The very first concert I attended in my life was a Junoon show, in 1993, and I fell asleep when Ali Azmat introduced “Fawad ‘the drum-machine or gun-machine,’ (was fast asleep, remember)”, and slept through the drummer’s entire solo. That said, 1993 me had managed to stay up for all the greats of the time: ‘Chori Chori’, ‘Neend Aati Nahin’, ‘Ni Heeray’, ‘Talaash’. And so, a full 31 years later, when I found myself near a stage upon which Ali Azmat performed, I tried my best to stay wide awake. And I did! For every single song of the set, whether I knew it or not.

Ali Azmat is still a total powerhouse performer. He can belt out vocals with the best - and the youngest - of them. He can run around a stage and pump people up. He can joke with his audience and coax them into singing louder, cheering harder, and moving closer to the stage. The crowd that Azmat performed for the previous weekend may not have been the most rock-n-roll one, but it sure did get there, because the rhythm did, in fact, get them.

Over the years both Junoon and Ali Azmat picked up a setlist that included their own songs and covers. There is a reason a whole new generation became enamored with ‘Lal Meri Pat’ a performance of which you can watch on YouTube.

There is a reason why ‘Garaj Baras’ slaps. The reason, without discrediting the other, very important members of Junoon, is simply Ali Azmat’s voice and energy.

The other thing that perhaps comes with being in the profession so long is the ease and camaraderie Azmat has built with the people who share the stage with him. They work together well, picking up each other’s cues, and seamlessly flowing from track to track.

And finally, and this isn’t just Ali-Azmat-specific, but every-musician-specific, there’s a very low-key, but highly-accomplished Mannu accompanying them on bass. Be it live shows or studio sessions, Mannu is a huge part of Pakistan’s music tapestry and if we sit down and start tabulating his body of work, we believe it might take much, much longer than you might think.