Daily Times

After weeks of an incredible journey, one Pakistan’s biggest music battles have reached to the top four contenders who are eager to claim the title of ‘Pepsi Battle of the Bands’ Season 4 winner. The four finalists competed in two massive one-on-one battles in this episode.

However, the episode began with an exciting surprise. Battle of the Bands’ one of the most fantastic acts which reached the top four in season three, Tamaasha returned to entertain the audience with their latest hit “Paisa Phenk”. They were happy to be back and commended Pepsi on putting their money on the bands who weren’t getting a platform to showcase their talents.

Paisa Phenk is all about that: putting money on and encouraging Pakistani artists. The track made waves on social media in the last few weeks, owing to the band’s electric sound which breaks the walls down. Their performance on this episode was equally electric and started the episode with what was undoubtedly a ‘tamaasha’.

Then it was time for the competition. This week, bands had to perform a mashup, connecting an original and a cover song. Last week’s ‘performer of the day’ winner E-Sharp were given a choice to choose their opponents. They had chosen Aarish. The first battle of the episode, therefore, revolved around the two bands who have had a fascinating journey: E-Sharp always hitting the mark, while Aarish rose through the ranks as an underdog with their hard work.

E-Sharp performed their original ‘Ek Nayi Subah’ fused with ‘Tu Hai Kahan’ by Various Artists, while Aarish answered with their original ‘Muntazir’ and a rendition of Alamgir’s Dekha Na Tha. The jury commended both acts on their performance and pointed out the minor flaws too. However, they said although E-Sharp have consistently showed they are incredible musicians, they had expected the band to blow their minds like they always do. On the other hand, Aarish impressed the jury with their original song more and the impeccable vocals. Both the acts made it difficult for the judges to make a final decision.

The next battle was between Black Hour and Auj. Black Hour fired first with their original “Tanhaiyaan” and a cover of Fringe Benefits’ “Tanhai” and Auj responded with an original “Engraziyan and a mind-blowing hard-rock rendition of Musarrat Nazir’s Punjabi folk classic “Laung gawacha”. The judges found Black Hour’s performance highly energetic and well-executed but pointed out the strained vocals, whereas Meesha Shafi considered Auj’s mashup disconnected thematically, Fawad Khan loved the contrast and understood the band’s motivation and the connected story of the two songs. Faisal Kapadia and Bilal Maqsood even said if they tweaked the lyrics a bit, Auj’s original could easily be a Strings song and they would have loved to have created this song.