Karachi, August 11, 2018: Independence Day is just around the corner and the whole country is preparing forcelebrating the big day. The situation on the sets of our favourite show, Pepsi Battle of the Bands, is no different as we see this week’s episode opening up to celebrations being held on the show as a tribute to the day our country won in its battle of freedom and survival.
Jasim Haider and The Pindi Boys are seen making their comeback in this episode to the very same stage from where their musical careers got a new dimension last year. Following the spirit of Independence Day celebrations, the band chose to perform the famous national song Tu Hai Kahan, originally sung by Strings in collaboration with Junaid Jamshed and Haroon Rashid, from the album of Strings, Hai koi Hum Jaisa, released in 2003. The big surprise of this performance was to see the vocalists of top 04 bands of this Season joining the stage with the Pindi Boys d to perform the song and the end product is a treat to watch.
Another exciting moment to witness in the episode is when the judges were asked by Ahmed Ali Butt and Ayesha Omar to share their personal favorite national songs. While all of them shared their favorites, Faisal mentioned that Ye Des Humara Hai is his favorite and was asked to sing the song. He is then seen singing the song with much enthusiasm, creating an emotional moment of national spirit.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-fyvZhZyAY]
The third knock-out round started with 21-The Band taking their position as the first performers of the episode on stage. They chose to go with the song Hum Hain Pakistani, originally sung by Vital Signs with their pop sound, which was rendered with the rock vibe by the band for the competition. The rendition didn’t work its magic on the judges as they felt that the tone of the song has been compromised.
Bayaan was next to perform and they chose to sing Yeh Watan Tumhara Hai by Mehdi Hassan in the third knock out round and made the judges immensely proud with their soulful performance. They set the mood with a slow and soothing start and gradually created a powerful anthem by the end of it. The band created an orchestra like feel to the song, with their vocalist Asfar playing acoustic guitar, and their drummer Mansoor doing his magic on Cajun and drums. Fawad Khan complimented the band for intelligently improvising the much-loved national song and making it more relevant to the youth. The band surely made a powerful comeback in this episode after being in the danger zones in the previous knock-out rounds.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeetnXKt-YY]
Xarb band decided to sing Nayyara Noor’s classic song, Watan ki Mitti to impress the judges. While they had tried to give their best performance, the judges were skeptical about it. Bilal Maqsood said that as much as they all love the voice of Qamar, the vocalist, there was something missing in his voice and in this performance of the song that can easily get you emotional. Other judges also had similar opinions about the song arrangement.
Tamaasha, the band that has been receiving consecutive standing ovations from the judges once again gave a powerful performance on stage. They performed their own rock rendition of the iconic national song Is Parcham Kay Saaye Talaywhich was well received by the judges except that this was the first time that they did not receive a standing ovation.
