The Karachiites were treated to a masterful display of Sufi, pop, fusion, film and semi-classical music by that accomplished Indian vocalist Kailash Kher and his band Kailasa at a concert organised by the Medical Aid Foundation on April 14.
They were entertained for 90 minutes of pure and passionate music. They swayed to lilting melodies and head-banged to thumping tabla and drum beats all along and the agony of the delayed start to the programme was forgotten as soon as it got underway.
His band members helped him in making the evening memorable with rollicking performance and they included Paresh Kamath (lead guitar), Naresh Kamath (bass guitar), Kurt Peters (drums), Sankit Nayek (percussions), Jose Gomes (violin, acoustic guitar, saxophone), Samir Chiplunkar (keyboards), Tapas Roy (mandolin, saz) and Jovian Soans (sound engineer). They played brilliantly throughout, complementing the powerful vocals of the singer in equal measure.
Kailash Kher kicked off the concert with a Sufi number, Jogi, which immediately set the tone for the rest of the gig. After finishing the song he chitchatted with the audience in his typical mischievous style, explaining to them how the band had been visiting different parts of the world, and that they did not even know what time zone Karachi was in.
This led to him singing Aao ji, a kind of celebratory piece, and used his tremendous skills (difficult murkian and taans) to let the audience know what he was capable of.
The third song, Main to tere pyar mein, brought the concert, from the regular listeners’ perspective into familiar territory adding more zest to it with Toba toba teri soorat and Piya ke rung rung de ni.
By that time Kailash Kher had understood the mood and temperament of the crowd. The tribute to the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in the form of Tere bin naee lagda had even the younger members of the audience appreciate the singer’s art.
But when he presented his famous Deewani, a majority present at the venue sang with him. Kailash Kher pleasantly surprised everybody with the well-known film ditty Kaisey bataen kion tujh ko chahein and performed it with the correct feel. He then invited a few girls on stage to dance with him to the song Joban chhalke in which he explained he had used many dialects spoken in India. Five girls obliged and added visual treat to the auditory delight.
The three songs that followed were Tere naal dhol, Nusrat Fateh Ali’s Sanu ik pal and Maan from a film. He also performed Rangeeley from the band’s new album, as well as Tu kia jaane and Ginn ginn taare.
Befittingly it was the last few songs which took the concert to its worthy climax. The famous Sayyan consolidated the vocalist’s class, but when he sang Bum lehri, it bedazzled the crowd its pounding beat and peculiar lyrics.
The last two numbers, Allah ke bande and Chak de from the film Khosla Ka Ghonsla, proved the icing on the cake, as those who stayed till the end danced their hearts out to the two songs.
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