It’s the music industry that is going through a revival, not films. We are suddenly seeing a surge in local, original content, thanks to the efforts of indie bands, platforms like Patari and an overall improved security situation in the country that allows musicians to do what they do best, which is to make music.
It’s the music industry that is going through a revival, not films. We are suddenly seeing a surge in local, original content, thanks to the efforts of indie bands, platforms like Patari and an overall improved security situation in the country that allows musicians to do what they do best, which is to make music.
The newest, and one of the biggest musical platforms of this year, Pepsi Battle of the Bands, has also just released its first episode after making us wait for months (or rather years, if we take into account the fact that the first round of the competition took place in 2002). Pepsi Battle of the Bands’ first episode revealed a slick set and it’s very apparent that the style quotient of the show is going to be very high.
The hour long episode featured celebrity guests Fawad Khan and Meesha Shafi, who began the show with a discussion on band culture and how it died out in Pakistan, highlighting the brand’s efforts in trying to revive it. They were joined by Farooq Ahmed, who will be appearing in the initial episodes as an audition judge and may we just add that it’s absolutely refreshing to see both finalists of the run in 2002 be on the judging panel. For those of you who don’t know, Fawad Khan’s Entity Paradigm and Farooq Ahmed’s Aaroh made it to the finals where the latter proved to be victorious.
The host, Ayesha Omar revealed what the competing bands hope to take home at the end; not only do they gain nationwide recognition through this competition but they also get an album deal and concerts across Pakistan. Pepsi has also ensured that the winning band members will be entitled to lifetime royalties on all the music produced by them in the duration of the show.
The format of BoB is such that the judges will shortlist 20 bands from the hundreds of bands that have applied to be part of the competition, out of which only six finalists will be chosen to compete for the title. Over the course of the show, we’ll be seeing more celebrity judges, such as Atif Aslam and Shahi Hassan, who will join the competition at different stages.
So far, we have been introduced to various bands but it’s very clear that all these musicians are fresh, raw and ready to fight it out. The first band that made it through the first round of eliminations is Naksh, a 5 member team with a female vocalist, Mehek who is also one half of Cheapmunks, an all girl band that first came to the scene many years ago with their quirky mash-ups and cover songs. The band impressed the judges with their interpretation of the iconic ‘Bolo Bolo’ by Sajjad Ali. Interestingly, this song was covered by EP back in the day as well.
Another band that seemed quite familiar with Battle of the Bands was Positive who revealed that they had featured on the first edition of the show as well, and had secured a spot in the top-ten list. Farooq Ahmed and Fawad Khan were clearly unable to recognize their contemporaries (which was a bit awkward) but the band did play a soulful interpretation of Allan Fakir’s ‘Kalab’ which instantly resonated with the judges.
Other names that have been selected so far are Kashmir, a band that chose to cover EP’s ‘Hamesha’, Madlock that has shown immense potential with their distinct look and sound, Jasim & the Pindi Boys who were already viral with their single titled ‘Pindi Boys’ before making it to BoB, Shajr who chose to sing a very difficult composition originally written by Mekaal Hasan Band, Aura who managed to impress the judges with an original track and OB Positive who sang their rendition of Vital Sign’s ‘Aitebar’.
Further rounds of auditions are remaining till the final six bands of the competition get selected. So far, the shortlisted bands have only made it through to the first round.
While the first episode displayed diversity in terms of the sound these bands are capable of producing, we hope to see other genres included in the competition as well.
It must also be said that for a kick start, the energy level of the show was a little low and it seemed as though the judges were playing it safe with their critique. We were happy to see that their tone and feedback was kind and helpful but that also meant that it had a tendency of appearing a bit dull. However, since it’s only the first episode, we’re hoping that the pace of the show will pick up as time goes by and we’re introduced to new sounds that are a true representation of modern music in Pakistan.
