Gig review/ Veronica Fusaro

 

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

Artiste: Veronica Fusaro

Genre: Pop-rock

Details: Tata Theatre Mumbai, August 28 2022

Rating: *** 1/2

Even though the Indo-Pak cricket match was being simultaneously telecast, a moderately-sized crowd turned up at Mumbai's Tata Theatre on Sunday night for singer-songwriter Veronica Fusaro's concert. The Swiss artiste had come for smaller shows in Mumbai and Bengaluru three years ago, but this time she was playing live with her band.

With the concert scene opening up, one may see a steady stream of international acts in India, including some at the Lollapalooza festival early next year. Fusaro's show may well mark the beginning of this 'comeback'.

Her appearance was preceded by a performance by indie singer-songwriter Raghav Meattle, whose simple voice-and-guitar set set the mood. The young man has a sense of humour, which was evident between songs that talked of pub conversations ('Bar Talk'), Mumbai ('City Life') or the girlfriend ('Unicorn And The Sheep'). "I won't tell you where I'm from or you'll start judging me," he said, to much laughter.

Post-break, Fusaro began her performance with Vincent Membrez on keyboards, Daisy George on bass and Dave Flutsch on drums. She herself played guitar as she built up the show with tracks like 'Run My Mind' and 'Enchanted', getting a huge round of applause with 'Rollercoaster' and 'Lie To Me'.

Some of the other highlights were 'Beach', where she talked of a strenuous relationship with lines like "There's no play pretend, like we didn't know, 'cause I love the beach and you love the snow".  Another gem was her recent release 'Better With You', sung in contrasting emotion, "Everything's better with you, the night the stars and the moon, I longed for someone to hear me, someone to heal me, someone like you".

The keyboards and drums were among the plus points, with some brisk work and good short solos. However, the bass was hardly heard, except when the other instruments went a bit soft. Fusaro's singing was expressive, whether she sang drooly love songs or the bitter stuff.

For the encore, Fusaro began with lyricist Mani Mater's Swiss-German song 'Hemmige' (Inhibition). This was followed by a showcase of her forthcoming single 'Summer Lightning'. The finale 'Better Let You Go' ensured the gig ended on a high.

The show was hosted by the National Centre For The Performimg Arts (NCPA) in association with 9122 Records. All in all it was a great Sunday evening and we're sure that after enjoying the show, many would have rushed to the remainder of the match.