Rahat enthralls capacity audience at Leeds Arena

LEEDS: Renowned Qawwali and Bollywood singer Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, the nephew of the late, world-renowned singer Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, performed his greatest hits live at the Leeds Arena to a capacity crowd non-stop for four hours to mark the 20th anniversary of his great uncle.

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and his band enthralled the audience who had bought tickets to watch the hit-singer perform live in the Leeds Arena – the venue where he has performed three times in the last four years to fully packaged audience.

Around 5,000 people were in attendance for the tribute concert of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan as the vocalist sang hits one after anothert, bringing audience to their feet with every new rendition and powerhouse performance.

Audience included mainly South Asians who have developed great fondness for Rahat Fateh Ali Khan who, in a short time, has rose to height of commercial and musical acclaim by giving some of the greatest hits of recent times to Bollywood. He has become a householdname to millions of people who follow Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi music.

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan thanked the audience for coming to listen to him. He said that performing in Britain has been a humbling performance for him and that he has seen a dedicated following in Britain. He told his fans that his tribute concerts were a way of paying homage to his late uncle Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali who is credited for bringing Qawwali music to the world stage.

PME's Salman Ahmed, the promoter of the Rahat Fateh Ali Khan concert tours, told this scribe in an interview that this was Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s third show in Leeds. “Like previously, this was another sold out show. Response to the latest tribute concerts in honour of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan has been amazing and Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is showing the world what’s great about Sufi music, Pakistan and sub-continent. He has emerged as the biggest ambassador of Sufi and Qawwali music and this is reflected in the love showered on him by his fans everywhere he tours. He is promoting everything good about Pakistan at the world stage.”

Salman Ahmed said that people have shown tremendous respect for Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. He said that Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s concert at the Wembleu Stadium will be held on 16th September and “its already a sold out event”.