RYMUN ’11: Ali Azmat rocks to headbanging, cheering youth

An electrifying performance met by applause.

ISLAMABAD:

After a tiring and rigorous third day of debating, Roots students and Roots Youth Model United Nations (RYMUN)’11 delegates were treated to an electrifying Ali Azmat concert on Friday.

The Koh-e-Noor Hall at the Marriot that usually beckons images of weddings and formal conferences was transformed into a rocking gig venue for the night with O’levels, matric and undergraduate students swinging to the beat.

The stench of sweat and youthful revelry ran abound as the crowd headbanged to Pakistan’s proclaimed “Lizard King”.

The boys busted out anywhere from energetic bhangra moves to dives into the crowd while the girls clapped and cheered on the band. Comparable to the crowd’s zest was the band’s own enthusiasm. Ali Azmat and his band played a whopping 16-song set, which is almost unheard of for a musician of his standing to play at a school concert.

The band seemed well-rehearsed as they performed extended and mixed versions of each song. They mixed tracks from Junoon and Ali Azmat’s own albums, Social Circus and Kalashnikov. They hit off the night with “Neend Aati Nahin” from Junoon’s first album but improvised on the bass riffs to give it a heavier sound with an inclusion of a powerful drumbeat.

In fact most of the songs performed had a much heavier sound than the original tracks. This alteration might be attributed to the band performing for a youthful audience and hence playing to their teenage angst. It was splendid to see that after more than 20 years of performing, Ali Azmat still has a keen ear to what his audience wants, which is one of the reasons for his success as a solo artist.

The request for the new single “Bum Bum Phatta” by Azmat did not come as a surprise from a crowd that had been debating issues such as electricity crisis, food shortages and terrorist threats.

While the crowd’s response was one of appreciation toward one of Pakistan’s dearest and longest running musicians, it also welcomed Roots’ own home grown new musicians: Arslan Asif, Hammad Malik, Angry Birds and DissBelief. All these bands displayed hues of alternative rock, while sustaining an original sound.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2011.