A lunar experience
By Qasim Abdallah Moini
Chand raat is ideally spent with your near and dear ones as it is indeed
a time for celebration and unbridled joy. This past Chand raat, actor
Adnan Siddiqui had other plans as he beckoned the citizens of Karachi to his
upscale salon Get Smart for a Chand raat extravaganza featuring visiting
Lahoris Noori and raag-meets-rock outfit Fuzon.
It was an odd place and time for a concert as the stage was set up in what
seemed to be a parking lot on one of the busiest nights of the year. But the
spread was intimate and tastefully done as the audience was seated on lavish
carpets with luxuriant gow takiyas for lumbar support. Mehndi was being
applied in one corner onto the anxious hands of effervescent young girls eager
to partake in the ritual as the delightful scent of shawarma (not free
mind you) wafted over the premises.
At 10:00pm, Noori were still fiddling with their instruments, busy with their
sound check. Slowly but surely the invited started assembling, and it's safe to
say that the celebrity brigade was in full effect. Spotted in the motley crew
were Sheheryar Ahmad and Ali Azmat from Junoon, the guys from Aaroh, Babar
Shaikh, Sania Saeed, Aijaz Aslam, Sonia Khan, Mishi Khan, cricketer Moin Khan
(enough Khan's), BilalMaqsood, Humayun Saeed and Sajid Hasan among others. It
was hard trying to find normal, everyday people as the celebrities and
semi-celebrities schmoozed and socialized. Almost everybody who was anybody in
Karachi was present. Matter of fact, if everybody was here, one wondered who was
left at home to prepare the sheer khorma and other gastronomical goodies
associated with the festive season. But in this crowd, one figured that the good
old masi would come to the rescue yet again.
Of course the man of the hour, Adnan Siddiqui, now sporting longer tresses, was
scurrying about trying to get the show on the road and trying his best to keep
out the riff-raff. At 11:40 Adnan pleaded with the crowd to sit down so that the
concert could start and a little before midnight Noori took the stage and lunged
into their bag of jangley alterna-pop rock.They started with Dil ki qasam,
a song of hope quite similar in structure to their current teenybopper single
Tum hans diye. Naturally the segue was too inviting to resist as they
launched into the afore mentioned track with bassist Mohammad Ali Jafri throwing
down some tight patterns. Ali Noor pouted and leapt around stage much to the
delight and squeals of many young females in the crowd. Suno kai mai hoon
jawan had a very post-alternative flavour to it and the solo echoed back to
the days of the Cure. Ooncha hoon main had impressive lyrics and a
driving U2-esque rhythm guitar.
As the band took five, the 'emcee' of the programme, clad in an eye-sore shade
of PVC, took to the stage much to the chagrin of all present. He dived headfirst
into a nonsensical rap with the aid of an uncomfortable looking Gumby, and many
prayers of thanks were said as he vacated the stage for Lahore's tempestuous
sons once again.
They took off for round two with a ballad penned by Zehra Nigah. Despite the
senior poet's touch, it didn't click at all. Bolo followed, and this will
be the band's next single. Babar is slated to direct the video. Again shades of
the Cure were heard in the tune. So much for Ali Noor claiming he hasn't been
influenced by anybody. Could be. Maybe Robert Smith's a big Noori fan. Noor
wryly introduced the song that has made the band what they are - Manwa re
- as "my favourite song in the world." It was totally reworked and elicited
quite a response from the whole crowd. Shouts emanated for Gowalmandi, a
song about dubious, shady characters in compromising situations, but the band
did not oblige. They closed off their mostly well-played set with Doobara
phirsay, a Punjabi number and Gana No. 1.
Fuzon took the stage all bright and early at 1:00am. A pleasant surprise was
that ace ax-man of yore Amir Zaki was helping the trio of Shafqat, Shallum and
Imu out on the bass. The band kicked off with Duriyan, and Shallum's
fiery acoustic solo combined with outclass bass wizardry from Zaki ignited the
crowd. Matter of fact, it was the constant interplay between these two - Zaki a
veteran guitar/bass slinger and Shallum a talented but new entrant in the arena
- that made Fuzon's set memorable. Even for people who were not fans or were not
familiar with the band's music, the superb dynamics between the players made one
appreciate their dexterity. Whereas Noori was a whole lot of youthful energy,
Fuzon showed that experienced road warriors like Zaki and Shafqat can still play
the crowd.
The second song was very Clapton-esque - circa Tears in heaven. On Pyar na
raha, Zaki's explosive bass, Shafqat's well-trained vocals and Shallum's
strumming combined for a driving funker. Akhiyan was well done as well,
but it was Ankhon kay sagar (on which the band screwed up initially but
recovered as Imu's synth textures from his arse-whooping Korg Triton melded with
Shafqat's vocals) which formed the masterstroke.
As people started vacating the lot - some did have to offer Eid prayers in the
morning - Fuzon showed no signs of letting up on their sonic barrage. Overall a
Chand raat well spent with driving acoustic music to usher in the Eid
celebrations.
Courtesy The Dawn; Images.