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No one could have predicted it – not even the band itself – least of all its fans. In a small, intimate and emotional performance last week, one of Pakistan’s most popular pop rock outfits, Noori, announced that the original lineup of the band had reunited – for good. Seven years after the first member left, Ali Noor, Ali Hamza, Ali Jafri and Louis ‘Gumby’ Pinto took to the stage in a performance that evoked nostalgia and a heartwarming realization of how far the artistes have journeyed and come into their own before getting together again.
To an auditorium full of their most ardent fans, Noori began their performance with a rendition of Khalla and performed some of their most popular songs that night which included Suno Kay Mein Hoon Jawan, Dil Ki Pukaar, Nishaan, Manwa Re and Dil Ki Kasam among others. They even sang their version of I got a feeling by the Black Eyed Peas and fused it with their song, Jhoomay Sari Zameen. For the first time, they performed their song, Aarzoo and the Coke Studio version of Aik Alif with Hamza singing the parts Saieen Zahoor sung in the original version. They also performed a version of Sari Raat and ended it by singing the lines Aaney walon ka shukhriya…. hum mil gaye hain (Thanks for coming… we’re reunited). Throughout the evening, the audience sang along with the band, often helping them if it seemed that they missed a lyric or two. Ali Noor spoke about how the band had always been like a family and how happy they all were at being back together again.
If it was an emotional performance for the band, it was an emotional moment for their fans as well. Noori has been around for almost a decade, reuniting after a haitus of almost seven years. The band members have grown a little older – as Ali Noor mentioned, both he and Ali Jafri are fathers now as well – and so have its fans. Not just judging by the response that Noori garnered that night, but also from the reaction of people online when the news finally broke, proves that the band even after all this time, is still relevant and has the capacity to lift spirits and inspire – something the youth, and the music-listening audience of Pakistan, are desperately in need of.
