Royal Albert Hall Concert Review
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Royal Albert Hall Concert Review This year "2007" has turned out to be
a very significant year for me as GOD has been very kind to me; first
of all with the success of Doorie and then with the opportunity of
performing in the prestigious Royal Albert Hall, London. I thank all
you Aadeez for all your prayers and support that you have always given
me so now I would like to share these special memories with all of you.
Royal Albert Hall is the most prestigious place in Europe for a
concert. Only legendary artists from around the globe have performed
there and so when the organizers approached us for the event, it surely
made us feel honored and excited that we were going to be apart of such
an important event. The only Pakistani artists that have performed over
there till now have been Late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Sahib and Junoon.
The show was announced in United Kingdom just one month before the
actual date. The show was on 14th April 2007 and the promoters carried
on their promotion campaigns giving the show the publicity it well
deserved. Our First meeting with the promoter, Mr. Razzaq who by
profession is an Immigration lawyer in UK was in Islamabad and we were
surprised to know the sad fact that he is blind. He has not let this
fact cause any kind of hindrance to his professional life and we were
astonished to see the amount of confidence he had, to take up such a
huge responsibility. While Razzaq Bhai's team ( Raj, Koyes, Tanya and
Shakeel) were gearing up for the concert in London, he came all the way
from UK specially to arrange our visas. Razzaq Bhai is surely an
exceptional person with great perception. As the date of the show
approached closer, excitement filled the air but along with that came
certain amount of uncertainties and stress too but till 11th April
which was just three days before the event we didn't have visas, work
permits and airline booking and that was becoming an issue of concern.
On 11th April we went to the UK Embassy. After our interviews we all
came out while Razzaq Bhai and Mobeen had to wait as his passport
arrived later. It was at this time that Razzaq Bhai decided to play a
practical joke with us and he called from inside the Embassy saying
"All of us have got visas except for Atif so please send Atif back
inside so that we could try to get his visa too". We all were very
worried and perplexed wondering how come they refused to issue a visa
for the main vocalist. Having just a day left, we began to wonder if we
would actually be able to make it for the show. As I walked back to the
Embassy from the parking a lot of thoughts rushed through my head but
after about 30 minutes when I came out, I surely had a smile on my
face. All the band members asked me " what happened?" and I said " woh
ander UK Embassy k staff ko autographs chahiye thay and Razzaq Bhai
believed k I will not go back for autographs so he played a practical
joke". It lightened up the atmosphere and everyone burst out into
laughter. Alhumdolillah we got our visas that day, the very next day
got our work permits and proctors too. Now we just had a day to book
our tickets to fly to London. Another roller coaster began when we got
to know that due to the Easter holidays there was tremendous amount of
air traffic and there were no seats available. But luckily and thanks
to our travel agents; they managed to make an indirect connection on
two airline carriers. The schedule was Lahore- Dubai- Zurich- London
and we all were waiting at the airport two hours before our flight but
we still hadn't received our tickets from our travel agents who were
actually suppose to be there before us. Exactly one hour before our
departure Razzaq Bhai and the travel agent arrived with our tickets and
then our journey had begun. We reached Dubai and the flight crew
brought to our knowledge that there was a possibility that our luggage
would not reach London with us as there was a very short margin time
between the two connecting flights. This again was another moment of
anxiety as Sameer and Sarmad had their guitar pedals in the same
luggage which they required while playing in the concert. As we were
again checking-in for our connecting flight, we got the news that our
luggage had arrived safely which was a sense of relief for everyone.
The Swiss airline crew were absolutely hospitable and went out of their
ways to make it a memorable flight for us. We reached London at 12 noon
on the day of the concert and we actually couldn't believe that it all
finally happened. While Shahbaz's and Sheraz's luggage didn't arrive on
time and they dint get a chance to change into a different attire for
the concert but all of us were certainly glad to have reached London on
time. After the long 16 hour flight all of us were totally worn out but
the sight of Royal Albert Hall instantly energized us .Royal Albert
Hall was built in early 20th century and it is complimenting the
traditional London style of the royal building architecture. All the
music legends of the world have performed there including Sting, Elton
John, George Michael, Celine Dion, Micheal Jackson, Shania Twain and so
many more. It surely is an honor for an artist to be able to perform
there. The Hall has also been hosting the world boxing championships
and the Miss World Event also commenced in the same royal ambience. The
Hall has a special chamber which is reserved for the Queen of UK.
Normally on various concerts and shows our crew does a sound check of
just about thirty minutes but for the Royal Albert Hall everyone was
determined to give it their best so when we began our sound check, the
entire crew was absolutely energized and they were enjoying every
moment of it so much that the sound check continued for three hours
without a break. It was an overwhelming experience for me and I enjoyed
it enormously. I also enjoyed the professionalism of the way every
detail in the hall was organized. Right from the lights, to sound
systems and ofcourse the ambience was all perfection at its best. The
hour finally arrived and the show began. It commenced with some dress
show, local dance artists and Juggy D. I had a time slot of ninety
minutes but as usual the fans kept screaming my name and holding
posters with worderful messages right from the beginning itself. As we
watched the show on live monitors back stage it made the entire crew
more anxious and energized to make the concert a memorable one for all.
There were 4500 people in the hall. Allhumdolilah the show was
completely sold out. When they announced my entry on stage there was a
five minutes break and all the lights went off so we could get our
sound plugs in and be all set. Wearing a Samurai outfit that was
specially designed for the event by Shahbaz I went on stage with a huge
explosion of fireworks on the center of stage holding a Samurai sword
in my hand which I eventually kept on the stage when I started
performing. The Samurai sword was sharp and it brutally cut my fingers
during rehearsals. The entire track list was predecided and totally
rehearsed by the entire band members. So finally we had Sarmad on lead
guitar, Mobeen on drums, Sameer on Bass guitars and Sheraz on the
keyboard. Alhumdolillah the crowd gave us a fabulous response and
everyone was dancing with an ecstatic expression. Even the security
guards shook a leg or two. The songs that got the maximum response were
doorie, teray bin, bheegi yaadein, mahiya way soniya and mahi way. I
dedicated "teray bin" to a fan who was holding the banner of "tere
bin". I also jumped into the crowd to make them feel livelier. The
Lighting was complimenting the music beats. The fireworks kept adding
an ardor to the performance. At the end I introduced my band members to
the crowd and the crowd gave them a good round of applause too. After
the concert there was a long autograph session backstage and then we
all went back on stage. This was the most satisfying moment for all of
us that by the grace of Allah we actually performed at the prestigious
hall and having got such an overwhelming response from the crowd. All
of us hugged each other very strongly and it surely was a very
emotional moment. We thanked God, for this success. I still remember
when once some one asked Junoon what was the most proud moment of their
career and Salman replied "when we performed at Royal Albert Hall".
Junoon accomplished it after ten years from the moment they began but
God gave me this opportunity in the fourth year of my career MASHALLAH.
So this truly has been an incredible experience for all of us. Later,
all of us were taken to a "Lahore Restaurant" which reminded us of
home. Finally after forty hours of restlessness, anxiety and the feel
of triumph we had a good sleep. The next morning Sarmad woke us up and
being the ex resident of London for 15 years decided to show us around
town. While having a look around we saw hoardings of the concert which
reminded us of the wonderful audience we had. As the day went on we all
went our ways shopping and exploring the beautiful city. While shopping
in the Blue Water Mall a cute little fan "Sara" gave me a beautiful
twelve string guitar which I will cherish always. The next morning we
received loads of congrats from various parts of the world and emails
about the show. We left for Pakistan the very next morning with some
really beautiful memories of London, particularly the walk in the mid
night while it rained near the river on the empty roads and racing on
the central London streets. Thanks to my Big Brother shahzad for the
wonderful photographs. So you guys enjoy the pics and post your
reviews. http://aadeez.com/gallery/RoyalAlbertHall.asp
We will also be uploading some more pics of behrain tour, royal palm
and services club concert in photogallery section so have fun. Thank
you all Aadeez for your prayers and support. Your very own. Atif. |
| Category: Atif aslam Reviews | Added by: Danoo (2009-07-12)
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