The India Story is much more than an annual retail experience for visitors. With music, talks, art, F&B and much more, the three-day fest is a celebration of the Calcutta winter and the spirit of the city. Chivas Glassware presents The India Story — A Neotia Arts Trust initiative in association with t2 celebrated its eighth season on January 12, 13 and 14 at Swabhumi. The musical line-up this time was truly a celebration of our varied culture! The line-up was a mixed bag from across genres such as post-rock, classical, popular and EDM, among others. Visitors at TIS 8.0 tapped their feet, grooved along and flaunted cool moves over the weekend. We spoke to some of the bands and checked out their performances. Snapshots:
Vibhor’s Den
Vibhor’s Den with Vibhor Mathur on flute featuring rabab, Saaz and oud artiste Subham Kanjilal jolted us out of our reveries with their impeccably melodious soundscape. The opening act at The India Story 8.0 was a set of mixed melodies, starting from slower and softer pieces to some upbeat music. It was indeed unique to watch traditional instruments create such a modern soundscape. The crowd enjoyed their pieces Depictions and In Search of Water the most. “Our experience of performing at The India Story 8.0 was truly memorable and beautiful! The combination of an artistic and serene venue, along with a diverse and engaged audience, creates a fantastic setting for an instrumental act. It’s particularly special when you see people of all age groups enjoying the music and having a great time together,” said the duo.
Koustav Collective
Koustav Collective featuring artistes KC or Koustav (on vocals), Someshwar Bhattacharya (on guitar), Ankur Ghosh (on keys), Sudip Saha (on bass), Sushruto Goswami (on flute) and Sourav Chatterjee (on drums) gave off a very ‘90s indie pop vibe and created nostalgia with their acoustics. From originals to covers, their setlist was a mixed bag. They covered songs like Tanha dil, Piya basanti re, Let Her Go and it was the debut of their upcoming original titled Noor (a romantic ballad on love at first sight), which the band will drop on January 20. “We’re overwhelmed to perform for such a wonderful audience and that too exactly the kind of music we love to play. There can’t be a feeling greater than making friends on the stage itself and singing our originals together — what an evening, what a festival,” said KC.
PhreshPrince
“The first time I ever played in public was for The India Story in 2018 at the lounge stage in one of the market areas on an entry-level controller. It was quite a thing for me to come back around five years later to play a vinyl-digital DJ set on turntables. Big up to the team for having me again,” said the artiste. The audience grooved to numbers like Boogie Oogie Oogie, Got To Love Somebody, among some others that he mixed and offered from his console
Aswekeepsearching
Hands down, Aswekeepsearching was one of the most enjoyable performances at TIS this year. The post-rock band with members from across the country — Sambit from Calcutta, Uddipan from Goa, Bob from Bangalore and Ajay from Mumbai — rocked the stage with numbers like In Circles, b303, L&C, Rooh, Rem and Kalga. “It was amazing to perform at The India Story this time, it was my second time performing at this festival, I remember playing with Ganesh Talkies a long time back and that was also a lot of fun. At the festival, different kinds of people come and our music gets exposed to people who generally wouldn’t come to our gig, the vibe was great,” said drummer Sambit Chatterjee.
DJ Girish
“This was my first time at TIS and surprisingly I had never even attended the festival before as I’m always travelling on their regularly rostered December dates. But this time since it was January, I could be a part of it. When I got a call, to play and do the closing party of the three-day festival, I was absolutely honoured and delighted. I decided to play a freestyle mix of international hits, Bolly mainstream, Indo-ethnic techno and tried to create a different vibe here,” said DJ Girish whose closing act with numbers like Jamal kudu, With You, No Love had the audience grooving to a set that got extended from two hours to three on their request.
Eddie & TagC
Arkapravo Ghosh (on guitars), Eddie Tamang (on guitars and vocals), Aman Sethia (on guitars and vocals), Debtanu De (on bass), Abir Chatterjee (on drums), Ayan Das (on piano and keytar), and Raj Banerjee (on percussions) brought some modern funk and soul tunes to TIS. They belted out covers of popular songs like Blinding Light, We Will Rock You, Rasputin, Jailhouse Rock and many others to which we grooved, cheered and let our hair down. “The India Story 8.0 wasn’t just an ordinary experience, but a way to tell people your own story through art and culture. With audiences full of energy coupled with the festive ambience made our evening,” said the band members.
Kendraka
The ensemble with Mainak Nag Chowdhury aka Bumpy on bass, Gaurab Chatterjee aka Gaboo on drums, Subhagata Singha aka Rivu on guitar, Sudipto Paul on keys and featuring vocalist Ivy Banerjee stood with their beautiful performance. Impeccable melodies and a transcendental soundscape with special mention to Ivy for her performance of Zaherili hai tu and Vishnu maya jaga and her dulcet voice made Kendraka’s performance one of the best at the fest! “I have been a part of Kendraka for 12 years and it’s always a thrill to perform with the band. I get to express myself as a drummer in a certain way with the band. I play in a certain way which I do exclusively with Kendraka. Also, since most of it is improvised, every performance is different from the other, which is what I love,” said their drummer Gaboo.
Generations Apart
Generations Apart ignited the rock ‘n’ roll fervour on stage. The band with Warren Thapa (vocals and guitar), Chandni Chakraborty (vocals), Stafford Rebeiro (lead guitarist), Mainak Nag Chowdhury (bass), David Kartick Sarkar (keys) and Arijit Sarkar (drums) belted out covers of Billie Jean, and songs like Purple Rain, It’s My Life, Black Velvet, and many others. “The India Story was the perfect way to start the year and we had a great time! The energy of the crowd was incredible as always, from little kids dancing to our tunes to their parents singing along. The hospitality of the organisers made us feel really welcome and we look forward to coming back next year,” said the band.
Marzz
“So this was the second time in a row we performed at The India Story and the experience was one of a kind and we are more than happy,” said Marzz’s vocalist, Joyee Mukherjee (in the picture).