Review :
The Corinthian Club was the venue, and the band Junoon; arguably South Asia’s greatest rock band, though the music of Junoon is something that cannot be so easily slotted. The show was to start at six, but it kicked off at seven with Strange Brew opening the proceedings with StormBringer and later ripping into Burn and their originals Free World and No Time. Sweet Child of Mine with Sanjeev on vocals wound things up and the sparse crowd had just got started. The local heavy weights Agni then took stage with three violinists in their ensemble, and proceeded to distort decibel levels with originals from their album “Wind Dance with Fire” and covers of Led Zeppelin, Metallica and Nirvana.
And it was time for Junoon
Junoon exploded onto the Indian musical consciousness in 1997 with the song “Sayonee” from their album "Azadi Azadi"which peaked the charts in the Middle East and South Asia. Here was a band that was not ashamed to sing in a mixture of Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu, with their music drawn from as diverse influences as Led Zeppelin, Punjabi folk and the Sufiyana tradition. Critics have found it difficult to dismiss their music as Sufi rock or Pakistani rock, as they have been able to integrate and hold the diversity together without sacrificing their “Khudi” or Self. For the music lover, all that is irrelevant; all that really matters is the Junoon or Passion that drives their sound.
And what a sound it is! Ali Azmat’s voice is steeped in the sensibility of the Sub Continent, reflecting its ebbs and eddies, its laziness, its warmth and its self-mockery. It also reasonates with mystical undertones and promises the listener the glories of Paradise. Salman Ahmed’s guitar sets the pace, with its’ soaring riffs and unique melodic improvisation with rock steady bass lines from Brian.
Junoon opened their set with “Dama Dum Mast Kalandar” an evergreen Sufi hymn, which had the crowd moving to the rhythms of the Dholak and the drums in tandem. Having warmed up, Ali sang “Taara Jaala”, a soft romantic ballad from their latest album Deewar. “Pappu Yar”, also from the same album, got the full treatment from Salman’s guitar, with a very bluesy opening riff, which was very reminiscent of Jimmy and “Still Loving You”. And then a cover of U2’s hit "With or Without You’, with Salman on vocals, with Ali taking over on the rest of the numbers.
Of course, the crowd was waiting for “Sayonee” which seemed to be the only song that everyone was familiar with and so it was Sayonee time, with Junoon doing the number twice. Junoon has cross over appeal, right from the so called Non Rocking crowd of Auntyjis’and Unclejis’, all of whom were in full attendance, to the traditional bastion of the pony tailed, bandannaed cool rockers.
The difference between the Indian bands and Junoon stood out loud and clear. Playing rock music in India, usually means listening to a lot of American or European bands and then trying to replicate their sound, either with originals or with standards, with a sprinkling of a little tabla here or a little Vedic chant there. All of this, sounds good only to the niche-converted segment, who then nod their heads and say “Coool…man!!”.
The average man on the street would have nothing to do with it. Junoon is proud to make and play music, which reflects their ethos and heritage and is not reluctant to acknowledge U2, Led Zeppelin as well as Iqbal, Ghalib, and Baba Bulle Shah as their musical gurus.
Junoon is the flame that burns, the passion that drives, and the madness which is all art. Rock music generally holds the promise of power and dominance, while Junoon has taken that form and commingled it with the gentler strains of folk, sufiyana and spirituality, that transports the listener into higher states of consciousness and ecstasy.
**Hai Jazba-e-Junoon, tho Himmat na haar! Justuju joh kurreh voh chueh Aasmaan!
If you have the Spirit of Passion, Never give up! The one who Perseveres reaches the Stars
**
PS: Please, please can we have no comperes for the next show???
This evening we had two gentlemen who rather fancied themselves as comperes, going by the huge grins and high fives, that they gave each other at the end of each round of sexist jokes and very limp punch lines. God keep us safe from harm or as the Fugees sang “Too many MC’s not enough mikes, exit the show like I exit the turnpike”.
Doc
The Band:
Ali Azmat: Vocals
Salman Ahmed: Guitars
Brian O’Connell: Bass Guitar
Dholak: Azim Khan
Drums: Allan Smith