You are the music while the music lasts,” said T. S. Eliot. The harder the times, the stronger the struggle for the Pakistani music industry. Despite diminishing or highjacked-by-corporates mainstream platforms, the industry finds a way to fight back. One of those is by this quaint but incredibly enriching (in terms of the sheer diversity of acts and music performed) event in Hyderabad called the Lahooti Melo. There were performances by 18 foreign, 20-30 indigenous and 11-12 mainstream musicians.

There was the main stage where acts would perform after dark. A smaller outdoor stage for the day time was next to another one reserved for panel discussions and talks. The halls inside were reserved for smaller, more intimate performances. The latter were a treat to attend especially if you wanted to listen to the various indigenous Sindhi instruments, such as the tamach by Shakoor Faqir (the only person alive today that knows how to play it) who came all the way from Chachro, Tharparkar.

This was the second edition of the Lahooti Melo — which brings musicians and artists from around the country into one venue for two days of music, creativity and conversation.

The foreign acts included the likes of Nepali musician Roshan Sharma’s ensemble. They performed a fusion of Nepali classical with a bit of jazz here and a rock there.

Roshan Sharma is famous for being the only person in the world that knows how to play the chaturangi — a lap-slide, 24-stringed guitar developed by classical maestro Bhattarcharya. The latter is credited with creating the ‘trinity of guitars’ — the chaturangi, the 14-string gandharvi and the four-string anandi.

The highs and highs from the Lahooti Melo – the first event to kick off the 2017 music festival season

After their performance on stage one spotted Farhan Bogra, the rubab player from Khumariyaan, crouched over the chaturangi in the backstage area, fascinated by how this curious-looking instrument made music. His band was also one of the main acts performing on the closing night of the festival. A purely instrumental act focused on fusing indigenous northern Pakistani and Central Asian rhythms with the rubab, djembe and guitars, they had the audience delightfully worked up with their rendition of their original song Bela, followed by an extended performance of another original, Tamasha. Although there were some whispered requests that the band perform their cover of the Game of Thrones soundtrack (currently in the top 10 Patari music charts) that didn’t happen. The band was under the impression they would be performing for far longer but due to delays, had to shorten their stay on stage.

American band Dallas also performed. The lead singer Dallas Brown (after whom the band is named) kicked off the performance with a cover of Eminem’s Love the way you lie, which turned out to be quite popular with audiences. That was the only song one picked up, she presumably performed her own original numbers afterwards. It was her and her bandmates’ energy and apparent joy at performing on the stage that one found particularly appealing.

No stranger to Pakistani audiences, Hungarian singer Katalin Burns also performed a few songs — although one couldn’t comprehend what she was singing. One was told she would be singing in both Urdu and Sindhi. Although her performance was quite mellow compared to Dallas, she still managed to elicit a positive response from the audience.

One spotted Arieb Azhar, long-time musical patron of the event and friend of organiser Saif Samejo, at the venue as well. He performed as well as engaged in panel discussions. Zoe Viccaji also returned to the Lahooti stage — for both day and night performances. She collaborated with Karachi-based Chitrali musician Irfan Ali Taj on two songs that they have worked on together: Dunya Ju Baso and Ashiqi Angar. Staying true to his roots, Irfan Ali Taj’s compositions include traditional Chitrali music and the latter song is also in the Khowar language as well. There’s something beautiful about being able to listen to northern music down south.

Last year dancer Sohai Abro and her troupe performed. This year choreographer and dancer Josh took to the stage with her’s. The entire ensemble was dressed in traditional colourful, Tharri lengha-cholis and shalwar-kameez. Where most of her performance was on remixed versions of more traditional songs, one part of her act was focused on interpretive dance.

One of the louder performances was by Faraz Anwar, who couldn’t perform the first day but brought the house down on the second, starting his performance with Kitni Sadiyaan. Faraz Anwar has always had a strong and loyal following and he made his presence felt on stage and in the crowd that evening.

The festival concluded with a powerhouse performance by Mai Dhai. What one finds interesting is that off the stage, Mai has a very demure, almost inconspicuous presence. But put her on stage and hand her a microphone and her voice rings loud and clear and goes far. She may have been preceded by a few rock acts, but she held her own with just as much, if not more, energy as them. Mai Dhai has just released a song called Kesaria with another uber-talented vocalist, Natasha Baig (of Cornetto Music Icons and Sounds of Kolachi fame). Mai Dhai’s performance was an apt end to a festival that celebrates indigenous cultures and diversity among artists.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine January 29th, 2017