Dubai Shock 2006 (pun intended)

So where do I begin, lets see. Dubai Rock 2006, one of the much awaited events of this year which, by the grace of rain, had been post-poned 3 times already. Anyways, the gig finally stuck to one date which was last nite. It kickstarted off 2.5 hours late which isnt a surprise when it comes to gig organized by a paki company in dubai, when will they ever learn to be on time. The first one on stage was Kailash Kher, talk about kickass performances, all the spot lights were out when Kailasa (his band) came on stage and began with "mangala mangala", the chants were mesmerising enough to send goosebumps down anyones back, followed by teri deewane and tauba tauba and a cover of sanu ek pal chain by Nusrat Fateh. Upnext was Lahori rockers, Call, who gathered a pretty decent crowd of their own, though the idiotic sound guys couldnt do justice to the band. Then came up Atif Aslam, who pretty much everyone was there to see, the guy didnt seem to have any issues with the sound and proved to be the best performer for the night. Noori followed, I guess its tru when they said that the loss of gumby cannot go un-noticed, it was the first time i saw noori since the drummer left, major change, and i wasnt surprised that they didnt play kuttay in the regular tempo that they have on the record.Noor was doin his swaying on stage which frankly, wasnt a good idea cuz it gave people a reason to suspect his gender issue. Rabbi came on stage next, and i guess it was obvious when people were discussing the difference in the sound qaulity for the indians and pakis, that the indians know how to check theor sound properly. Finally the lats act was Ali Azmat, who to be honest bought back some great memories when he sang the junoon stuff,Neend ati nahi, tara jala and more. I was glad he sang Mein Challa from the solo album, good to hear that.
And finally, as for the local talent Streben, who were "supposed" and "promised" to play last.....(Ive got an evil grin on my face right now)....never got a chance to even sing a single word, due to time constraint. The evil smile is cuz this band and i share a history of bad times, lets just say they tried to make my music life a living hell once upon a time, and their manager has attempted to stab in the front so many times. Thats what happens when these new kids get their ego boosted to the wrong level. khair, at the end of the nite, It was completely worth it to see Kailash Kher and Ali Azmat.
On the lighter side, im supposed to be travellin soon to K-city, so i gotta get some rest ppl. see youi on the other side.

Foo.