Coke Studio Gigs, The Popular music platform taking the nation by storm, showcased upcoming musical acts for 2015 yesterday at the Commune Artist Colony.
The line-up, very prominent in the show’s seventh season, featured Asrar, Jimmy Khan and Sara Haider.
Coke Studio Gigs was touted as a star studded event and genuine fans were part of the show. The diversity of the crowd was complemented by the artists performing and for this credit goes to the PR team at Lotus for managing the event seamlessly.
The first to perform was Asrar, who recounted his musical journey thus far. He acknowledged that for all musicians the aim tended to be the same and so were the ups and downs they faced. He gave rich accolades to his classical music teacher, ‘Ustad Sultan Ahmed Khan’.
His performances, especially of ‘Sab Akho Ali Ali’ which has been hailed by many as the defining song of the seventh season, set the tone for the rest of the evening.
Sara Haider, also a backup singer in the show’s seventh season, performed well. A self-taught musician who started performing at a young age for an underground band, Sara reminisced about her first tasting of Coke Studio and how she never imagined performing among her role models.
Starting with the popular ‘Meine rona chhor diya’, a signature of Zeb and Haniya, Sara’s vocals were strong enough to make the song her own. Her rendition of ‘I still haven’t found what i’m looking for’ by U2 was also well pulled off.
Jimmy Khan, who not only has performed on the show this season, but returned for the second time to Coke Studio Gigs, was the most appreciated of the lineup. His song ‘Pehla pyar’ has been widely appreciated for its splendid vocals, and his live performance took the song further with his band mates providing rich background music.
Coke Studio Gigs was launched in 2013 when events were held in such major cities as Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad to highlight the “talent of Pakistani musicians”.
Over the year it became popular at different universities throughout the country and eventually it became a medium to “reinvent the art of live music” by Pakistan’s emerging talent. The next session is likely to be held at the end of this year.
