The net is abuzz with queries and comments on Ali Noor and his band noori. Ali Azmat has sung on their
tracks Ooncha and 1947
making them noori the only Pakistani
band whose tracks feature the Junoon frontman outside of Junoon. Those
in-the-know all want a piece of them. Yet, to the common listening public they
remain an unknown quantity. This, however, is now slowly but surely changing.
Only recently Ali Noor has
tested the waters with a solo single Manwa Re. He never
released the single commercially, choosing instead to hold onto it for the
upcoming noori album. (A rough version of the
song is however available at noori's web page
at http://www.noori.homestead.com/main.html.) Nevertheless, the song which can
only be otherwise heard in its video form on television, has been in heavy
rotation on Indus Vision, etc. and
recently went to number one in its charts. The quality of the song is such that
it with its memorable melody, and lyrics and tasteful, understated video alone
makes the noori album one of the most
anticipated albums this year.
So, when, in addition to all this
buzz, a low key by-invite only noori concert
was announced by Aptech in Lahore, the music circles
came alive with anticipation and there was a rush for the invites.
Held at Hall no. 2 of the Alhamra Art Centre on the Mall, the concert was a must-attend event. The crowd demographic on the night was a fascinating mix: the trendy LUMS crowd (which knows his music and has given Ali Noor huge support throughout his varied career) and the general masses which know him only from the atypical noori song, Manwa Re, all oured in and very early on the hall was filled to capacity with people practically squeezing into the aisles to catch the band.
Sadly, though the night opened disappointingly as we
found out that Aptech was more or less using the
program as a promotional event for their institute and in fact had a boring and
pointless presentation before noori came
onstage (if the teaching standard is as bad as the presentation on the night, Aptech is in serious trouble). An opening act featuring a
female vocalist who for her own sake shall remain nameless, also came on that
night but after a few songs was well and truly booed off stage by restless noori fans.
And then the wait was over. noori was on. The core of the band
comprises of a trio of Ali Noor (formerly of Coven),
Mohammad Ali Jafri (also formerly of Coven) on
bass and Salman Albert (formerly of Eastern Boys and
Entity) on drums. However, for performance, on the night, the
group grew to six with Farhan Albert (Salman’s brother) being added on Keyboards and Additional
Vocals, Raakay on backing vocals and Edris Khan on second guitar.
Their first song Mainn was a clear announcement of
intent, a song with a message (as are all other noori
songs). Main, the song is based around an infuriaratingly
catchy synth riff and is high energy and uplifting
being miles apart from the mellow sounds of Manwa
Re. The LUMS crow instantly loved it, the others
were somewhat resistant to it: This was not what they were expecting. However
such was the energy to the song that by the song’s end most were converted and
moving to the beat.
By the time, the band launched into Suno Kai Main Hoon Jawan all resistance has
subsided. The song opens with a call to arms, with Ali Noor
sneering into the mic: 'Suno
Ko Main Hoon Jawaaaaan...'. With populist slogans like ‘Khulla hai sara aasman/ Undar Tarapti Bijli’
littered throughout the song, Suno has
all the makings of a youth anthem. This was amply demonstrated by the youths
dancing in the aisles. The song also demonstrated that tightness of the band
and how well-rehearsed they were: the song has several Stop and go parts and
the band easily nailed them.
Khalla was next and is a graphic song (with an equally graphic and disturbing
video which true to noori's
record was banned on TV [Manwa Re was also banned from PTV for
including scenes of Hira Mandi in
it]). In the video version of the song, the song has a spare drums and bass
groove, which musically seems to signify that its message: the space or Khalla that seems to grown up between people.
In its electrified live incarnation, it sounded dense and menacing. Salman Albert's drums took center stage and showed why he
is one of the most in-demand drummer in Lahore.
Ooncha (on record featuring Ali Azmat) is an
achingly tender ballad with a subversively uplifting chorus. For most part it
is soft and is underpinned by the throbbing bassline
and little else, narrating the life of an man striving
to be ‘Ooncha’ in this world. Its catchy chorus however is completely singalong but each of its line is a slap in the face of the
Ooncha class. ‘Ooonchai
hain log / oonchai makan/ magar / nicha hai dil
/ nicha iman / aur us par oonchi yeh shaaaaan.’
If there is a number, I did not like, it has to be Jaana tha Hum Nain. The crowds seemed moved by it, particularly the
jungle intro that made Salman Albert an instant hit ; however I was not so moved. The song
is much too similar in content and feel to other noori numbers (Gana no. 1 perhaps) and, in my opinion, is
not all that good.
Saari Raat
Jaaga which followed it up,
however is downright excellent. It is an atmospheric number to be featured on
the soundtrack of Aks Kada, an
upcoming local television horror-plays production. Ali Noor's
vocals comprised more of gutteral growls than singing
and in the context of the song it worked really well. One could only make out
certain lyrics which pointedly indicated that if there ever was a political
song written addressed to the apolitical, this is one. With lyrics like 'Teray Ghar ko Aag Lag Jayae / Aur tujhai
Jaag na Aayae....'
it is a call to arms to all those sleeping through Pakistan's various and
varied political crises.
Manwa Re remained the song everyone
was there to hear. So Ali Noor did not announce it.
Rather, he played coy with the crowd, and finally left it up to the crowd to
figure out which song he had launched into. As recognition dawned on the crowd,
the roar they let out was massive. All sang along. In fact there was a moment
in the song when Ali Noor stopped singing it and the
crowd sang it back to him note-perfect.
The night closed with Gana No. 1, a song which has, it is
said, been so named because the band believes it was an instant number one. It
was an excellent closer with a massively catchy singalong
ending on Oasis-like proportions. The song was unfamiliar to all, yet everyone
was singing along on its lalalalla outro.
And with that the festivities for the night were
over. The crowd milled around asking for more, but there were no encores.
Overall, it was a remarkable night’s work by noori. The songs presented were spectacular, the
presentation even more so. Lighting was handled by Ali Hamza
(Ali Noor’s brother) and it was simply brilliant,
changing with almost every other song. The mellower songs had suitably mellow lighting, the explosive ones had a lot of strobe and glaring
lights. Noori not only plays with the audio
dynamics, but also with the video. It was nice to notice that the band was
shooting the concert with a number of video cameras. A most professional outfit
overall.
As for individual performances, the core of the
group was stunning. Ali Noor is well and truly the
focus of the band and the livewire off of whom everyone seems to feed off. The
songs suit him. This was the most relaxed I have ever seen him on stage and he
exudes a sense of joy in performance that is rather rare among singers. His
rapport with the audience was fun at most times. Sometimes thought it was not
and betrayed a sense of nerveousness on Ali Noor's part. Mohammad Ali's throbbing bass formed the
bridge that links Noor's lead guitar to Salman Albert's drumming. He is, it seems, the John Enstwhile (of 'The Who') of noori,
the calm center with all action around him. Salman
Albert on the night’s evidence is good enough to give Gumby a run for the title
of best drummer in Lahore.
One critical observation though needs to be made:
While the sheer abandon with which Ali Noor threw
himself into the performance was commendable, since he did not pace himself, by
the end of concert his voice was well and truly shredded. It affected his
performance at moments and he seemed to miss certain notes in songs. Something for Ali Noor to keep in mind
for the future.
In conclusion, the performance on the night was superlative
and the way the songs on their first viewing engaged that crowd, makes one
feel that noori's album remains an album
worth looking forward to. When it shall be released is anybody’s guess (all
Ali Noor would cryptically say is that it is titled
IDCB.) In the meanwhile, noori fans will just
have to make do with live performances, which Noori informs me there are going
to be many.