Latest Gig Review

On January 30th, 2004, Falak took the stage at a PSA organised show. A week later, the following review was found...

Its Falak again…by Ali S. Khan, Event Analyst.

The PSA formal presents the raw grunge sound of Falak with a daring line up of heavy rock 'n' roll anthems, a clear challenge to the so called mainstream DJ's present. Falak don't believe in remixing computerised softwares or old school shiny synth 'rock' of the
80's. They took us back, way back to the Floyd days too. The monster
JBL monitors and woofers streamlined some real music tonight before the overly heard
records were scratched.

So what do you call a crazy brown lead guitarist with a checked tweed jacket and shades on at 9pm at a formal dinner concert appearance? No, its not DJ "coolio hype" at all, this guy was holding a real instrument, a real weapon - a tank called 'Jackson'. The teeny bopper cum mature young adult audience had the absolute 'rock' privilege of watching Sid slide through the fretboard, very calm very straight, power muted chords and effects pedals and all.

That is, until Zaid decided to reverberate our membranes through the very skin and bones of his kicks, snares, tombs and cymbals. The meticulous fill ins were a bonus, but guess what wears a 'khaki' blanket and swears in Punjabi? Perhaps the spirit of Lars Ulrich isn't dead yet, after all.

The smoke machine on the right of the stage finally cleared up...and there were slaps, not directed at band members for a change at such events, but on a decidedly angry Yamaha bass. A lawyer by profession, a bouncing human energy bomb and a magician at a 'bassic' level, Shibil accounts for the hit in the central area of the heart. It was dense, it was aggressive, it was powerful and, (surprise surprise!) it was beautifully raw.

There's fusion in the world, and sometimes its 'ok' to mix spaghetti with dal puri. Sometimes its 'more than ok' to have a 'nice guy' type in glasses on black and white keys amongst the bad boys of the re-invented 90's inspired rock, especially when he produces an awe-inspiring blend of raw power and virtuoso arrangements. So which is Raheel? The spaghetti or the dal puri? Either way, he's belting out the most explosive fusion since Molotov cocktails.

'Duriaon kee gehraaion mein tujhay dhoondaa hai' 'Another Brick in the Wall'?
With sweat beading on his forehead and his trademark piercing stare mixed with his eyes clutched shut as he alternates between crooning into the mike and cutting loose like a banshee, you can tell that Ozzy has a brown clone too. With Farid, energy is the religion and fat power chords is the passion, and his riffing tonight was passionate indeed.

Don't think too much about what any of that means. You'll do enough thinking when Falak tears into the English lyriced 'Blood for oil", their proud power punk creation in response to the war in Iraq, and 'Pukaar', a meticulously crafted and lyrically inspiring call to revolution. 'Pukaar' is moody metal epic delivering the punch of a ten ton hammer, before tapering off with a guitar and vocal melody surely written with audiences of lighter swaying arenas in mind.

Despite some minor problems with the sound management tonight, if this show is any indication, then its time for Falak to change the watered down rock of our times. The world is waiting and so is a fanatic audience, clearly bludgeoned into submission tonight, for a band that well deserves to exit the 'cover-song' league. The heads, the brains, the fingers portend a studio invasion, and not a moment too soon. Stay tuned for the venture.