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The sound of the underground
Co-Ven enthralled a party of musicians, models and high profile fans - all gathered at the Basement
Cafe for a vital dose of rock.

By Maheen Sabeeh

 
Basement Cafe rocks. Quite literally, as every other week the underground cafe pulsates with groundbreaking sounds, rumbling out to the streets overhead. Sometimes, it's in the form of a DJ night and at others, gigs that feature relatively new bands coming into the music scene.

Recently, Rola (the venture of Uns Mufti) organized a gig of the Lahore-based band Co-Ven at the Basement Cafe and gave Karachiites their first formal introduction to this incredibly talented band. But this wasn't an ordinary concert by any means. It was a night that musicians, models and celebrities came to show their support to this young band. And it was a night when music was served, shaken not stirred, with the chatter of old friends and the hum of Co-Ven's music...
 
Ali Azmat, Zeeshan Parwez, Fasi Zaka, Fariha and Shariq Chapra, Mohammed Ali Jafri VJs Natasha, Dino and Anoushey, Munib Nawaz, Ayesha Toor, models Rubya Chaudry, Nadir Feroze Khan and Taimur Khan and Joey (Yousuf Paracha)...the list of music's who's who streaming in that night was endless. Uns Mufti was acting as the perfect host for the evening, pushing others to go forward to catch the band as soon as they came on, greeting guests and taking care of the sound. After all, the Basement isn't an ideal concert venue and fitting drums in that compact lounge-like area was not an easy task. But they pulled it off superbly.

Soon, Co-Ven comprising of Hamza Ali Jafri (vocals, lead guitars), Sikander Mufti (drums), Sameer Ahmed (of Mekaal Hasan Band fame on bass) and Omran Shafiq (of Mauj on guitars) began their jam session. Laughter and appreciation seeped through the air, as people moved around from one end to the other, humming, shaking their heads or simply lounging out and watching the guys play.
 

As a band, Co-Ven is indeed impressive. They began with a series of instrumentals that were not only a lot of fun but gelled well with the ambience of the night. Sameer Ahmed was subtle with bass; Sikander Mufti held the fort for drums superbly, Omran provided full support to both of them and vocalist Hamza Jafri seriously impressed with his husky vocals. It was a welcome sight to see Co-Ven on acoustic guitars as opposed to electric ones that are all the rage. Co-Ven's music is eclectic, it's moody yet fun and mostly it's melodic. When Co-Ven launched into 'Sailing Fast', most people there were singing along. This is a band that was facing some of the most talented musicians around – Zeeshan Parwez, Rola man Uns Mufti, old veteran Ali Azmat among others – but they did not lose their temperament. They played track after track, showing versatility on instruments, emotions in vocals, synergy as a band and the result was people stayed on, watching and mingling all the way.

These events are very important for the growth of the scene. Big concerts cater to masses but they don't make for the best place for musicians to hang out and experience the scene in a new city, such as was the case of Co-Ven.

All in all, Co-Ven proved to the selected invitees that even though they maybe an English language band, they know their music well. The fact that the right people showed up was a leap of faith, one that will encourage this band to go forward. And that is not a bad way to start off in the industry at all.
Kudos to Shahbaz Sumar and Uns Mufti for putting together this event. One hopes to see more of these gigs in the future!