Pop rock band Strings, comprising of Bilal Maqsood and Faisal Kapadia, dazzled the people of Karachi, with their exhilarating concert at the garden area of Beach Luxury Hotel on November 25.
The evening was definitely an ode to the people of Karachi, mostly youngsters and university students, who turned up in large numbers. This concert was the last leg of their Gillette Style Gurus tour after the band had already performed in Lahore and Islamabad.
The pop rock band, who walked to the stage completely charged, performed live for the young students present amongst the audience. “Strings live in action are absolutely fantastic, loved the energy, ambience and patriotism that Strings’ songs portrays. It was a rocking night,” said fan Faryal Siddiqui who was present at the concert.
The band, known for its strong poetic lyrics, kicked off the event with “Koi Aane Wala Hai” which was followed by “Najane Kyun” (Spider Man 2’s soundtrack), “Uski Zulfein Khuli” and the political “Ab Khud Kuch Kerna Parega.” An interesting point in the concert was when Strings reached the climax of “Zinda Hoon” (from the Bollywood film Zinda) and the microphone stopped working for a bit, however, the singing duo were so well-tuned that they never let the music die and delivered the song perfectly.
Before they moved on to “Titliyan”, Kapadia requested the stage lights to be switched off and asked the crowd to put their hands up in the air while holding their cell phones. The band performed the song while their fans swayed holding their lit cell phones and then released balloons up in the air.
Following this was “Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar”, a song that in Kapadia’s words, ‘gave Strings their identity’ more than two decades ago. Maqsood, who generally remains on the guitar, sang the melody with such precision that it took the audience back many years to when the song was released. The singing duo then moved on to “Mera Bichra Yaar” followed by “Duur”, which was thoroughly enjoyed even by the older ladies in the audience who were spotted singing along. The band also performed “Dhaani”, “Sohniyeh”, “Mein Tou Dekhoonga” and their World Cup hit number “Hai Koi Hum Jaisa” during the one-and-a-half hour concert.
Just minutes after Strings left the stage, a fan sent them a text message asking how they felt after performing in Karachi. To that, Kapadia replied; “It was electrifying, loved the people of Karachi. It’s good to see them getting out of their homes and having some fun.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 27th, 2011.
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@Nadir, get a life. Millions of Americans protested Iraq and Afghan wars and were labelled unpatriotic and told to get out of America. Being anti-war and hating america is not the same thing.
Isnt this the same band that takes part in anti-US rallies but plays at concerts sponsored by American corporations?