Jokes, rock music and a night to remember with Karavan

They may be in their 40s, but the band members rocked the house at Base Rock Café.

KARACHI:

Karachi went into hibernation on Saturday as violence escalated and parts of the city remained deserted; the much-awaited weekend Karachiites were looking forward to seemed to be ruined. Gigs scheduled to take place at The Second Floor (T2F) cafe were cancelled and chances of a gig that was scheduled to be held by Karavan at the Base Rock Café (BRC), seemed slim. However, as they say, the show must go on. And so it did.

“I was sceptical, initially, but then I realised that the show needs to go on. Surprisingly, people turned up,” said Faisal Malik, owner of BRC. He was happy with his decision to not call off the event as the evening ultimately drew in a house full of Karavan fans.

The band, which recently reunited following an unfortunate break-up, performed without their regular drummer Alan Smith and instead featured Qaiser Zainul Abideen as a session drummer. Before the concert began, Karavan opened the floor with a friendly question and answer session in order to keep the night interactive and casual between them and the audience.

“Our collective ages cross 150 years, if anyone was wondering,” joked Asad Ahmed, the band’s guitarist, before someone could ask how old they are, leaving the audience in fits of laughter. Karavan’s members are all in their 40s and have been in the music scene for nearly 14 years. “With Alan, however, [our collective ages] go a little beyond 200,” Ahmed added, referring to Alan Smith who is in his 50s.

Karavan remains one of the most complete rock bands in the Pakistani music scene regardless of the ages of its band members and their involvement in solo projects. From a bass player as seasoned and versatile as Sameer, to Tanseer Ahmed Dar with his undeniably spot-on vocals, to Ahmed on the guitars who has played with legendary bands such as Vital Signs and Awaz, Karavan is a deadly force to reckon with.

During the live act at BRC, Qaiser showcased his craft and skill set which clearly said one thing — he has improved remarkably and has invested a lot of his time practicing his instrument which reflected in the level of comfort he had developed while playing with a heritage band such as Karavan. Although any hardcore fan of the band would miss Smith’s finesse on the drums, this talented drummer hardly let that show.

The songs that were performed that night were carefully chosen; the playlist consisted of songs which demanded the right amount of head banging and popular number such as Gardish to a more toned down and slow track, Yaadein. This set the perfect mood in a small café where fans were gathered close to the musicians. Other tracks performed were Jhoom Zara Jhoom, Shor, Dil Ki Pyas, Aja Meray Paas Aja, Sirf Ek Bar, Aagay Hi Aagay, Sajni and Beqarar, along with several others.

However, it was not all good news as a 15-minute power outage broke the crescendo of the night of rock, during the most-awaited track, Aagey Hi Aagay. These are the situations which truly depict the mettle of a band or artist and that’s when having a front man like Dar, comes in handy; someone who can improvise and perform impromptu. He cracked some jokes and kept the audience entertained while the power outage issues were resolved.

The night was a success as numerous fans showed up despite the uncertainty in the city and remained patiently seated despite an hour long delay before the gig started. After an hour and a half of a mesmerising live rock act, the audience and musicians left the scene visibly satiated.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2012.          

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