By Myrlysa Kharkongor
Shillong:
Far from resting on the success of their recent release, Jingieid, 4th Element hit the ground running at Police Bazaar’s The Evening Club on Saturday.
As the house lights dimmed and a loud cheer erupted in the cosy, little space, Sarah Lee Nicholas, the vocalist of the band, got down straight to business and crooned Street Life.
It wasn’t long before the house was packed to the rafters and Nicholas welcomed Amabel Susngi, the band’s other vocalist, on to the stage. And together, the duo belted some high-energy numbers – Ain’t it Funny, You Can Look, to an original, The World is a Lie, while bopping to the harmony of the instruments.
In between songs, Nicholas was going about doing what she usually does to the band’s faithful in concerts – gleefully interact, and quickly followed it up with the band’s-only version of reggae classic, I Shot the Sheriff. Susngi too took the queue and broke into Stupid Love. All this while, Ribor Mb on the keys, Sam Shullai on the drums, Jeffrey Laloo and Amit Mullick on the bass and guitar respectively, were weaving all the compositions together to give the vocalists the near-perfect musical groundwork to shine.
Once again, it was Nicholas, who broke into a cover of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. Referring to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, she dedicated the classic to the victims of the war. Next was an instrumental number, where both Ribor and Shullai demonstrated why they are who they are in the band. Their musical prowess over respective instruments was a treat to watch.
Though 4th Element has been in the scene for many years now, when it comes to playing a gig on a particular day, they are a serious bunch of perfectionists. And, soon it was time for a break.
As the crowd shuffled to the bar to get a refill, The Meghalayan got a chance to get up-close-and-personal with the band in the lounge.
In the break, the conversations revolved around bloopers that members made during the first five-song-set. While Mewanki Rangad, a session bassist with the band, pointed out a few off-key notes on Ribor’s keys, Amit praised the keyboard player for wandering away into the jazz realm in between a classic RnB number. “He sounded like a real jazz musician in that particular stretch of playing,” said Amit, with a smirk. Soon, laughter ensued as a friend of theirs pointed out how Amit avoids the audience’s glare on stage.
They took their time, leisurely selecting songs for the next half and, as the clock struck 9:30 pm, it was time to unfold them to the swelling crowd. With every song, the audience’s response grew and in tune with that the band belted one classic cover after another – Love Never Felt So Good, Wake Up Everybody and Gone Under followed, with Rangad shouldering the bassist’s responsibilities.
These songs made for an unforgettable build-up to the climax, definitely something that lingered on long after the gig was over. Their set ended with Tail Feather, Play That Funk Music and Super Duper with the audience swaying on the edge of the small stage. But all good things must come to an end, and this one did with Nicholas introducing the band before bowing out with a promise to play another day. By then, the crowd had flocked the exit gate but we, decided to stick around for a while.
Looking at the band unplugging their instruments and carrying them off stage, we thought – 4th Element may look like a motley crew of musicians with mismatched musicalities, but while gigging, this bunch is in-sync. In short, on stage, they’re one.