The term #FOMO, a millennial term for ‘Fear of Missing Out’, surfaced like never before after the Solis Arts and Music Festival videos started surfacing on various social media platforms; people who had missed the concert, highlighted by FDVM and Ayesha Omar in particular, were in a state of #FOMO.
A day before, four of the coolest cats from Pepsi Battle of the Bands, including competitors (E-Sharp, Taamasha) and winners (Kashmir, Auj) as well as the legendary Mekaal Hasan Band, were set to take the stage.
‘It must begin’
The ‘Pepsi Battle of the Bands (PBOTB) Tour in collaboration with Mekaal Hasan Band (MHB)’ featured some of the best PBOTB bands, as well as the irresistible Mekaal Hasan Band. However, it was not as publicized as the Solis Music and Arts Festival since the corporation backing both shows was the same and it ostensibly wanted Solis to be the bigger show.
Therefore, the PBOTB Karachi gig, held at the Arts Council Amphitheatre, didn’t pull in as much of a crowd as it should have. There were many, many empty seats, which felt like an injustice to the amount of good music that was played LIVE. It also made little sense that some random house music was playing at what was essentially a rock concert. Music off a Junoon record or from a Chand Tara Orchestra album would have made much more sense. Instead, it sounded like late night house-techno type music that is played on local radio stations as if everyone coming home past midnight must be coming from a rave.
Our story begins with E-Sharp, who were being watched by a small but dedicated group of music lovers, so whether it was the now prolific ‘Anthem of Shabana’ or ‘Aik Nayi Subah’ merged with ‘Tu Hai Kahan’ - a beautiful cover of Junoon’s ‘Neend Aati Nahin’ - this group had the songs pat down and their infectious energy onstage was affecting the crowds who sang along. It revved the crowd for what was to come. Two albums old, E-Sharp is finally on its way to national acknowledgement.
Taamasha, who came post E-Sharp had their own charm; they sort of grow on you and their big hit, ‘Paisa Phaink’ is hard to dismiss. It’s mocking the culture in music where we want to be entertained by music but do not want to spend a cent on it; such is the tragedy of being a musician in Pakistan today. But Taamasha were in control. Bilal, the lead vocalist, exudes a lot of attitude just by the way he carries himself onstage. The band played a cover version of Junoon’s ‘Sajna’ and it was apparent that Bilal has come into his own as a singer-front man and demands to be noticed! He even teased the audience by telling them they won’t be singing ‘Roshni’ – one of their big hits – until the very end when he announced that the music video for the song would be dropping “tomorrow” and made it the last song of the set. Very cheeky, very rock ‘n’ roll.
Kashmir, debut winners of the resurrected Pepsi Battle of the Bands (2017) and the introverted troupe of six, is only getting better. In their new music video, ‘Parwana Hun’, they’ve added lines, which I wondered at first if I had missed in the original until Bilal Ali confirmed he had added them, making the music video by and large a much more vivid experience. But Kashmir knows their audience by now and opened with a song that had earned them a standing ovation in the music series.
They knocked it out of the Arts Council Amphitheatre with ‘Kaghaz Ka Jahaz’ and played hits like ‘Pareshaniyaan’ but it was their still soulful cover of the late Amir Zaki’s ‘Mera Pyar’ that made one wish the band had been given a bigger slot.
The good thing, however, is that the changeover between bands was quick and didn’t make you want to pull your hair out, just waiting. The sound was clean and crisp.
Kashmir is a hard act to follow but Auj did it in style. Auj front-man Abdur Rahman Sajid first told the audience to get on their feet before melting their hearts with a series of songs.
Among them were ‘Angraziyan & Mera Laung Gawacha’, ‘Aansu’ and ‘Raat’. What did ruin things was not the sound or the bands but the garish Pepsi/PBOTB logo etched on a screen that ran throughout the show; a little subtlety would have been more tasteful.
Despite the fact that this show wasn’t marketed with as much vigor as the Solis Festival, it pulled the music fraternity in anyway. Jimmy Khan, Shahab Hussain, Nimra Rafiq, Emu, Faisal Bari, Abbas Ali Khan and Ahsan Bari were just some of the faces one encountered. RJ/host and actor Khalid Malik was also present.
‘All the while I was dreaming of revelry’
It was time for the Mekaal Hasan Band. Mekaal brought a slicker line-up that is his Lahore line-up as well. It included, among others, Mohammed Ahsan Pappu, who has been with the band from the start and a 19 year old singer whose talent could blow anyone away and who truly looked like a young Javed Bashir.
You could see that, at times, he was nervous, but Ahsan Pappu and Mekaal Hasan helped him out as did Kami Paul with the way they played. MHB knew that Karachi had waited for a long time to hear some of the band’s oldest songs and he brought them all.
Among them were songs like ‘Rabba’, ‘Chal Bulleya’, ‘Sajan’, ‘Sanwal’, ‘Jhok Ranjhan’, ‘Ya Ali’, ‘Mahi’ and many, many more. Those who witnessed this show were once again convinced that MHB is one of Pakistan’s premier live acts and brands should invest in them a lot more frequently.
‘You can check out any time you like but you can never leave’
Now let’s come to Solis Arts and Music Festival, the Karachi edition 2019 that occurred less than a day later. Though scheduled to start at 2:00 pm and carry on till midnight, it started at least two hours later and that too with a yoga activity, which was mildly amusing because what was yoga doing at an EDM festival in the first place? Then came the acts and those who stood out include Hussain Dossa for that sizzler set that he ended with a ‘Tamasha’ (Khumariyaan) mix and Turhan James for giving the crowd the sounds they wanted with a slightly darker edge.
DJ Maleo, on the other hand, felt like a filler act in comparison while Neha’s set invited some serious criticism. What was that saxophone doing there? And why did she have to ruin Elvis Costello’s ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’? There should’ve been some light on the DJ but it was not to be.
Amidst all this, as Karachiites, always late to events, were pouring in, it was hard to not notice that while the screen behind played good graphics that went with the music, there were two large banners, one on each side of the stage reminding one (just in case you forgot) that it was Mountain Dew that brought you this showcase.
The mood was further dampened by the fact that Clean Bandit (the original trio) hadn’t come and we were being treated to one third of the band with guest singers who tour with him i.e, Luke Patterson. The act who once again won Karachi over was FDVM featuring Florent Denecker & Victorien Mulliez. They had ‘Disco Deewane Tribute Edit’ in one pocket; ‘Edit of Bibi Sherene’ in the other. But, they also managed something no one has managed before and that is understanding the texture of Ayesha Omar’s voice, which is not saccharine-sounding. Together with Taamasha guitarist Zahid Qureshi, Ayesha Omar worked on a composition which FDVM mixed to such a degree that it felt like Omar can do so well with electronic music. She took the title track from her debut album and mixed it with the English lyrics and one has to tip their hat to Ayesha for doing it in front of so many people, including industry peers.
‘The river will be your eyes and ears’
What Solis needed was to be crisply curated. It was not. It needed to be curated the way Mad Decent Block Party was in Islamabad, with more Pakistani artists getting a slot and only three foreign acts performing.
But at Solis Arts and Music Festival (SAMF), there seemed to be no shortage of international acts, most of whom Pakistan had never heard before and amongst all the Pakistani acts, only Turhan James got to play to a house-full.
Arriving at the venue, Moin Khan Academy, I instantly saw FDVM, both in great spirits and two beautiful singers who were going to sing as part of Clean Bandit because the original trio of Clean Bandit didn’t come. Luke Patterson from the band did come with guest singers but the enchanting Grace Chatto as well as group member Jack Patterson didn’t.
Adding to the delays were issues of mismanagement, like bomb checks and security checks being done after people were already inside. The security forced people out and was particularly hostile when it came to the press. Being thrown around despite having a press pass was not particularly pleasant.
This attitude prevailed until ultimately one moved inside and was amidst the crowd. They were having fun and Karachiites didn’t want segregation so there were no segregated sections and girls, a gaggle of girls I spoke to, seemed comfortable attending the show.
The Mayor of Karachi, Waseem Akhtar – was in attendance and only when he finally departed was his section opened up; FDVM then stepped in and Karachi celebrities, socialites could be seen mingling with the duo.
Solis is not going anywhere. It will occur again. Next time, however, I shall be a true Karachiite and go late without looking at the roster of artists playing. The end. For now.
– Mekaal Hasan Band photo by Faisal Farooqui at Dragonfly.
