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A night of joy for the
Junoonis
Junoon proved there were the best of the 'made in Pakistan' brands where they
topped an evening of talent from that country at the UK's most prestigious venue
London's royal albert hall.
It was a one night showcase of Pakistani talent and the crowd gave Junoon the
verdict. the trio - Salman Ahmed, Ali Azmat and Brian O Connell simply took
everyone by storm with their music. I was cheering there with the rest but also
got backstage to congratulate them personally.
Ali said he had loved the evening. "its great to see some of the best Pakistani
musicians and singers playing under one roof. But the best thing about the
concert was the crowd and the appreciation they showed not just for our music
but for everybody. without the crowds and our dedicated fans this concert
wouldn't have been."
Junoon fist got together in 1990 when Salman broke away from Vital Signs and
teamed up with Ali and Nusrat Hussain (also ex Vital Signs). Later Nusrat was
replaced by Salman's old friend Brian O' Connell. They became Pakistan's leading
act and is probably the only band from Pakistan to have a large following
outside of the country. With music influences like Queen, Led Zeppelin, Santana
and Robert Plant and inspiration from the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, their
passion seems to keep on increasing.
They have managed to rock the Indian charts with their hit ‘Sayonee’, quite an
achievement for a Pakistani band. Earliar in the year they decided to record a
song for Pakistani cricket fans called “Maza Zindagi ka” before the World cup
cricket tournament started.
The band also worked hard in voicing their opposition to the recent war on Iraq.
They held protest concerts in Pakistan to raise money for a Pakistani welfare
organisation called Al-Shifa trust which will send money to Iraq’s children.
Salman said “We aren’t against the U.K or the U.S, we were just against this war
in which thousands of innocent civilians, including young children have been
killed. We have always been against wars. They are not the answer to any
problems, but just create more problems in the future.
As a band we have a duty to our fans and to the people of Pakistan to work
towards peace, bringing cultures together through our music. For example after
September 11th we did a song called ‘No More’ dedicated to the victims at the
World Trade Center. We wanted to show people that we want peace and not
terrorism. Those people involved in the Twin towers attacks were not acting for
Islam and were not acting for the millions of peace loving Muslims around the
world.”
The band are touring the UK and their next concerts will be in Bradford followed
by a gig in West Midlands.
Sabia Ahmad
Greater Manchester Asian News
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