High on life: Bacchus and Barrister drop beat after beat

The disc-spinning duo kept the crowd asking for more.

ISLAMABAD:

After an amazing show at Drop Beats Not Bombs over the previous weekend, Barrister and Bacchus were back at their beat dropping best as they performed in tandem at Kuch Khaas on Friday.

Unlike the earlier event, which saw a remarkably large number of foreigners, attendance at Back to Back with DJ Barrister and DJ Bacchus was dominated by a much more local but diverse audience, with a number of teens joining the flock of young professionals and house-junkies bobbing their heads to the funky beats.

Playing under a red hue, Bacchus kicked things off with some ambient vocal music which kept picking up as the crowd grew, and grow it did as only the brilliance of the bassline could drown the crowd.

Aashir Rayyan of Kuch Khaas noted that, “EDM (electronic dance music) is different from most music, it has little exposure in Pakistan, even though it’s a form that lets you just be high on life and groove.”

With the visualisation display tripping out the audience, Barrister took over the wheels of steel and took the night on a different tangent, with a more symphonic note being unveiled as the tunes moved into house and electro.

Trance and house are nowhere near the mainstream taste of the Pakistani ear, but the disc-spinning duo, DJ Bacchus who has lived in Pakistan for many years, offered another point of view. “I remember being in Muree in the 90s, when you could only get two hours of foreign music on the radio. Now, with the digital revolution, you get to hear music before it even gets to the West. This is the first time it’s started to migrate up (from Karachi and Lahore),” Bacchus said.

An early event, it was unsurprising that it took the crowd a while to get into the music, but soon enough a few people were enveloped by the feeling of 130 BPM hitting them and were more than willing to show off a move or two. DJ Barrister seemed satisfied, as he told The Express Tribune immediately after his set, “The environment is great, I love Kuch Khaas and it’s great that they promote alternative music,” adding that he hoped the support continues.

Sadly, all good things come to an end, and when B2B ended, Sherry Hayward, who works for the Food and Agriculture Organisation, summed it up best. “I think this is the best music I’ve heard in Islamabad, apart from classical music concerts. I only wish that it could go on longer.”



Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2011.