Ever since the release of their latest album, Boondh, Jal has been traveling around the world for concerts, videos shoots and events. The band recently returned from a booming tour of Canada in which they performed at the biggest Pakistani event held each year in Wonderland, Toronto. "It's the biggest Pakistani event that happens every year, where all the Pakistanis get together to see their favorite artistes live on the stage. We were excited about the fact that Santana, Bryan Adams Led Zeppelin and many others, have performed at the same venue. So the credit goes to the Pakistani organizer who took the stand for Pakistani artists to let them perform at the best venues," said Goher. The line-up also featured another seasoned Pakistani singer, Amanat Ali Khan.
It was the day when over 20,000 Pakistanis assembled to witness what seemed to be a pure rocking extravaganza. Farhan is a real powerhouse performer and this he proved as soon as he kicked off the proceedings with “Woh Lamhey”. Receiving a massive response to the track, Jal launched into another hit, “Aadat”, which got the crowd moving. For “Dil Haray”, Goher took over the microphone as Farhan took a respite to
save energy for the climax.
A live rendition of “Lal Meri Pat” enticed the desis in the crowd to gather near the stage and dance along to the beats. And then was performed the crowd puller, and my personal favourite on the new album, “Main Mast Hoon”. This malangish number was executed to perfection and provided an opportunity for the crowd for serious head banging. However, “Payal” brought the evening to its mellowest point. This poignant and unforgettable ballad touches the softer side of the listener. The highlights of the track are the touching verses, "Kanch key thay saray waday/rishtay ya kachay thay dhagay/dil ke taron ko cher ker/ tum kahan chal diye," that talk about a betrayer beloved. Another crowd-mover came at the end of the gig in the form of “Sajni”.
It was undoubtedly one of Jal's best gigs and talking to MAG post-concert, an excited Farhan said, "It was a great experience performing live and to witness a crowd with such enthusiasm. We saw the attendees going wild on our songs. Although, we were jet-lagged and lacked proper rest but when we went on stage and the way the crowd screamed and cheered for us, the energy was pumped back into us."
When I asked about the difference between performing in Pakistan and in Canada, bassist Shazi eloquently replied, "The crowd is more excited to see Pakistani bands performing in front of them. The biggest difference we saw there was that people were holding Pakistani flags… maybe that was because they are so far away from their homeland. The sound was astounding there, which we hardly ever find in Pakistan."
In the prevailing bleak scenario, where concerts are not organized the way they used to be, how much does Jal think it is affecting the artistes? "That's the question we really wanted to answer. There are lots of Jal fans in Pakistan who want to see us live in concerts. We get a plethora of emails and messages and by and large they are from colleges and universities. But the only reason we don't perform in Pakistan as much as they expect us to is due to the security threats going on all over Pakistan," replied Goher. But according to my analysis, Jal is usually on international tours. Goher immediately defended the statement and said, "What a pity that is for an artist and for their fans in Pakistan, and then people end up saying that Jal is always on international tours. We still did some concerts in Pakistan but most of them got cancelled due to threats. We love to perform in our country because whatever we are today is because of her."
Jal has recently shot a video in India that is expected to air in the coming days. So does it feature a Bollywood star cast? "The only thing we can share at this point is that it's shot at the seventh wonder of the world, the Taj Mahal in Agra. It is for the track called “Main Mast Hoon”," they informed me.
What else have Jal been up to recently? "We recently performed in India and had a great time. We'll be performing in the Oslo Mela in Norway on August 26," they responded, obviously excited about their many international commitments.
