Sounds of Kolachi’s heartfelt tribute to AR Rahman at Club 432

Picture this. It’s a Saturday evening, the city of lights is at its brightest, traffic on its peak, everyone who’s anyone is out and about, and then there’s me — wandering on the streets of Zamzama in high fashion attire trying to find Club 432, set on treating myself to a night of music filled adventure. After making several rounds, I finally saw a few youngsters going inside a black gate to a basement. Dark dingy basement? What could go wrong? Before I could let myself leap to judgements of scenarios where my organs would end up being listed on OLX, I was finally able to identify the place through some lit up boards. Youngsters made a queue as they identified themselves with the e-ticket of the concert. Jojo, a polite gentlemen, was marking everyone’s entrance with a stamp on their hands. There was a strong whiff of excitement in the air outside, presumably in anticipation of the night ahead.

I made my way down to a dimly lit room with quite a nice homely interior and soft lighting that set just the right atmosphere. A small kiosk on the left was selling sandwiches and cookies. Feeling fidgety, I inquired as to when the concert will begin. “In an hour,” I was told. I’m early? My entire brand was about being fashionably late to things. This was surprising, even for me. But I guess my eagerness for the music event got the best of me. After all, it was an entire night dedicated to a music legend. I’ll wait the entire night if I have to.

Rao Shahwaiz, a Napa graduate and a professional host, took the stage to gather everyone’s attention and started to rile them up, getting us all excited and our energy at an all-time high. Stage smoke filling the air, lights beaming through the crowd, an electric stir going about, the glitzy ensemble of it all. A few people had a drink in their hands, chatting, laughing and taking selfies, all absorbed by the atmosphere. A euphonious voice of Nimra Rafiq drew attention to the right corner as the concert finally began.

The night’s set was by none other than the music group, Sounds of Kolachi. It’s exciting to witness such incredible artists come together under one banner, proclaiming love for music above everything else. “Sounds of Kolachi was made as a collaboration of sounds, rather than musicians,” says Ahsan Bari, who leads the creative group. Art has no boundaries, and in that spirit, the group paid tribute to a highly acclaimed Indian singer, lyricist, musician and composer, Allahrakka Rahman, widely known as A R Rahman.

A band comprising of 19 people is less a band and more of an orchestra. And it truly felt as grandiose as one. From the first song to the last, the group excelled expectations as they entranced the audience with evocative covers of 25 selected songs from A R Rahman’s discography, some truly emotional ones such as Kun Faya Kun, and other more fun and upbeat such as Humma Humma song. One of the background performers, Reham Rafiq, came on the floor and showcased her incredible dance moves over ‘Hamma Hamma’ that had the crowd in a state of appreciative frenzy. My personal favourite was their rendition of Saathiya, which they did absolute justice to.

The event started of energetic and stayed consisted to that spirit, with people standing and swaying to the music for more than an hour, unable to look away for even a second and miss out on the brilliance of it all. As it came to an end, gradually everyone was looking for a space where they could sit and also interact with the singers and encourage them.

The group itself is a talented ensemble of creative individuals and deserve every bit of credit for their continued collaboration on this progressive fusion in the music world. Handling a four person band is difficult enough and most end up breaking apart, let alone managing a 10+ collective of creative folk all seeking to display their individual talents, but the group presented harmony and unparalleled coordination on stage, something they’ve always managed to do. The band released their debut album, Elhaam, all the way back in 2017. And they have been quite active in the Pakistani music scene ever since, even featuring a song on Coke Studio’s 11th season.

An assortment of brilliant artists with varying skills, some of whom I had the pleasure of meeting including Ahsan Bari, who heads the group and handles most of the operations, vocalist Armaan Rahim who has been a disciple of Ustaad Mehmood Ali Khan, singer and guitarist Mustafa Baloch, two incredibly talented sisters, Simal and Sajal Nafees, who have collaborated with several platforms including Coke Studio and Junoon. On Instruments; Ajay Hari, also nicknamed by the group as “the drum machine,” Muzammil Muzi on keyboard, Jermeas on the saxophone, Joshua Amjad on dholak, Gul Muhammad on sarangi as one of Pakistan’s last few active professional sarangi players, and several members on strings including Zeeshan Parwaiz as a bassist and Shahid Rehman as lead guitarist. The event also showcased Nimra Rafiq, Natasha, Mahnoor Sehara and Jenaan Hussain.

Quaid Ahmed is the core member of Sounds of Kolachi whereas Qazi Adil Ahmed is the Director, push arts and SOK executive manager.

Safe to say, assembling and directing such an enormous collaboration can be tricky. But Sounds of Kolachi proves all the naysayers wrong with their consistent efforts and contributions to the Pakistani music scene.