Edward Maya: Rocking the capital

Islamabad gets a taste of Edward Maya’s stereo loving.

ISLAMABAD:

When a well-known artist performs in Islamabad (or any part of the country), the entertainment-starved Pakistani youth and adults scramble to get their hands on passes or tickets to the event. For them, these concerts seem to be the only source of respite from their daily routine lives. However, when rumours of an international artist coming to town surface, the frenzy accompanying the performance reaches new heights. Let’s face it, it’s not every day that an internationally recognised artist decides to stop by to perform in Islamabad. In the same vein, Romanian DJ and record producer Edward Maya’s recent performance in Islamabad provided Islooites with a night to remember.

Edward Maya is no new name to the music industry. As a successful producer who has contributed to the making of the Romanian band Akcent’s album No Tears, which scored a number of hits in Europe like “Stay With Me”, “That’s My Name” and “Lover’s Cry”, he came to prominence with his unique take to house music which incorporated sounds of the accordion. After the release of his first single “Stereo Love”, featuring Russian DJ Vika Jigulina in 2009, he became a global club sensation in less than a year.

On the night of the event, the concert premises were packed to the brim with youngsters desperately trying their best to get inside the concert venue. The fact that the location had been kept a secret and that extremely chilly weather had enveloped the city did nothing to dampen the spirits of people who still turned up in droves. Credit goes to the organising team for managing a well-secured, large-scale event with such a well-known international artist. Additionally, there were private lounges decorated tastefully with warm red lighting reminding the audience that Valentine’s Day was also being celebrated.

Qayaas, a popular local band, kick-started the event and performed songs from their new album. After great anticipation and extremely loud cheers, Maya finally came on stage with his bandmembers and immediately got the crowd on their feet. With his opening track, “Stereo Love”, people rushed to the front of the stage — the night had officially begun. After that, he moved onto his other well-known tracks.

Some famous party tracks such as, “I Gotta Feeling” and “Give Me Everything Tonight” were mixed with his signature style beats and added bass to produce a higher tempo. Track after track, Maya kept the crowd grooving to the beat until he finally ended his performance with an encore performance of “Stereo Love”.

Why was Edward Maya in Pakistan?

Edward Maya’s presence in the capital city wasn’t just for entertainment purposes; he came as an ambassador of peace and to provide polio awareness in the country. The funds raised from the concert will be utilised for polio awareness by a non-profit organistion called Radiance Foundation. Credit goes to the organising team for managing a well-secured, large-scale event with such a well-known international artist. According to the event organisers, the Romanian band Akcent will be performing in Islamabad in March 2012. Here’s hoping that there will be a revival of concerts with performances by such celebrated artists.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2012.