Aussie rock giant headed for Kolkata

KOLKATA: It’s going to be carnival time with Karnivool this New Year. That the top Australian progressive rock band will hit the Nazrul Manch stage on January 11 has left city musicians across genres ecstatic.
“They are one of my favourites among the current prog bands. They have simply got better with time. As a drummer I love their use of percussion.With Mutehmath performing recently and Karnivool next, things are definitely looking up in Kolkata,” said music director Gaurab ‘Gaboo’ Chatterjee, whose band Lakkhichhara dabbled with the progressive genre in a recent album.
Singer Somlata Acharya echoed: “Despite the difference of our sound and type of music, my bandmates are extremely excited and my introduction to Karnivool was through them. We are all excited as is the whole music fraternity.” Fossils guitarist Allan Ao too is a known Karnivool fan.
Mainak ‘Bumpy’ Nag Chowdhury, the bassist of Cactus and Kendraka, is delighted. “The moment I heard the news I called up the organizers and booked the best seats. Apart from their sound, they are a visual treat — disturbing and brilliant. Their music has a lot of calculations involved but not in the purist sense. I like them for the same reason I like bands like Rush and Tool — Karnivool is an out of the-box concept, with its format unpredictable both rhythmically and melodically” he said.
For Cactus keyboardist Sudipto ‘Buti’ Banerjee, Karnivool’s music consists of ambient parts, melodic chorus, and though heavy, “it’s not harsh”. One of his favourite songs from their last album ‘Asymmetry’ is ‘We Are’. Buti pointed out that for Kolkata to host a big-ticket act such as Karnivool is a huge achievement. “Kolkata is breaking out of its mould. This turn of events asserts that,” he said.
Kinjal Bhattacharya of E365 Media Solutions, the event management company that is bringing Karnivool to the city as part of the daylong ‘THE Festival’ on January 11, is confident of a sellout concert. “It’s part of our profession to track what kind of music the city’s youth follow. IIT-Chennai wanted to host Karnivool and when we expressed similar interest, a tour was planned. Else it’s very difficult to host a band for a one-off show. Around 10% of tickets were taken within 24 hours of starting the pre-booking. We are also getting queries from northeast fans,” he told TOI.