Star Struck

The Rock Night at the WPAF 2008 brought together some of the best in music

All pretences wiped away, I admit that while growing up, Ali Azmat was the one musician or Junoon was the only Pakistani band that I thought deserved true homage. At that age, when idealism is the biggest turn on and music a very raw sensory stimulus, Junoon defined a generation. This year at the World Performing Art Festival, while bombs were dropping in Bajaur, nostalgia swept me off my feet in Lahore.

I will not keep the best for last; I will start with Ali Azmat. If I begin with anything else, the pages would crumble with the acridity of my ink.

Omran Shafique on lead guitar, Kamran Zafar (Mannu), on bass, Waqar Ahmad on drums and Ali Azmat on vocals. Would it be fair to compare Ali and his work today with Junoon? I think not. It’s a different sound, coming from a completely different place.

Even though Overload, the band right before Ali’s performance took its sweet time wrapping up their long set, people were there. Not as many as there would have been if Ali had performed in safer times, or on a warmer night, so in relativity many did wait. None were disappointed.

How could they be? Here was a band where the bass player actually moved with the groove, where his slap-plucking techniques stood out with the composition and his energy defined the rhythm section. Speaking of which, Waqar, the drummer, a relatively new component, had the energy which numbers like Garaj Baras needed and the aesthetics that Pappu Yaar needed. Then there is Omran, who as a part of Mauj and Coven is the very definition of “tight knit” and owned the night with his fills, leads and moves on stage. Ali did the Ali thing: He came to a slightly disheartened audience, he saw their mood and he conquered with jibes and song alike.

I do not need to say which song was sung better or which one had better instrumentation or even point out the one where someone messed up because the feeling with the last note hanging in the frosty night was of adrenaline flowing. The feeling that in Pakistan is missed out on, as no one really holds the concert quite the way Ali can and has for years now.

The boys that head bang to Akaash or Jal, come watch this entourage. The difference between Ali and the rest: The moment where your body aligns itself with the music is imperceptible yet when the performance ends, you are tachycardic — your pupils dilated and you would not feel the cold, in essence you would be tripping on Ali.

Rock was an expression of the free swinging ’60s and ’70s. The unkempt big hair, the clothes, the sex and the drugs, all were a reflection of a generation trying to escape the harsh realities of the Vietnam War and the post-WWII depression. The music was raw, rebellious and often psychedelic in tone. Shehzad Hameed brought back some of that feel on Rock Night.

The slight man with the grand locks made an impression. Even though the sound was slightly cheesy, the lyrics slightly out there, it was full of the idealism of dreams and the stinging bitterness of reality that pushes through the surface every now and then.

The vocal tone and the progression in most songs were instrumental in bringing together the feel that made the performance unexpectedly fun. It seemed that Shehzad had a bass player who also shared his energy: Farhan Ali. Post-performance, Farhan admitted that he enjoyed being on stage with Shehzad though it was sad, he said, to see such few people when last year the same night was a full house. Like most musicians and artistes these days, he admitted the socio-political situation in the country was just not helpful and it was upsetting to see how difficult it had become to hold such events.

The flip side of this raw rock energy driven by unrealised dreams was Overload. The divas of neo-electronica percussion-oriented rock (yes, I just made that term up) were in full swing with a recovered Mehmood in tow. Thanks to the rapidly deteriorating sound quality of these events, Farhad had to spend a good 20 minutes in a post-sound check sound fix. Once things were in order, Overload delivered as promised. Their set list had a punch and having Misha on vocals adds to the diverse experience that is Overload. Her voice compliments the electronica feel and her physical presence is of course always appreciable.

This year’s Rock Night had an unprecedented act: Borstel Escape. They were perhaps the youngest musicians ever seen at the WPAF. Even though their dedication was admirable and their energy unmatched (who can match pubescent fervour!) one would ask, did they truly belong at a festival of this level? It is perhaps the largest audience that comes together annually for a show. Musicians who take that stage should have paid their dues. And that does not always come with age as there were other acts that night older than Borstel Escape that needed to work much harder before taking the same stage as Ali Azmat or Overload or even Shehzad. Borstel Escape was, however, noted by one of the drummers who performed that night: “Their attitude and aggression must be appreciated, although the drummer could have done a better job.”

Everything before these acts is a discordant cacophonous blur and a waste of good ink space: With all these global warming warnings, I am all for protecting the environment from deforestation and sound pollution.


Published in Images, Dawn on November 23 2008