Masked up for music: Karakoram, Kashmir, Neon break Karachi’s no concert streak

The city witnessed its first full-fledge live concert on Saturday since the pandemic erupted

KARACHI:

Karachi was set for two very different concerts on Saturday night but only one of them went through. Atif Aslam’s much-awaited concert at Benazir Bhutto Park was cancelled after organisers ‘failed to obtain required permissions,’ confirmed a post on Aslam’s official Facebook page. This is the story of the concert that went through.

Upcoming acts Karakoram, Kashmir along with Battle of the Bands participant Neon ended Karachi’s Covid-streak of no concerts at District 19 in Korangi Industrial Area. The backstage seemed like an alumni dinner of sorts; even those who weren’t performing, such as Asim Azhar, Tamasha, and Auj, showed up to mark their existence and show gratitude for a live gig that eventually went forward uninterrupted.

The crowd at the front had started cheering the bands before they could even say ‘Hi’ and everyone wanted a piece of what they had been missing; an adrenaline-raging live concert. Neon kicked off the proceedings and made sure their Muscle Car made it to the set list, especially since the crowd was begging for it. Prior to this, they performed their newer numbers including, Synth Government, Chillah Kaat and Chandni, along with a cover of Whole Lotta Love and Mera Mahi, all of which set the stage for the bigger and more mainstream acts; Karakoram and Kashmir.

“It is always a challenge being the opening band and after one year of not performing at all, there was this uncertainty,” Neon’s bassist Zeeshan Athar told The Express Tribune. “But it turned out to be a brilliant experience.” Their drummer, Athar Saeed also chimed in, “I played a gig after 14 months. I had to console myself by playing at a shaadi earlier, but that doesn’t count. It was quite overwhelming, even though we made a few glitches in the beginning but it all worked out well.”

Karakoram, on the other hand, performed their latest album Ailan e Jang, and quite literally, waged a war on stage. Sherry’s powerful growls, Zain Peerzada’s intense riffs and Omair Farooq’s skillful bass playing coupled with Bilawal Lahooti’s commendable timing on the drums was all too pitch-perfect to not be impressed by.

“Honestly, we were all dying to be back on stage,” said Khattak. “Being a rock band, a concert is our outlet to absorb energy and that adrenaline rush helps us to write more music,” he added. “All of this happening in our hometown, from where it all started, was an added bonus for us.” Khattak went onto assert that the whole band was so pumped up, they could’ve played all night, especially since the crowd knew most of all their songs, despite them being weeks old.

Peerzada, who also plays with Takatak, lauded the venue, the crowd and specifically the setup, which was courtesy of Demo Room. “Playing a show after a year felt really good. The crowd made the effort and the trek from Lahore to Karachi was totally worth it. I cannot wait for our next show here.”

Karakoram had only played two live shows before the Covid-19 outbreak last year. One of them was at Lahore Music Meet and the other at Koblumpi Music Festival Islamabad. “So I don’t know if the lack of live gigs made us rusty, but we rehearsed to the best of our capacity and let ourselves loose on stage!” said Farooq.

And then came Kashmir with their never-ending utopian-dystopia. The only band whose sad music reminds one of the little things in life they need to be grateful for. And after the raging rumble which passed, the crowd needed a breath of fresh air.

Kashmir started off with an instrumental and quickly moved to Bhaago, following which they performed their famous, Pareshaniyan, Parwana Hoon and Dhoop. Their heartwarming set-list also featured Amir Zaki’s Mera Pyaar, and the crowd sang along to its evergreen lyrics. Kaaghaz Ka Jahaaz had to be played twice due to high demand and a cover of The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights provoked the audience to shake a leg. But of course, Khwaab, stole the show and the night, setting the record straight for all the critics who believe Kashmir is only studio-fluent.

“Judging from the crowd and our friends who attended, we think it was just like old times. We enjoyed being on stage, the crowd engaged with us and we were fully immersed in the moment,” remarked Kashmir, as a whole.

It is pertinent to mention here that prior to this, a Shamoon Ismail concert was called off midway by the authorities for SOP violations.

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