  Movers & Shakers - The Typical Karachi Gig By Saphiya Khan Email this article Roadside Romeos, classy chicks, smoke from the mouths of I-m-a-chain-smoker guys, girls clad in trademark crisp white cotton shalwars and duppattas, million kinds of ring tones in an effort just to show offs their new Nokia 8910 (while no one is on the other end of the line), a bit of maa behen ki gaaliyaan, with a sprinkle of head banging and some booty shaking… and you’ve got a Karachi concert. The Bahria gig that took place on the 9th of April was no different. Arranged by the 'Textile Institute of Pakistan’, the concert featured Mizmaar (a.k.a. NOT Mizraab) and Strings. The show started as usual about an hour late, not that I mind as the place was air-conditioned which helped my make-up not get ruined. But the guys sitting behind seemed to mind the delay making loud comments like “Abey buhut hogaya, ab shuru ker" and the likes.
Killing time wasn’t really a problem as I was trying to check out the self proclaimed "hunks" and the one in ten fitted-bell-bottom-clad babes. A concert is the best place to see all sorts of such namoonas. Skinny guys wearing sleeveless shirts or Johnny Bravos with broad chests n muscles dressed in two sizes too small shirts. Who ever they were trying to impress was heavily disappointed to say the least. The wait was definitely worth it as the performance by Mizmaar was pretty darn good. It looked like Danyal Badshah (the vocalist) was high on something.
The crowd enjoyed songs like Saday Nal, Tu Jo Merey and Ghalori. Kashan (the guitarist) seemed to be in top form as well. Charlie, of Mizraab, was on drums that night and Russell offered his fair share of kicks with the bass. The sound was unexpectedly amazing and that was all that the crowd needed. The typical guys gathering in the front of the stage was quite entertaining. Seemed like some of them had 'shake it daddy' playing in their minds.
Shakin booties wasn’t the only thing that caught the eye, the guys head banging were pretty freaky too. Strings made their appearance soon after Mizmaar’s exit and the crowd was in awe. This time even the girls didn't try to restrain themselves and hopped in to dance at the front of the stage. Which was, of course, much to the guys’ delight. The rhythmic claps and one step moves all seemed, well, nice. The wet macho men got some time to catch their breaths and dry their sweats (I am not exactly complaining about the smell but a bit of air freshener would have done some good).
The audience hummed all the songs through out and the ones in front danced their heads off to songs like Chhaye Chhaye and Dhaani. But of course, not all can go so well. After all it is a Karachi concert. Something seemed terribly out of place – it was all too perfect till now. And right then a little fuss was created when the dhakam peel began in the front rows. Our efficient security heroes jumped in and solved the matters by answering swears with swears, pushes with pushes and glares with bigger glares!
The fuss soon ended and the heroes left with the 'sub set hai na? ' Talk about efficiency. Despite a few hiccups the gig was a good one. And those of you who missed it, kind of missed a lot. So watch out for your "not-my-type" bands… they might just be as rocking as the others....and oh, if the guy with the "unf**k the world" t-shirt is reading this, I must say that it was a nice way of grabbing attention... *giggle giggle* 
