Daily Times

LAHORE: With the crisp winter nights serenading the city, the music fever hit a high note at the Lahore University of Management Sciences where a new round of events and competitions this year brought with it new doses of excitement.

On Monday, a concert was organised for the delegates of the Convention for Aspiring Reporters and Media Anchors (CARMA) by the LUMS Daily Student Society, to unwind after three days of rigorous competitions, putting their journalistic skills to test with competitions like the Shootout, Print Pandemonium and the Voice Box. This included performances by Umar Imtiaz and the widely adored Call the Band. Opening for Call were Bilal Taj and Imtiaz.

The night started with Imtiaz, the up and comer in the music scene, at the cusp of releasing his new album ‘Ishq’, performing his most known tracks including “Tu Na Janay”. As the crowd anxiously waited for the Call, Taj came on stage for some time to perform a range of covers from ‘Coke Studio’ singles to Bollywood dance tracks.

Most significantly, after a long interlude of more than three years following the many episodes of disbanding, Call took the stage with the lead singer Junaid Khan and guitarist Zulfiqar ‘Xulfi’ Jabbar Khan reunited, opening with what is arguably their most beloved track “Pukaar” sending the crowd reminiscing back on the band’s glory days. What followed was a collection of the troupe’s most memorable songs from the past years including “Badal Do Zamana” the T20 World Cup song from 2010 and some random covers like Queen’s “We will rock you”. The young crowd, however continued to chant for the band’s popular single “Laari chooti”. While the band acceded to the crowd’s pleas, it did highlight the unfortunate fact that the band, like many other music groups has been largely absent from the music scene for a long time, which is why a single, which gained popularity with its association with a Bollywood film released nine years ago in 2007, is still the band’s most-requested track. Nevertheless, the band kept the crowd’s energy high, with the dashing Junaid standing at the forefront keeping everyone engaged as he capered to every tune and with his powerful vocals, which left the crowd singing along at the peak of their voice until the last song.

“We were performing after three to four years and it was a delight to see such a warm welcome from Lahori youngsters. The energy was contagious. We will be performing at FAST University next week,” Junaid said, while talking exclusively to Daily Times.

“I performed after two years and felt great at LUMS’ CARMA event. I would like to thank PMR for their support. It always made me feel so amazing to know there are people out there who support me, follow me on social media, watch my videos and listen to my music. I am really thankful to all of them. Performing live charges one up and I felt the energy from the audience making me go crazy. The crowd was great indeed. The audience really takes it to the next level. More projects are lined up, which will be out very soon. I just want my fans to stay tuned as I’ll be needing their love and support,” Imtiaz said, also while talking to Daily Times.

“It was a great show. It’s always a pleasure in front of the audience who want to enjoy a concert experience. Since we have been back as Call, there is a renewed sense of energy that has spurred everyone up to perform with their heart and soul and I feel that’s what connects with the audience too,” Xulfi added.