KARACHI: To celebrate “the unique and diverse music”, popular music platform Coke Studio Gigs showcased upcoming musical acts for 2015 at the Commune Artist Colony on Sunday.

The line-up, very prominent in the show’s seventh season, featured Asrar, Jimmy Khan and Sara Haider.

Bringing together music from different “academic and social backgrounds”, Coke Studio Gigs was not much of a celebrity affair and care was taken to include genuine fans of the show. The diversity of the crowd was complemented by the artists performing and for this credit goes to the PR team at Lotus for managing the event effortlessly despite a few delays.

The first to perform was Asrar, who recounted his musical journey thus far. He acknowledged that for all musicians the aim tended to be the same and so were the ups and downs they faced. He praised his classical music teacher Ustad Sultan Ahmed Khan and recalled how a call from the band Strings, the creative heads behind the seventh season of Coke Studio, brought him to the attention of many.

His performances, especially of ‘Sab Akho Ali Ali’ which has been hailed by many as the defining song of the seventh season, set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Asrar also performed other originals, and one in particular that inspired many in the crowd quoted verses from Jaun Elia’s poetry.

Sara Haider, also a backup singer in the show’s seventh season, performed to her vocal strengths and surely is headed to make a mark in the music industry. A self-taught musician who started performing at a young age for an underground band, Sara reminisced about her first tasting of Coke Studio and how she never imagined performing among her role models.

She called her experience in Coke Studio as surreal and gave a shout out to the entire team that inspired and supported her to fulfill her dream of becoming a singer.

Starting with the popular ‘Meine rona chhor diya’, a signature of Zeb and Haniya, Sara’s vocals were strong enough to make the song her own. Her rendition of ‘I still haven’t found what i’m looking for’ by U2 was another crowd favourite.

Jimmy Khan, who not only has performed on the show this season, but returned for the second time to Coke Studio Gigs, was the most appreciated of the lineup. His song ‘Pehla pyar’ has been widely appreciated for its splendid vocals, and his live performance took the song further with band mates performing on the ukulele and the ghongroo.

The initial breakthrough of Coke Studio Gigs was in 2013 when events were held in such major cities as Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad to highlight the “talent of Pakistani musicians” who have since gone on to perform on larger stages.

The following year its popularity skyrocketed when gigs were held at different universities throughout the country and eventually it became a medium to “reinvent the art of live music” by Pakistan’s emerging talent. The next session is likely to be held at the end of this year.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play