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Sunday night brought back years of nostalgia as the smell of cigarettes and body sprays combined into an odour of familiarity at the Music, Art and Dance School for the first "MAD JAM" of the year.
Nida Butt, a name synonymous with the rise of musicals in Pakistan, established the Mad School and is a relatively recent addition to the music scene. It’s a welcome arrival in a city that is starved for live acts and creative outlets for upcoming musicians. In addition to hosting these events Mad also offers a variety of guitar, dance and photography classes.
A predominantly male crowed packed into the intimate setting — a perfect venue for an up close and personal experience of simple pedal-to-the-metal rock.
Hamza Jafri on guitar and Joshua Fernandes on drums kicked off the evening with their brand progressive rock, fusing it with dashes of funk and jazz. Fernandes was particularly good on drums, although his penchant for drum rolls got a little monotonous as the evening progressed.
As the audience of about 50 people slowly warmed up to the night’s pyrotechnics, the music too upped a few notches as Farhad Humayun and Omar Shafique took over on drums and guitar respectively.
Humayun brought his signature drum bashing to the helm, while Shafique’s more soulful and bluesy guitar licks added a more musical air to the night. But eventually they too went into a frenzy of drum pounding and walls of distorted guitars as the evening grew later.
While the idea to bring big name musicians together in casual and informal jams is great, it has to be said that the venue was a tad small for it to handle the acoustics of a no-holds-barred jam even though sometimes it’s just fun to do away with good sense and go all out for an unbridled night of rocking.
The jam also featured the work of Faisal Rafi, Faisal Baig, Sikandar Mufti, & Farhan and all in all it was an enjoyable evening. It was refreshing to see a new avenue for musicians to get together and play music simply for the love of it.
Butt said Sunday night’s jam was to make it a monthly event and the next jam is slated for the first Saturday of February.
With that spirit in mind, like the bard would've said: Rock on!
