Whirling Kalapas To Jam With Spud In The Box Tonight

Uday Benegal of Whirling Kalapas. Photo: Jay Sangoi

The last time acoustic rock band Whirling Kalapas took to stage, they surprised their audience at Blue Frog, Mumbai, with everything from Iron & Wine to Peter Gabriel, pulling off a groovy version of “Digging In The Dirt” with Ranjit Barot on the drum pad.

The Mumbai band returns to stage tonight to headline Ray-Ban Never Hide Sounds: Celebrating Legends and have more collaborations lined up. Fronted by Indus Creed’s Uday Benegal with bandmate Mahesh Tinaikar on guitar, Whirling Kalapas, will be joined by drummer Vivaan Kapoor and vocalists Ankit Dayal and Rohan Rajadhyaksha of the upcoming pop rock band Spud In The Box.  “We only rehearsed a couple of times, so it is kind of an impromptu performance for us,” says Rajadhyaksha, adding that his bandmates rehearsed on one Whirling Kalapas track and one cover song. Also collaborating with the band is vocalist Malini Hariharan, who is part of the programming team at Blue Frog.

Fans can expect to hear set staples such as “Fireflies”, “Varanasi Trail”, and “Looking For The Mahatma.” Benegal says, “We’re playing our usual mellow, surreal set with many guests.”

Back in August, Bengal, Tinaikar and mandolin player Sankarshan Kini revamped the lineup of Whirling Kalapas and decided to feature guest collaborations on their gigs. In the past, they have been joined by artistes such as harpist Nush Lewis and Indus Creed keyboardist Zubin Balaporia among others. 

Hard rock band Overhung and alternative rock band, Trip Recipe, will also perform at tonight’s show. Overhung will play tracks off their first EP ”˜Extended 4play.’ 

Ray-Ban Never Hide Sounds: Celebrating Legends featuring Whirling Kalapas, Overhung and Trip Recipe happens tonight at the Blue Frog, Mumbai, 8pm onwards. Entry is free.