Arriving a little early, my friends and I quickly stuffed ourselves with good ol’ Subway on Zamzama (yes, my Amreeki-ness was kicking in after having biryani and kababs at every mehndi, shaadi, and valima!) and ran back to M-Live Café to grab our seats. Only having heard of the band by word of mouth, I, and I’m sure, many others, stepped into M-Live with loads of anticipation and excitement. The café slowly filled up to the brim where people had to squeeze in wherever they found a place to put a foot or fanny.

Starting of course at the usual M.S.T., M-Live standard time, half hour to an hour late, the Mekaal Hasan Band filed onto the stage while glaring eyes were ready to absorb every bit of the intensity that was building up.

With Mekaal tearing up the lead, Salman Albert rocked the rhythm guitar while Sameer Ahmed thumped the bass with perfection. Kickin’ it off with “Ya Ali”, followed by “Rabba”, for which the video has been directed by Maryam Rehman, and then “Sanwal”, Javed Bashir’s crisp vocals and Mohd. Ahsan Papu’s flabbergasting flute-work left all in a trance. Furthermore, Farhan Albert skillfully worked his fingers across the keyboard while Fahad Khan ripped it up with the pulsating drums.

Mekaal’s piece, “Dreamscape”, was a formidable instrumental performed by only Mekaal, Khan, Ahmed, and the Alberts. Pappu and Bashir took a break also for “Late Moon”, another hypnotic instrumental which is included in the album, Sampooran. “Sajan”, “Waris Shah”, and the title track, “Sampooran” were performed with the return of Pappu and Bashir, who, put together with the rest of the band, blew away the entranced audience with their thriving talent.

As Hasan, Papu, Bashir, Ahmed, Khan, and the Alberts took a grand bow, they were met with roaring cheers, claps, and whistles. The communication between the band-members was evident, with maestro-Mekaal leading the pack. The usual M-Live sound fluctuations here and there went unnoticed as MHB’s eastern and jazz-fused musical mosaics surpassed the expectation levels of many.

And although being clueless as to what MHB had to offer before the concert, I was left astounded and enthralled, to say the least, when their performance came to an end. And I can assure you, the crowd appreciated MHB just as much. Sammy gave MHB ‘do anghootay up’ all the way!

Sampooran-ification to the fullest!