The Soft Image of the Country

By Ali Usman, "Sufi poets celebrated on Mystic Night" - Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan
Saturday, November 22, 2008

Lahore: The Mystic Night at the World Performing Arts Festival “mystified” the audience as they celebrated the tunes of the legendary Sufi poets at the Alhamra Open Air Theatre.

Featuring such legendary figures as Iqbal Bahoo and Sain Zahoor, the star attraction proved to be Abida Parveen, whose charisma captivated the audience from her first to her last song.

The first open air concert to be completely sold out, the night attracted the largest crowd of the festival this year, as people braved the chilly weather to enjoy the warmth of the mystic performances.

Dressed in black with ajrak on her shoulders, Abida was welcomed on stage by thunderous applause from the waiting crowd. Starting with Haiderium Qalandarum Mastum, the singer engaged the audience with her voice immediately. She continued the momentum with her renditions of several ghazals and other mystic kalam. People swayed with the rhythm of her performance and many gave her a standing ovation to show their appreciation for her music.

Requests
The show organisers had taken the varying tastes of their performers into consideration and the stage lighting was changed between each performance to suit the theme of what was being sung. During Abida’s performance, people were encouraged to shout out requests.

Abida did not disappoint, as she took the sur on high notes and then skillfully brought them to the low notes. When she was singing in low notes, a pin-drop silence prevailed and her talent captivated the audience.

The vast majority of the people watching the performance were youths but there were several elderly and middle-aged people present as well. The elderly had brought cushions with them to enjoy the night properly as the stone stairs that served as the seating were very hard and cold.

Show-stopper
Earlier, the organisers had announced that Abida’s performance would be followed by another singer but most of the crowd dispersed after she left the stage and there was no finale.

Omer Khan, a viewer, said that the enthusiasm of the Mystic Night had relieved him of his worries and tensions. He said that the city had rare moments of such scaled cultural activity, adding that such events could really promote the soft image of the country.