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KARACHI: Karachiites were treated to a masterful display of Sufi, pop, fusion, film and semi-classical music by that accomplished Indian vocalist Kailash Kher and his band Kailasa at a concert organised by the Medical Aid Foundation at a hotel on Saturday.
It was a little more than 90 minutes of pure, passionate music. Those who were there should be praised for having made the right decision on a sultry day. They swayed to lilting melodies and head-banged to thumping tabla and drum beats all along.
Despite the late commencement of the show (it was supposed to start at 9pm and started somewhere around 11.30 because the band had arrived from the Wagah border late) music lovers did not mind one bit, since when the music began it overwhelmed everything else.
Kailash Kher kicked off the concert with a Sufi number, Jogi, which immediately set the tone for the rest of the gig. After finishing the song he chitchatted with the audience in his typical mischievous style, explaining to them how the band had been visiting different parts of the world, and that they did not e
ven know what time zone Karachi was in. This led to him singing Aao ji, a kind of celebratory piece, and used his tremendous skills (difficult murkian and taans) to let the audience know what he was capable of.
The third song, Main to tere pyar mein, brought the concert, from the regular listeners’ perspective into familiar territory adding more zest to it with Toba toba teri soorat and Piya ke rung rung de ni. By that time Kailash Kher had understood the mood and temperament of the crowd (not that he changed the list that the band had made for the show).
The tribute to the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in the form of Tere bin naee lagda had even the younger members of
the audience appreciate the singer’s art. But when he presented his famous Deewani, a majority present at the venue sang with him (at least the bridge part). As if that was not enough, Kailash Kher pleasantly surprised everybody with the well-known film ditty Kaisey bataen kion tujh ko chahein and performed it with the correct feel.
To spice up the atmosphere, Kailash Kher invited a few girls onstage to dance with him to the song Joban chhalke in which he explained he had used many dialects spoken in India. Five girls obliged and added visual treat to the auditory delight. The three songs that followed were Tere naal dhol, Nusrat Fateh Ali’s Sanu ik pal and Maan from a film. He also performed Rangeeley from the band’s new album, as well as Tu kia jaane and Ginn ginn taare.
Befittingly it was the last few songs which took the concert to its worthy climax. The famous Sayyan consolidated the vocalist’s class, but when he sang Bum lehri, it bedazzled the crowd (even those who are in the music industry) with its pounding beat and peculiar lyrics. The last two numbers, Allah ke bande and Chak de from the film Khosla Ka Ghonsla, proved the icing on the cake, as those who stayed till the end danced their hearts out to the two songs.
The band members of Kailasa were: Paresh Kamath (lead guitar), Naresh Kamath (bass guitar), Kurt Peters (drums), Sankit Nayek (percussions), Jose Gomes (violin, acoustic guitar, saxophone), Samir Chiplunkar (keyboards), Tapas Roy (mandolin, saz) and Jovian Soans (sound engineer). The group played brilliantly throughout, complementing the powerful vocals of the singer in equal measure.
