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A large desi population calls Australia its home as it is fast becoming the immigration hub for Asians, especially Pakistanis. But even with such a large community, the country hadn’t witnessed a single live Pakistani pop-rock act… until now.
Atif Aslam just returned from a successful tour of Australia and New Zealand. And no wonder, for the singer is known to represent Pakistan by holding concerts in far-off places such as West Indies, etc.
Images on Sunday approached him for an exclusive tete-tete regarding his tour which he dubbed as “a major hit with the multi-ethnic crowds.” During the tour, his Facebook page also registered the highest daily growth rate for three consecutive days. Q. How was your tour of Australia?
A. We had one of the biggest Asian concerts in Australia. Initially, we were supposed to go directly to Australia but instead we first stopped at Oakland, New Zealand. It was amazing; very insightful, very green and the venue was packed. I wasn’t expecting such a huge desi community and response in New Zealand.
Afterwards, we flew down to Sydney, Australia, where we had performances lined back-to-back — Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Sydney was amazing. I was lowered from a rope onto the stage, something I’d never done before and the stunt added a lot of value to the show. At first, the security wouldn’t let the audience stand up until I invited them to come in front — it became a real rock concert then. The next day, we flew down to Perth on a four-hour flight and our organiser took us on a tour even though we were running low on rest.
The show in Perth made me realise that people notice the minutest things about me — right down to my sandals. We took a few days off to tour Sydney before flying to Melbourne, the desi capital of Australia. Unexpectedly, the performance was in a club that was packed solid.
All in all, the 8-9 days’ tour was amazing, the autograph and backstage sessions were very exciting. The people enjoyed the shows so much that many who’d already attended the show in Oakland also came to my gig in Melbourne. Q. How is your fan following is Australia?
A. Great. I came across many locals along with Afghanis in the crowd. When I asked them if they understood the lyrics, they told me they’d heard their Indian or Pakistani friends play my songs and they loved them.
Q. Did your fans recognise you for your Indian or Pakistani music?
A. It all depends on who introduced them to my music. If it’s the Indians, then they probably know Doorie and my other Bollywood songs. If it’s Pakistanis, they probably know more of Coke Studio and my debut album.
Q. What songs did you play at the shows? Was there a pattern or did you go by something special for each gig?
A. The set lists for each show were almost the same, give or take a couple of songs. Doorie, Aadat, Kinara (a new rendition), Lamhein made it to almost all the lists. Inteha Hogaye and Gulabi Aankhein were the additional covers I tried out.
Q. Did you meet any Australian music artistes?
A. No, unfortunately I don’t know any Australian artistes at all. While I was shopping in Sydney, I did hear very good R&B music which sounded fascinating. The highlight of the tour was that I got to see the band 2wo, Ramstein, Iggy Pop and Deftones live in an audience of 25,000 where I was in the front row. Q. Your Facebook page was ranked for the highest daily growth rate for three days. Is it true?
A. Yes, that is correct. While I was on tour, my official Facebook page (Atif Aslam Official Page || AADEEZ) became the No.1 page in the world for the highest daily growth rate for three days. The Facebook officials contacted me and asked me for my autographed photo to be put up in their office.
