Every once in a really long while, New Delhi hosts a concert by an international rock band. Yesterday, I happened to catch Pakistani rock band 'Strings' perform at the SAARC Cultural Festival being held at Central Park above the Connaught Place Metro Station. This music festival being held from November 30th to December 2nd includes performances from musical groups from SAARC group countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Maldives as well as a few bands from around India.I reached the venue while 'Soulmate', a blues band from Shillong was playing. They were quite good but we were all waiting for Strings to come on. Idiot Mtv VJ Nikhil came on stage and blabbed some crap about having to go to the bathroom before introducing Strings.
Strings from Pakistan were simply fantastic. They were just as good as other international acts whom I have witnessed performing live such as Bryan Adams, No Doubt and Jon Bon Jovi . Plus, they were really singing... not lip syncing to avoid 'technical problems'. They sang all their hits such as Duur, Zinda (OST Zinda), Najane Kyon (OST Spiderman 2), Anjaane, Sar Kiye Yeh Pahar (from the 90's), Lori and Hamare Hindustan. Strings also sang other popular hits that truly got the crowd going like Mast Kalandar, Om Shanti Om, Yeh Dosti (OST Sholay), Saare Jahan Se Accha (tune only), Koi Kahe (OST Dil Chahta Hain) and Aa Dekhe Zara Kisme Kitna Hain Dum.The best thing about Strings was the way they encouraged crowd participation. Since this was a free concert, many regular Delhites reared on Punjabi folk music with no idea about rock shows turned up. By the end of the two hour concert, everyone was grooving around with smiles on their faces.
Groups such as Indian Ocean and Shankar Ehsaan Loy will be performing on the other days. I have heard them before and they were nowhere as good. Plus, they usually stick to playing self compositions that no one has heard before.....boring. With the number of hits they have had in India, Strings will really be a tough act to follow!!
Anyone ever watched Pakistani rock group Strings perform live?
they look very cool!!
ReplyDeletedid u understand urdu?
Strings is one of best band of pakistan. They have got sufi touch in their music. I always like to hear the music of Strings
ReplyDeletenope, havent, but this is a very good review.
ReplyDeleteThanx for ur comments.
ReplyDeleteNiki - Yes I do. Urdu is just Hindi written in a different script.
Prashant - Strings is actually the best band on the Indian subcontinent. Can't think of anyone better!
How do we know - you now have something great to look forward to.
The only issue I had with the Strings concert is the fact that they encouraged the crowd to jump up and down - this was extremely dangerous and could have lead to a nasty accident if the floor/ceiling of the metro station below had collapsed.(soldiers break step while marching over bridges to avoid such vibrations that lead to accidents)
Lucky you yaar! I couldn't go :(
ReplyDeleteI like the track they did for the movie Shootout at Lokhandwala!
ReplyDeleteEr...BTW, Hindi and Urdu, I dare say, are different languages, even though these are quite similar, since Urdu came into being as a mixture of Hindi with Arabic and Persian.
Strings do incorporate a lot of Hindi words in their lyrics, rather than Urdu words that mean the same, I would say.
:)
I've watched Strings at a Salman Khan show in Dubai. This was 4 years ago. They were sort of okay. Personally, I prefer our Hindi Film songs with Salman, Govinda, S.K. jiggling to them. Tee! Hee!
ReplyDeleteHey Cyberkitty.
ReplyDeleteStrings is an awesome band.
BTW, 'Sarki hai yeh pahar' is one of my fav songs.
Cheers,
Rosh