By Mariam Nihal
Saudi Gazette
Performer? Showman? Or synthetic product of the ‘celebrity’ talent machine that disgorges talentless auto-tuned hopefuls onto TV music shows?
When you go to for a live show, you know what to expect…usually.
In the world of live music, that simple triage will identify the artist as falling into one of the categories, but only musician or performer will be worth the sweat and pain of immersing yourself in the crush of fans of a live performance.
Beyoncé is a performer: John Legend is a musician. Justin Timberlake is a performer: Ed Sheeran, a musician.
You get the drill.
So just when you get comfortable with that notion, here comes someone to blow it out of the water.
It walks on stage, in human form, disguised as a singer or dream, who knows, but all he really wants to do is prove you wrong. In fact you’re thinking maybe that’s the only thing he wants to do.
He will show you how flawed the triage theory is even though we accepted it up to about a minute ago.
He will just leave you with reasonable doubt. This one-man army captivates you in a way no conceivable human force should.
Atif Aslam, should probably have that kind of talent legally trademarked by now. Somehow he needs to transcend this notion too.
As if musically it wasn’t enough, one of the youngest music legends to live amongst us, is an artist you can travel across the world for. Even if does come from your hometown with the unhelpful psycho-baggage of being ‘just a local boy’!
In Los Angeles, the rockstar teamed up with India’s Sonu Nigam, with whom he’s currently touring North America.
Nigam on the other hand has had some of the biggest Bollywood hits to his name and is a household name in India. He came out on stage humbly admitting, “It’s hard to put up a performance after one like Atif’s but I’ll try with my hits.”
Sounds familiar? Presley once commented that he would never opening with Roy Orbison on stage again, after being side-lined at live show by Orbisons’s talent publicly stating that Roy had ‘ most perfect voice’ and referring to him as the ‘greatest singer in the world’ during one of his Vegas concerts. Roy Who? The Orbison who was the only singer ever to open shows for Presley and the Beatles, that one!
And there’s an abiding truth in that. While Aslam is acoustically engineered to heighten your senses, it is hard to switch over to Nigam, who is nonetheless a ‘playback singing’ sensation. Well at least not immediately.
Nigam’s show had a troupe of dancers, again highlighting the prominence of being a performer as an artist, during his set. He had the audience join his dance moves and sing along to Punjabi hits. While he uses humor, charm and has a group of acrobats following him, Aslam’s simple and powerful vocals brought the house down, with the arena chanting his name in rhythmic fashion.
Embodying the mood, he rocked boots and an embellished black leather jacket, romancing his guitar as he jammed with his band on stage. Clearly the most pleasurable state you’ll see him in!
To conclude the show, both came together, first singing each other’s praises, then each other’s songs, while paying tribute to their inspirations and performed some of the most beautiful songs in the history of India and Pakistan.
Beyoncé, recently performed at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles for her ‘Formation World Tour.’ Girls are still in ‘formation’ gear and mood. You can see the army rocking the ‘formation’ merchandise all around the city.
Her knockout performance included hit singles, over-the-top performances with the best dancers in her group, fireworks, grand costumes and heart warming vocals. She thanked her fans for their 20 years of support. “I’m so grateful to be onstage doing what I love since I started at 15 years old. Now I’m grown, it’s been 20 years. Thank you for trusting in me and allowing me to grow from my first album.”
Celebrities such as Sia, Floyd Mayweather, Kelly Rowland, Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Lawrence paid homage to Queen B.
Kanye West brought back the mosh pit. It’s back, it’s the hottest topic and we’re all in it. Just like he said during the VMAs. This frenzy brings together celebrities and fans during Ye’s newly designed performances. Attached to, literally, a rope, Yeezy stands on a floating stage towering over the audience. Just enough for him to have a better look and vibe with his fans. “The whole concept was supposed to be that they’re supposed to go wherever they want,” he said.
Under the high pedestal is where the madness begins. If you haven’t seen this, you need to experience it first hand. For the rest who only have social media to witness the experience, well at least we know how it could feel. You can find clips of the Kardashians, Vic Mensa and Jonah Hill among other celebrities hanging out in the mosh pit underneath the floating stage.
For those who still think Kanye is all auto tune and less of a musical experience, well he puts on a show like no other. And if you’re lucky you may even hear him rant.
He’s currently on tour now and we even get to see some behind the scenes footage on Kim’s social media. Kanye West will be continuing The Saint Pablo Tour for the next two months, wrapping it up in Los Angeles on November 1st.
Drake and Future performed to a sold out show in Los Angeles on the 10th of September. Drizzy brought out Rihanna, DJ Khaled and Wayne in addition. Khaled performed with both Drake and Future for a performance of “All I Do Is Win.” This was his last night after three consecutive shows in LA for his Summer Sixteen tour. The show continues throughOctober 15 in Newark, New Jersey.
