KARACHI: This is nothing less than heartening. The music scene in Karachi is, touch wood, back on track. It was in the early 2000s that unbridled acts of terrorism took their toll and Karachi’s showbiz scene (concerts, stage plays, variety shows) went under the radar. It has taken it a long time to resurface.

In recent times, let’s say beginning with the legendary Abida Parveen’s performance at the Mohatta Palace Museum which was attended by a large number of music lovers, the city is on a roll. One after another, including Abida’s one more stint on stage at a local club with an up and coming singer, gigs are happening thick and fast, and it is definitely something to rejoice at.

On a different scale, though no less significant, some groups are engaged in doing music at smaller venues, such as restaurants. Salt Arts, for example, has been regularly putting up an eclectic brand of music at an eatery in Clifton. They have organised rock performances, jazz recitals and alternative music presentations which audiophiles have taken a shine to. Of course, television shows Coke Studio and Nescafe Basement have a lot to do with the resurgence of live music in the city because the two successful programmes are, after all, about live music.

On the first day of the Youth Festival at the Arts Council Karachi, pop singer Shehzad Roy did a concert which was pretty well-received. In the same event, the popular band Fuzon also performed.

Then, of course, organisations such as the All Pakistan Music Conference and Tehzeeb Foundation have been regularly putting together big events featuring eastern classical music. This suggests the willingness on the part of musicians to display their talent if the atmosphere is conducive to it and there are enough opportunities for them to get on stage.

Pop band Azal’s lead singer Ehtesham Khan (aka ET) thinks otherwise. He says although ‘live music happening’ is a good thing, the resurgence is not mainstream and is only confined to niche market. “The popular names that you have mentioned are doing their ‘core business’. If gigs don’t happen in Karachi, they’ll go abroad and earn money. The problem is, and has always been, of the lesser known bands. It’s good that the fear factor in Karachi has minimised so there are more opportunities for the musicians. But I don’t think that the music scene is anywhere like the ‘90s when concerts would be arranged on a regular basis. Their volume was much bigger,” he says.

Music connoisseur Sultan Arshad partially agrees with the pop singer and adds: “Our group Amateurs’ Melodies has been doing programmes for the past 17 years, no matter what the sociopolitical situation in the city is. It is the people’s passion (shauq) for music which brings them to these events. I have to say here that Coke Studio, whether you agree with its content or not, with reality music programmes on Indian television channels, has created quite a bit of fervour among youngsters about music. Now they want to be out there, performing, even if as part of the chorus singing bunch. You can also visit the Arts Council and see the enthusiasm with which the younger lot takes part in musical events.”

Sharif Awan of Tehzeeb Foundation too sees it as a healthy sign. “It is interesting that you bring this up. The album that we’ve put together Indus Raag II has ‘Karachi Concerts’ as its tagline. In terms of live acts, folk and classical artists can’t have their catharsis unless they perform live. They need an audience. There are events which don’t pay them, and they still go there or we take them there to perform. An audience is being created in Karachi. Today, people buy a ticket as pricey as Rs5000 to see a big artist in a concert.”

Published in Dawn October 3rd, 2016