowd howling for the band this dude has gone up and done it all. In a conversation with Abhinandan he kept on going on about Putai’s massive contribution in the evolution of Gingerfeet and the kind of behemoth it has now turned into in terms of sheer talent and showman ship.

All in all I would like to rephrase my statement that yes, according to me Gingerfeet, at this current hour is the best band from Kolkata right now and I will be very proud every time they represent Kolkata in shows and festivals that are revered nation-wide, and I will know that the name of my city is in very good hands. My request to the “krazy Rock Lovers of Kolkata” is to get behind this band every time they play and support them with raised hands and loud cheers because Gingerfeet is a band that is not capable of making mistakes and letting you down anytime sooner.

My advise to the band as a fan is to keep sticking to each other and continue this project as long as they all can in their own capacity.

Thanks GINGER!!

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