IndoSoul, a classical fusion band from Chennai, performed in the auditorium last evening for the Classical Prof Show. The event began with Prof. Sanjay Kumar Verma, Dean of Administration, felicitating the members of the band, followed by the lighting of the lamp. Sumesh, the percussionist, opened the first act of the evening with a brief prelude.  The band then joined him to start with Boundless, a soothing melody about constant success in life, and ended their first performance with Clown’s Junket.

They went on to perform one of the compositions of Saint Thyagaraja, Vidajaladura, in the Janaranjani raga. Just as the name of the raga suggests, the audience were left in awe by the band’s rendition of it. The song that followed, Saramathi from their album Two Sides of Karma, was the first song of the evening to have vocals. They presented one more melodious Thyagaraja classic called Manavyalakincha, and an unreleased bilingual track from the same album. Introducing the track to the crowd, Karthick said that it reflects both the good and the bad sides of karma.  There was a transition in the song after a solo interlude by the band’s lead guitarist, Vikram, representing the transition from the pleasant, good side of karma to the more hardcore, bad side of it.

The audience then enjoyed the mellow Need I Say More from the same album, set in the raga Darbari Kanada. Following this, the band performed an improvised version of one of their first singles, MidAir. It was a fast-paced, peppy number that made almost every audience member tap their feet. The crowd were able to witness the best of both Karthick and Vikram when they got into a playful competition with each other. They then presented a song about falling in love with the wrong person that is set to be released this Friday. Although a significant part of the song sung by Karthick was in Tamil, the audience enjoyed the music, and the English lyrics when Vikram joined in.

After an elaborate, peppy number, the band performed a jugalbandi (a duet performance where there is no clear distinction between the lead and the backing musicians) with their track Nagumomu. Karthick lost himself in the act and stepped off the stage to energize the audience. While everyone assumed that he was signing off after introducing his band, he delighted the crowd yet again with a rendition of the mellifluous Rejoicing in Raghuvamsa, which is the happiest song he’s listened to.

The band requested the audience to follow them on their social media handles, and also clicked a picture with them. Despite the steadily thinning crowd due to the Hindi Prof Show that immediately followed, the band never lost their energy and the crowd that remained stayed enthusiastic till the end.