Kolkata hosted the first-ever International Drum Festival with a fantastic line-up. Hosted and curated by Sambit C and Pt. Subhen Chatterjee The festival hosted some of the greatest drummers in the country. Calcutta International Club was decorated for the grand opening of the festival and the night started around 4:30 PM by honoring the great Nondon Bagchi. The Dhamsha Madol players of Bengal kicked off the show with some great rhythms. First on the stage was GC and Giants - a supergroup from Kolkata consisting of Bodhisattwa Ghosh on the guitars, Mainak "Bumpy" Nagchowdhury on the Bass, Sourav Chatterjee on percussions, Tushar Banerjee on the drums, Shrestha D on vocals and led by Gaurab “Gaboo” Chatterjee on the drums. The one-week-old band performed some great numbers to set the tone for the rest of the night. Next, was Viveick Rajagopalan playing some Carnatic rhythms on the Mridangam. Later accompanying him on bass Sayar Mitra, the duo created some music that was truely spiritual. After that, it was Vox-Box - a young beatboxers group who absolutely rocked the stage with some amazing sound and presence. Gino Banks took the left side of the stage next and slowly built up to some amazing sounds that traveled through different genres like blues and even heavy metal. Next up was Darshan Doshi - one of the most versatile drummers of the present time. We could see the fan base by looking at the number of people gathering on the right side of the stage to see him creating magic with the sticks. Legendary Ranjit Barot took center stage after that with some style. One of the greatest from the country who played with the likes of John McLaughlin, A.R. Rehman, and Zakir Hussain. He literally created an atmosphere with his drumming accompanied by some basic music playing in the background. Finally Karma - one of the country's first-ever fusion bands- took the stage led by Grammy-nominated legendary Tabla player Pt. Subhen Chatterjee. What happened next was absolutely magical with some genre-blending sounds. Some other musicians playing with Karma were Bachospati Chakraborty on the bass, Suvam Moitra on the guitar, Somnath Roy on Ghatam, and one of the best in the business Sambit C on the drums. At the end of the set something magical happened, which is probably something that had never happened in the country before when all the drummers like - Gaurab Chatterjee, Gino Banks, Darshan Doshi, Viveick Rajagopalan, and Ranjit Barot joined Karma to perform all on the same stage. Nothing better that the audience could have asked for to end the night. Shoutout to Lizard Skin Tattoos and Akupara Gig Bags for sponsoring the gifts for the artists. Finally kudos to the management and organizers led by Sambit for successfully pulling of the first-ever KIDF.
Karma
Ranjit barot
Darshan doshi
Gino banks
Vivek rajagopalan
GC and the giants
Vox-Box
Dhamsha Madol
