The electric experience at School of Rock

Concertgoers in Dhaka had an excellent weekend. Two of the biggest shows scheduled in the ongoing month took place at the International Convention City Bashundhara Hall-04 (ICCB), a venue that has sort of turned into a pilgrimage for enjoying live music.

On Friday, one of the most anticipated concerts of the year 'School of Rock' was held at ICCB. This was arranged right after Darshan Raval graced the venue the day before. But the energy was ever the same and ever so lively.

When you attend concerts pretty much every weekend like we do at The Business Standard, you start looking for minute details which set each show apart from the rest. There's not much wiggle room because the shows mostly feature the same bands playing the same sets over and over again. 

However, most concerts have 'the good, the bad and the ugly' elements. School of Rock did too, but there was no 'ugly' when it came to the show.

Let's get the dirty stuff out of the way first before we dive into the nitty-gritty of some of the mesmerising performances that were on full display on the night.

ICCB's hollow structure greatly hinders audio quality. The fan favourite band Karnival's performance was cut short due to sound issues. Vocalist Tinu Rashid had to guide the sound engineer for on-stage monitor adjustments numerous times just to get that optimal balance.

"There were some power drops leading to some of our pedals not engaging. Salmi [lead guitarist] was facing the same. The sound felt too muddy and reverberated as well," explained Tinu Rashid, the vocalist of Karnival.

Karnival performed 'Control Room,' 'Sheishob Din Ratri,' a mellow rendition of 'Amar Shotto' and ended their set with their most popular number, 'Bhrom.' 

But despite all the difficulties, the fans were by no means left unentertained. Karnival made sure to deliver their fullest during their set. 

Let's also talk about the best performance of the night, in my opinion, and this is a big statement given the fact the show was headlined by arguably the biggest name in Bangladesh music. 

In the last decade, following Raef Al Hasan Rafa's departure from Aurthohin to prioritise his band, Avoid Rafa, live performances have often left audiences somewhat dissatisfied. Despite Rafa's popular songs, occasional vocal inconsistencies have been noted.

In School of Rock though, Rafa pushed his voice to the highest of pitches, not going out of tune even once. He not only had a brilliantly designed setlist, he got the crowd to jump, scream, bring out their mobile flashlights and drool over his awesomeness - just by engaging them with his vocal prowess.

They say that for live performers, the best song is the one that they don't really have to perform because the crowd does that for them. With 'Anmone,' 'Cholo Arekbar Uri' and 'Ami Akash Pathabo' – Rafa did just that.

The groovy and funky songs with their sweetly driven guitar tone, playing muted pluckings throughout, created a beautiful reverb around the hall. Rafa was also on lead guitar duties and it wasn't just his vocal harmony switches that shone on the night. His legato and tapping on the fretboard got the crowd equally riled up.

There were moments that felt like Rafa was displaying a full-fledged tapping masterclass when he put a fret wrap on the fifth fret, flaunted his skills with some two-handed tapping and transitioned into 'Ami Akash Pathabo.'

Cartoonist Morshed Mishu, the anchor of the show, is a noteworthy mention. It's never easy conducting eight-hour-long concerts and the crowd in Dhaka concerts can be harsh and unforgiving. 

However, Mishu (that too as a first-time concert host) dealt with the crowd with impressive finesse. He had an interesting choice of outfit, adorning a black 'lungi' with a black shirt and a pair of military boots. Even from a hundred feet away, his attire exuded his 'artist' persona.

Mishu kept on spitting slogans and taglines, smeared with humour, throughout the show and the crowd fully reciprocated. 

Warfaze graced the stage and injected their inherent heavy metal energy into the rock show. Their set started off with guitarist Samir Hafiz's dive bombing and reverse dive bombing into the iconic Oshamajik intro. They followed it up with 'Hariye Tomake' and 'Moharaj' – yet another heavier track. 

The entire arena sang in unison with vocalist Palash Noor when he sang the opening verses of 'Purnota' – initially with only the keyboards serving as a soft backing track. As always, Warfaze concluded with 'Boshey Achi,' a very fitting song to end any set.

At 10.26 PM, when Guru James got up on stage, the filled-to-the-brim audience chanted "Rock shunle gorom rokto, amra shobai Gurur bhokto" – courtesy of Morshed Mishu.

James uttered two words, "Shuru korlam" and thus commenced the performance everyone enthusiastically awaited. James kicked the night off with Kobita, got everybody jumping with 'Deewana Mastana,' followed with 'Maa' before alluring romance amongst everybody with 'Tarai Tarai.' 

Then got everybody jumping again with 'Sultana Bibiana' and 'Dushtu Cheler Dol' before calling it a night with 'Pagla Hawa.' 

Everyone was worried that Nagar Baul's James may not be able to complete his full set due to time constraints but he performed for almost an hour. 

The great thing about James' songs is that everyone knows about his classic hits. More than the dexterity of the musician himself, it is how he connects to the crowd and riles them up. He makes sure everyone leaves the venue fully entertained – and Friday was no exception.