December 16, 2007

Lahore is a very small city and the music industry therein is even smaller — almost miniscule — to the effect that one band’s paid gig is another band’s bitter pill. And so it was that the opening night for Rock Club — a project undertaken by the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop and Levis — defied the norms and as a bumper prize, established musicians took the stage with the youth of the industry. It was pro bono with minimal feathers ruffled on stage. Off stage, of course, it was an entirely different ball game!

Held at the open-air auditorium at Peeru’s, the audience had to brave the biting chill of winter while waiting for Overload’s never-ending soundcheck and then the first act to take the stage. Finally, Electric March (EM) began, starting with Going Down by Freddy King.

A well-knit performance with slightly weak vocals, EM is a band with latent potential and is mostly known as a band from Islamabad. It was formed some four years ago, at the time including Shehzad Hameed in the original lineup. Now, however, Electric March is Zishan Mansoor (guitar, vocals), Arsalan (bass), Hashim Haseeb (drums) and for this particular show, Shahrukh (vocals).

Influenced by root music; blues, reggae, soul, funk and some AC/DC and Hendrix, EM is on the lookout for a permanent vocalist who can work on their new segment: original music. Urdu soul, reggae and rock are what Zishan thinks the band will produce.

By far the most popular track with the audience that night was Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers. This show, according to the band, was different because they could at least hear themselves and Mohammad Agha (guitarist for The Cover Band) was of immense help in this regard.

Speaking of The Cover Band (CB), they were up next. The band comprises Waqar Khan (the power drummer from EP), Mohammad Agha (guitars), Selina Rashid (vocals), Seerat Jaffery (vocals) and Zahir Ali (bass). For this night, it also featured Ahmed Butt, Hassaan Khalid, Salman Albert, Farhan Albert, Faraz Ahmed and Mekaal Hasan.

With fears of the stage buckling under the weight of so many ‘celebrities’ on it, CB opened with Let’s get it Started with Ahmad Butt accompanied by Selina and Seerat. It wasn’t long before the band had the audience grooving to the upbeat number.

Jailhouse Rock and Hit the Road Jack displayed Selina’s immense vocal talent. Not only did she catch up with the confusing change in tempo, she was full-throated and had a raw, bluesy quality. Even when Mekaal’s amazing solo in Jailhouse Rock slightly went over the audience, Selina attempted to keep them with the band with her stage presence. She startled the crowd and should have sung a few more numbers. Hassaan, Ahmed, Salman and Waqar did a few numbers for old time’s sake: Bulls on Parade by Rage Against the Machine bought the crowd as it was closely knit with a great punch. With Ahmed Ali Butt on vocals, the crowd was taken back to the good ’ol days of EP with many wondering later if it meant EP was back on track. But even though The Cover Band had a thoroughly entertaining performance, the transitions between musicians on stage bothered the audience.

Jailhouse Rock and Hit the Road Jack displayed Selina’s immense vocal talent. Not only did she catch up with the confusing change in tempo; she was full-throated and had a raw, bluesy quality. Even when Mekaal’s amazing solo in Jailhouse Rock slightly went over the audience, Selina attempted to keep them with the band with her stage presence. She startled the crowd and should have sung a few more numbers.

Take a shot of Zahir Ali (bassist), add a pinch of Waqar Khan (drummer), sprinkle some Hasan Omer (guitarist) and for the final cherry on top, add Haroon Shahid (vocalist) to the recipe and you get a tall glass of Lemon Fuzz. The act started with Haroon telling the audience and the bassist that “Zahir, this is a protest!” and riled up the audience with Megalomaniac, an obvious reference to certain personalities running the country. It was a number that brought the house down and covered up for the oh-so obvious blunders in My Sharona. Though the song had its obvious mistakes, it literally got the audience to its feet and people started dancing up front. But the transitions between songs were again long and got the crowd restless (an incompetent sound team who could not provide basic cables on stage in time added to the dismal delays).

Will you be my Girl by Jet flaunted Haroon’s talent shamelessly as did his Maroon 5 numbers. She will be Loved is not an easy song to perform, yet Haroon strumming away on his acoustic did a brilliant job, his versatility as a musician becoming evident all the time. The Jet Song and the instrumental jam brought Zahir to the forefront with his funky bass lines, as did his work in Jailhouse Rock. Waqar’s drum solos reflected his seasoned skill and immense intuition as a man of music.

Overload was the final act before the curtains were drawn. Ajmal Khan, one of their new songs, blew the crowd away. They only performed three numbers, but all were the work of a band that has places to go, a band that means business. Agha was later heard saying that he had never heard something as good as this before.