Azmat had backing him some of Pakistan’s most prodigious talent, including Omran Shafique on lead guitar and Kamran Zaffar aka Mannu on bass. Shafique’s manic playing was echoed in the peals of delight that came from the audience as they watched his curls fall on his face and his body contort as he stretched to pull the high notes — out of this world! By the time the band got to Khudi many in the audience were already soaring.
Before all this, Azmat and crew were built up by performances from the youthful Ashes and Ali Gul Pir, while Karavan showed why they aren’t done yet. Even Zoe Viccaji was there, singing Eye of the Tiger remarkably well and punctuating her verses with more than a few punches of passion. Hopefully, there will be more of Ms Viccaji touring the circuit this year.
Then last weekend, aficionados, those aiming to be aficionados, and connoisseurs of qawwali were treated to a night of halka halka suroor by none other than Amjad Sabri at the Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture. In full mood to jest, the qawwal enthralled the audience which was clapping and swaying as he explained his verses and punch lines with all the confidence of a maestro.
However, two important details will forever be etched in the memory of anyone who attended the concert: ask anyone in the 18-30 age group who attended, and they will tell you that the crowd was the most attractive in Karachi in recent memory — the audience was murmuring “Sub teri nazar ka qusoor hai” long before Amjad Sabri launched into the chorus.
The other highlight was right after singing Lal Meri Path, Amjad Sabri’s band launched into a dhamaal that had many of us wondering if we had somehow transcended the space time continuum and emerged at an electronic music concert. Can a dhol even make a sound like that? No one can tell for sure, except maybe the percussionist (or the phantom DJ.)
The next night, the MAD School held its own jam with Omran Shafique, Shahi Hassan and Hamza Jafferi leading a troupe of musicians into a session that packed more party than a venue of that size should. That the night was held at the cramped quarters of the school was the only grievance — but hey, isn’t that how all great music venues started out? A good band can make any venue feel like home, and that is exactly what happened.
There were probably at least a few other performances in our very own Big Apple over the last two weeks. But the fact that headline artists could deliver such performances in an age of tight security and tight budgets means live music has a lot of potential to grow in Pakistan — and audiences don’t seem averse to paying money to see live artists, even if the proceeds from the ticket are going to fund a class trip to Istanbul, Turkey (as the Amjad Sabri concert was reported to benefit). There might be a dearth of studio albums, but if live music can continue to grow, albums might be playing second fiddle to the actual experience of watching a real person play you your favourite song. It is after all a very apt saying: “Everything is better live.”