Strings of Nostalgia: Dhaka Retro’s hits and misses

Performers are masters of masking their emotions in front of an audience—it's part of the job. But as we trailed behind Oni Hasan and Jon Kabir as they stepped offstage, the frustration on their faces was plain as day. Whatever had unfolded in the past 40-odd minutes clearly wasn't their finest hour.

"What the hell was that? What was with that sound?"— is what we heard trying to listen in on a clearly disgruntled Oni Hasan asking Jon Kabir—the vocalist who joined Oni for a couple of LRB songs they played in homage to the late great Ayub Bachchu.

"Welcome to Bangladesh," was the only jestful response Jon could offer, himself reeling from the unpleasant experience of missing a few bars because his stage monitors decided to betray him.

For many of the performers on 15 November's 'Dhaka Retro' concert at Senaprangan, the experience was less than ideal—the sound, the venue, and the crowd's energy (or lack thereof) left much to be desired. But to assume this paints the whole picture of the 'Dhaka Retro' concert would be a mistake. Originally, it was intended to be an open-air concert.

After all, a rock show is as much about the fan experience as it is about the artists. And for the fans? The story was different—they looked beyond the technical and the auditory issues. 

And why would they have a bad experience? The stage was graced by some of the finest musicians the country has ever produced, playing songs that have stood the test of time. But did everyone walk away with an unforgettable trip down memory lane? Not quite.

Bappa Mazumder's Dalchhut kicked off proceedings and had a diversified setlist with even patriotic songs making the cut. It was difficult to put into words exactly how well-received Bappa's set was because the night was young and the pool of the audience was still coming in. 

Bappa, despite a few hiccups with the sound, did provide some beautiful moments. After his 'Din Bari Jay' set the tone, he followed it up with the ever so soothing 'Ami Tomakei Bole Debo', even letting the crowd take point in singing some of the lyrics while Bappa took the backseat and harmonised the lyrics with the audience.

One thing all the bands had in common that evening was their punctuality. Setup times were swift, and every setlist was performed without dragging on. While there was little interaction between the performers and the audience, there might be an underlying reason for that—something we'll come to later.

Next up was Bappa's iconic 'Pori' and he ended his set with 'Gari Chole Na' with the spirit of the late Sanjeeb Choudhury lingering in his performance. The song took up tempo in the final few bars which also got the seated crowd a bit charged up as they were clapping along with the beats.

When Oni Hasan took the stage with his ensemble, things quickly got a little out of hand. His guitar levels were cranked up so high that the vocals were nearly drowned out, leaving many in the audience frustrated. 

His setlist leaned heavily on rock and a few heavy metal tracks—genres that thrive on energy and movement, yet here they were being performed to a seated crowd in an auditorium. 

Unsurprisingly, this mismatch of setting and sound didn't go down well. Adding to the disconnect, the audience struggled to 'vibe' with the back-to-back Vibe songs, 'Shopnodeb' and 'Chena Jogot', which failed to ignite the energy Oni was aiming for.

"The sound was below par, it was bouncing all over the place. It seemed to me that the venue wasn't designed for full-fledged musical concerts. For a musician, sound is the most important thing," quipped Jon Kabir.

He continues, "You can make seated arrangements work but for a ticketed rock show, seated arrangements aren't the best of ideas."

You may question whether Oni Hasan has been in the game long enough to be labelled under "retro." Oni did bring a bit of retro in his performance when he covered two iconic AB tracks—'Hashte Dekho' and 'Ghumonto Shohore,' and you don't need me to tell you what impact the songs had on the audience— they went bonkers. 

In between, Oni played a few of his instrumentals. He started off his set with Blissful Youth and in the middle, as an ode to his wife who couldn't accompany him to Dhaka, he played 'The Himalayas is where My Heart Rests'.

For the last song in his set, Oni sprung up quite the surprise which was as brave as well-executed. For his most revered song from his Warfaze days, 'Purnota', Oni wasn't accompanied by any vocalist on stage. 

Up until that point, the crowd engagement was hot and cold but as soon as Oni played the intro solo to the ballad, the crowd instantly understood—they were the vocalists now. 

And if you ask me, they rose to the occasion spectacularly. The entire auditorium sang every word of 'Purnota' with precision and passion that outshone any of Oni's three vocalists that evening. It was a rare and magical moment—performers might hand over a chorus to the crowd, but entrusting an entire song? That's almost unheard of, and it was nothing short of blissful.

Next up was Ark but the crowd only wanted two things from Hasan—'Sweety' and 'Ja Re Ja'. Hasan was quick to take the cue as he performed 'Sweety' as his second song of the night and the audience was left enthralled. Hasan didn't seem to lose any of his gracefulness as a vocalist over the years. 

Before diving into 'Ja Re Ja', Hasan was playfully waving his arms—mimicking a bird to reassure the audience that their requests were soon to be granted. With other timeless songs of his like 'Ekaki' and ' Eto Koshto Keno Bhalobashay', the crowd got their shot at driving down memory lane.

For 'Purnota', Oni Hasan wasn't accompanied by any vocalist on stage. As soon as he ended playing the intro solo to the ballad, the crowd instantly understood—they were the vocalists now.  The entire auditorium sang every lyric of 'Purnota' with precision and passion that outshone any of Oni's three vocalists that evening. It was a rare and magical moment—performers might hand over a chorus to the crowd, but entrusting an entire song? That's almost unheard of.

It was around this time that a series of unfortunate altercations unfolded. Overzealous volunteers repeatedly approached us, demanding our identities at every turn and asking us to vacate our seats without any valid reason. 

Frustrated and uncomfortable, we eventually left the auditorium, an unpleasant experience that marked a first for us and caused us to miss almost all of Miles' performance.

This brings us to another critical aspect of the concert—the fan experience and the event's overall organisation. While the Dhaka Retro concert was, in many ways, better organised than other recent events in the live music scene, and most importantly, it felt safe for the audience, not every attendee enjoyed a seamless experience. 

For instance, a group of about thirty people demanding free entry was swiftly handled, ensuring the situation didn't escalate. But even with such measures in place, some fans—ourselves included—faced unnecessary inconveniences that dampened the evening.

"They [organisers] relocated to this venue but should have informed us that the entire arrangement was for a seated show. It defeats the purpose of a rock show if you expect fans to stick to their seats for hours," said Sayera Nusaka, a millennial who has been to her fair share of rock concerts.

She continues, "They were announcing on stage if we left our seats— be it for restroom breaks or for going to the food stalls on the floor below, meant that we would be forfeiting our seats. A ticketed and seated show should ideally have assigned seat numbers." 

Having said that, it is not to take anything away from the organisers who are very new to the game. Although inexperienced with a few of them lacking etiquette in maintaining professionalism, it can be hoped that they will only get better and deliver better shows. 

To top it all off, they also announced a show where they will be bringing the Pakistani semi-classical band 'Kaavish' to Dhaka sometime soon.

Photo: Mehedi Hasan

The headliner was NagarBaul and do you really need me to tell you how moved the audience was during their set? James started off with 'Poddo Patar Jol' and ended with 'Pagla Hawa', and in between delivered performances of timeless tracks like 'Taray Taray' and 'Maa'. What felt like a cherry on top was his internationally famed 'Bheegi Bheegi'.