Shillong blues rock act Soulmate released their sophomore album Moving On with a gig at the Blue Frog on Thursday, June 11. We were there for one of the best gigs of the year so far.

There aren’t many Indian rock acts who command star value. Maybe it’s because they’re based quite far away from Mumbai and because we get to see them so rarely, but Shillong-based Soulmate, essentially guitarist Rudy Wallang and singer Tipriti “Tips” Kharbangar, is one of the few bands we’ve seen that evokes much fervent devotion. It isn’t often we see a band being surrounded by fans, either eagerly lining up for an autograph or rushing to hug them and thank them for their music after the gig. But then Soulmate are no ordinary band.

They call themselves, and have come to be known as a blues band, but their electrifying sound is a melange of rock, pop, soul and even country, and they’re part of a handful of Indian acts who never disappoint you live. At their album launch concert at Blue Frog, Tips, Rudy and their backing band of drummer Sam Shullai, bassist Ferdy Dkhar and guitarist Amit Mullick lived up to all expectations – we only wish they hadn’t taken a break between sets because they lost a bit of momentum in the second-half.

The gig mostly comprised songs from their sophomore effort, Moving On, an album that more closely captures their goosebump inducing live performances than its predecessor, the sweet but subdued Shillong. The new songs show off a more confident side of the group, and as usual, their down-to-earth demeanours belied the zest with which they dealt out the material, both old and fresh. Tips, who we’ve found to be noticeably soft-spoken during the couple of telephone interviews we’ve done with Rudy and her, is a woman transformed on stage. She’s quite clearly one of the finest female rock vocalists in the country, a singer who appears to be living each word that sings.

Of course, she’s mostly singing about emotions that were put to paper for her by long-standing partner Wallang, and while his lyrics may not be very original or insightful, in Tips he seems to have found both the perfect muse and the ideal messenger. She delivers his verses with such conviction that it’s hard to keep your eyes off her when she’s the one performing vocal duties. If at all one’s eyes turned left during their June 11 show, it was when Wallang showed off some of his magic on the guitar. Hailed as one of the best axemen in the country, Wallang showed us how he does every time that he can play it hot just as well as it he rides it cool. His solos (on instrumental tune ‘Kool Kat Strut’ for instance) were some of the highlights of the concert, which had very few lows.

Indiecision: A-