Daily Times

Pepsi Battle of the Bands – Pakistan Tour is a countrywide band tour featuring the most loved bands from Pepsi Battle of the Bands Season 2 and 3. The program kicked off from Islamabad on November 10, with an impressive band line, featuring Bayaan, Xarb, Tamasha, Déjà vu, and Jasim & The Pindi Boys. With the upcoming events lined up in Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad, and over 10 bands performing for a diverse national audience, the Pepsi Battle of the Bands – Pakistan Tour is ready to set the Pakistani music scene ablaze with fresh, original music to be enjoyed live and unplugged.

Pepsi Battle of the Bands is Pakistan’s biggest music platform for upcoming talent in music. Each year, Pepsi continues to search for music talent from across Pakistan and brings together the top bands to join in an epic musical battle that uncovers a wealth of local talented bands and great music. In 2018 alone, 400 plus bands auditioned for the Season 3 of the reality show. Developing a reputation as the curator of fresh and original music in Pakistan, Pepsi Battle of the Bands holds a credible record in discovering great Pakistani talent over the years. Since its first season, Pepsi Battle of the Bands provided a strong platform to kick start careers for iconic bands like Aaroh, Entity Paradigm, Mekaal Hassan Band, and more recently adding Kashmir, Bayaan, Xarb, and Tamaasha to this ever growing list!

Pepsi Battle of the Bands – Pakistan tour is another step to keeping the audience engaged and inspiring more bands to truly live their music dream.

About the Bands

Bayaan

Bayaan is the latest to join the list of Pepsi Battle of the Bands winners, following Aaroh and Kashmir. Bayaan perfectly embodies the band’s ideology of stating and describing human experiences and emotions and how they are reflected in different situations of life. Bayaan tries not to confine itself to any specific style or genre of music, endeavoring instead to explore a new musical and lyrical direction with every composition. Till now, the band’s music has seen a range of genres including pop, ambient rock, progressive and alternative.

Line Up: Asfar Hussain (Vocals), Haider Abbas (Bass), Shahrukh Aslam (Guitars), Muqueet Shahzad (Guitars), Mansoor Lashari (Drums)

Xarb

Xarb is a Lahore-based five-member rock band whose sound is shaped by many varying influences from classic rock and blues to eastern semi-classical and qawali music. Xarb is driven by an urge to tell stories through their music; stories that reflect the experiences, feelings and ideas of a new generation.

Line Up:Qamar Parvi (Vocals), Saud Anver (Guitars), Mobeen Zahid (Guitars), Shayan Ahmed (Bass), Shahzeb Khan (Drums)

Tamaasha

With fiery tones and a dominating voice, Tamaasha is an Alternative Rock band from Karachi, infused with Funk/Blues. Comprising of Bilal, Zahid, Anas, Ali and Hyder, Tamaasha aims not only to impress their listeners with good music, but also put on a show that no one can ever forget.

Line Up: Zahid Qureshi (Guitars), Hyder Ali (Drums), Anas Lutfi (Guitars), Ali Raza (Bass), Bilal Ahmad (Vocals)

Dejavu

Deja Vu band was formed back in November 2017 in Islamabad and takes influence from Jazz/Blues, Alternative Rock, Soul, Jazz Fusion, Traditional Classical, and Pop Rock. Deja Vu molds known musical influences and by slowing the tempo, accentuating the bass, and emphasising screaming guitar solos full of lyrics expressing mental anguish and macabre fantasies have developed an iconic music style. Deja Vu is a unique band because of their ability to connect and interact with the audience, making them feel like they’re part of the show.

Line Up: Anil (Vocals), Amanat Ali (Drums), Sunny Nasir (Guitars), Asad (Bass), Amir (Percussions)

Jasim & The Pindi Boys

Jasim started as a solo artist but after the brilliant ‘Pindi Boys’ hit from 2014, he formed the very popular and loved Jasim & The Pindi Boys band. The boys proudly represent the flamboyant city of Pindi and its people. This talented bunch is here to impress everyone with their unique sound!

Line Up: Jasim Haider ( Vocals/Guitar) Adeel Haroon (Lead Guitar)Mohsin Zaidi (Bass) Eiman Hussain (Drums)

Published in Daily Times, December 7^th 2018.