On the governor’s rockstar moment
Musicians give Dr Ishratul Ibad’s guitar performance mixed reviews; laud his skills and celebration of the art form
Best thing about the governor’s performance was that he was playing live with the band and didn’t miss a cue or a beat. PHOTOS: PUBLICITY
KARACHI:
As strange as it may sound, Dr Ishratul Ibad’s guitar playing style at the I Am Karachi Youth Festival evoked comparisons with that of legendary guitar player Carlos Santana — head slightly tilted and eyes firmly focused on the guitar as his fingers strum the strings in a calculated manner.
Despite performing alongside a band it was his guitar solo to the famous Bollywood song, ‘Tum Hi Ho’ that managed to create a ruckus on the social media, giving the “cool” status.
Ever since being uploaded online under the title of, “Sindh’s governor wows with mesmerising guitar performance” the video of the statesman performing at the closing ceremony of the festival has gone viral.
The Express Tribune spoke to various stakeholders in the music industry of Pakistan to gather their reactions on the performance and how this brief gig may eventually breathe new life into the industry.
Fuzon’s guitarist, Shallum Xavier, siad that he already knew about his guitar skills from the time he was just a musician and not a governor. “It was great to see him take some time out to put a little show on stage,” he said.
While describing his performance as a welcome change, Xavier said, “The best thing about his performance was that he was playing live with the band and didn’t miss a cue or a beat, which was brilliant. Apart from that it was good to see a government representative on stage, not wearing a fake smile or a sad, tired look but rather engrossed in playing a musical instrument.”
Former vocalist of the rock-group Karavan, Tanseer Dar said that the video had taken him by surprise and hopes that this performance may help clear people’s confusion about music in the country.
“In a country like Pakistan, people think that music is something wrong but I think this performance may go a long way in improving that thought process,” remarked Dar.
His former band-mate, guitarist Asad Ahmed, also seemed to echo this belief, saying that, “Regardless of what political party he belongs to and regardless of what he may stand for, the fact that a governor went up on stage and played the guitar contributes a lot to the positive image of Pakistan. I mean, how often do you hear such stories in Pakistan? Never.”
Unlike others, Ahmed also saw the funny side of this performance, narrating how someone on Facebook had tagged him in the video saying, “Dude! Even you can be a governor now.”
Ahmed was not the only one who shared this sentiment as guitarist Omran ‘Momo’ Shafique also found Governor Ebad’s performance as being “really cool” and was hopeful that it may actually turn out to be a good omen for musicians of the country.
“Something like that is bound to attract attention from all levels in the government towards the music industry. I hope that people in the government start taking notice of our sector (music industry) after that performance,” told Shafique.
Not everyone seemed to be on the same page over the performance. Musician Mekaal Hasan thought that although it was nice to see a politician perform for a change, it was unnecessarily being turned into news.
“So what if Nawaz Sharif plays cricket, so what if Ishratul Ibad played the guitar? This is not the first time a politician has done that. Bill Clinton once played the saxophone. I do commend Ishratul Ibad sahab for playing the guitar and my message to him is, ‘Keep practicing’.”
He added that, “There are more pressing issues at hand right now for the music industry and the government needs to address them. Our musicians need to be recognised by the government.”
But for now, audiences and musicians would be well advised to not read too much into the video and just enjoy it like musician-turned-actor Ali Zafar did, “It was fantastic to see a governor rock the stage with a guitar performance. I am happy because, finally, someone in an influential position had the guts to go on stage and give a real performance” said Zafar.
You can watch a video of the performance here:
Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2015.
As strange as it may sound, Dr Ishratul Ibad’s guitar playing style at the I Am Karachi Youth Festival evoked comparisons with that of legendary guitar player Carlos Santana — head slightly tilted and eyes firmly focused on the guitar as his fingers strum the strings in a calculated manner.
Despite performing alongside a band it was his guitar solo to the famous Bollywood song, ‘Tum Hi Ho’ that managed to create a ruckus on the social media, giving the “cool” status.
Ever since being uploaded online under the title of, “Sindh’s governor wows with mesmerising guitar performance” the video of the statesman performing at the closing ceremony of the festival has gone viral.
The Express Tribune spoke to various stakeholders in the music industry of Pakistan to gather their reactions on the performance and how this brief gig may eventually breathe new life into the industry.
Fuzon’s guitarist, Shallum Xavier, siad that he already knew about his guitar skills from the time he was just a musician and not a governor. “It was great to see him take some time out to put a little show on stage,” he said.
While describing his performance as a welcome change, Xavier said, “The best thing about his performance was that he was playing live with the band and didn’t miss a cue or a beat, which was brilliant. Apart from that it was good to see a government representative on stage, not wearing a fake smile or a sad, tired look but rather engrossed in playing a musical instrument.”
Former vocalist of the rock-group Karavan, Tanseer Dar said that the video had taken him by surprise and hopes that this performance may help clear people’s confusion about music in the country.
“In a country like Pakistan, people think that music is something wrong but I think this performance may go a long way in improving that thought process,” remarked Dar.
Ali Zaafar, Asad Ahmed and Mekaal Hasan
His former band-mate, guitarist Asad Ahmed, also seemed to echo this belief, saying that, “Regardless of what political party he belongs to and regardless of what he may stand for, the fact that a governor went up on stage and played the guitar contributes a lot to the positive image of Pakistan. I mean, how often do you hear such stories in Pakistan? Never.”
Unlike others, Ahmed also saw the funny side of this performance, narrating how someone on Facebook had tagged him in the video saying, “Dude! Even you can be a governor now.”
Ahmed was not the only one who shared this sentiment as guitarist Omran ‘Momo’ Shafique also found Governor Ebad’s performance as being “really cool” and was hopeful that it may actually turn out to be a good omen for musicians of the country.
“Something like that is bound to attract attention from all levels in the government towards the music industry. I hope that people in the government start taking notice of our sector (music industry) after that performance,” told Shafique.
Not everyone seemed to be on the same page over the performance. Musician Mekaal Hasan thought that although it was nice to see a politician perform for a change, it was unnecessarily being turned into news.
“So what if Nawaz Sharif plays cricket, so what if Ishratul Ibad played the guitar? This is not the first time a politician has done that. Bill Clinton once played the saxophone. I do commend Ishratul Ibad sahab for playing the guitar and my message to him is, ‘Keep practicing’.”
He added that, “There are more pressing issues at hand right now for the music industry and the government needs to address them. Our musicians need to be recognised by the government.”
But for now, audiences and musicians would be well advised to not read too much into the video and just enjoy it like musician-turned-actor Ali Zafar did, “It was fantastic to see a governor rock the stage with a guitar performance. I am happy because, finally, someone in an influential position had the guts to go on stage and give a real performance” said Zafar.
You can watch a video of the performance here:
Published in The Express Tribune, March 11th, 2015.