Monday, July 04, 2005

Shame Karachi Shame

According to all the advertising, The Bombay Rockers, Fakhir, and Atif were meant to Rock Karachi on the 3rd of July. The hugely publicized event was in the frickin' boondocks, way inside the Steel Mill, and we had been asked to come early to avoid long queues and inconvenience. The concert was to start at 8:30 and end by 11:30 pm. We got there at 8:00, always hopeful, that one day, someone would shock us and begin on time. We were greeted by Mr. Fakhr-e-Alam informing us to eat, drink and piss, before entering the gates as we wouldn't be allowed out, once in. The food hadn't arrived at the time and only some ridiculous energy drink brand was on display. The "gate" was a space that allowed a single individual to squeeze through at a time. After having our passes scanned by fancy bar code scanners and computers, we got through and parked our butts on the grass of the Arabian Sea Country Club.

From 8:00 to 9:30, we were treated to Sony Ericsson advertising pumped out of 50+ speakers. A few RJs from City FM 89 did their damndest to keep the crowd entertained but for fuck's sake, no one had paid 1500 bucks and driven for hours to listen to Talha and Masooma play pre-recorded noise. Meanwhile, the people of Karachi kept arriving in dribs and drabs and there were no signs of the show beginning. The crowd outside kept being assured that the concert wouldn't begin without them. CHARMING. The message here is, don't fucking bother to be punctual, we'll wait for you, even if you're two hours late.

By 11:00 pm, Mr. Junaid Mumtaz's "sufi techno music", (it wasn't music and it wasn't even vaguely spiritual) had numbed our brains to a pulp and we decided to leave. We were then treated to a spectacle at the "gate". The scanners had long been discarded, and there were hundreds of people outside, including families with little children, practically climbing on top of each other, trying to get in. There were no exits and we couldn't get out!!!!!!! It took shmoozing with an Intelligence Officer and 3 guards and 30 minutes to get the hell out of that nightmarish place. There were still hundreds of people pouring in and even more at the Steel Mill entrance about 5 km away from the venue. Thanks to them we left without having heard a single note of music from the performers of Rock Karachi Rock.



Live 8, a musical extravaganza that took place in 10 countries across 4 continents kicked off on the dot of 1:00 pm on the 2nd of July, as announced, in London's Hyde Park with Sir Paul McCartney and U2. Folks, we're just not ready ... for anything.

Posted by BeanZ | Permalink: 8:51 AM |