No justification for being ‘Badnaam’

The string band Badnaam – runners-up in the recently held Pepsi Battle of the Bands – performed at the Karachi Youth Festival ongoing at the Arts Council on Wednesday, enthralling an audience that comprised an overwhelming number of children and teenagers with their powerful vocal numbers.

While they are named Badnaam (ill-reputed), one could not detect any element of ‘badnaami’ therein as their renditions were absolutely fine, even though a wee bit noisy.

They really seemed to captivate their young audiences. Their first rendition was a classical vocal number to the beat of the noise of the drums, with the drummer frantically pounding away at the spherical contraption, and the loud volume of the acoustic guitars.

As far as the vocal talent of the group’s members was concerned, nothing was left to be desired. Their voices produced a really profound and melodious effect. The coordination between them was absolutely accurate. They really seemed to have elicited the appreciation of the young audience to the fullest.

An overwhelming portion of the audiences were over-12s and children in their early teens, schoolchildren who were accompanied by their teachers, presumably. Similarly, the second number was a devotional piece. One could easily detect the element of entrancement and it was beautifully rendered.

The third piece was a qawwali, titled ‘Sochta Hoon’. It was perfectly rendered and the children could be seen heartily clapping to the beat of the numbers, rocking and swaying with an occasional scream in appreciation.

Badnaam’s presentation was preceded by vocal numbers by children and teenagers. All the participants displayed lots of promise and even the youngest among the vocalists seemed to have mastered the art of control over their vocal cords and their cadences.

In short, it was an ideal display of the oozing musical talent that lies hidden in our city and is waiting to be tapped. The Arts Council seems to have rendered real yeoman’s service to the discovery and grooming of talent.