Gig Review: The F16s At Hard Rock Cafe, Andheri

Returning to Mumbai after almost a year, Chennai rockers The F16’s last-minute announcement of their Hard Rock Café gig at Andheri  – the second of their 16 gigs (numerical co-incidence much?) as part of their ongoing Triggerpunkte album tour – was like music to the ears of their fans here.

Chennai rockers The F16s are currently on a tour to promote their upcoming album, Triggerpunkte. Photo: Ron Bezbaruah

The band, which comprises Josh Fernandez (vocals/guitar), Harshan Radhakrishnan (keyboard/sampler), Vikram Yesudas (drums), Shashank Manohar (bass) and  Abhinav Krishnaswamy (guitar), started their set with songs from their debut EP Kaleidoscope and eased into introducing new material to the people. The sound, however, couldn’t do justice to the band’s popular tracks like “Avalanche” and “Lightbulbs”, which didn’t sound as punchy as they usually do when played live.  Nonetheless the F16’s quickly picked up tempo and played some of their more cheery new material. They even entertained a request from an eager fan in the crowd and performed their laid-back reggae song, “Little Forest Cry”, cheekily dedicating it to Delhi-based reggae outfit Reggae Rajahs. Post some of their more groovy tracks, the band also caused a tiny mosh pit (their first ever, admitted Fernandez after the gig) to break out in the crowd, which, in turn, was quite big for a Wednesday night.