His voice mesmerised me.
His humility delighted me.
His smile warmed me.
Tonight I dont mind sounding a little gay because I got a chance to spend a few hours with one of the most talented people in the world. Thats a bit ambitious isnt it. To call Sami Yusuf one of the most talented people on Earth - I mean - if you had to compile a list of talented people today - it'l be Phelps, Messi, the guy who made Bioshock (Levine), Randy Orton (yeah - he's up there), and I would put Sami with them. There has been a lot of flak around this particular show - just yesterday my mum was smiling and telling me about the rumour that there will be an earthquake in Durban tonight because of the concert. The Yvonne Ridley e-mail has been doing the rounds as well (ive commented on this debate two years ago and I will comment again on it ABR) So lets do a quick recap of the night.
I remember first listening to Sami's music in 2003. My friend at radio Al Ansaar downloaded a few of his tracks and played them for me at the Souk. At first I was like - even though this guy is stealing Nusrats stuff, the xylophone kicks ass. I loved it. The up beat tracks. the mellow dhikr inspired tracks. I just couldnt get enough of it. I remember January 2006 when I was in Dubai, I came across his second CD 'My Ummah' and I bought both the musical and duff versions. I was so excited that I found the CD that I immediately went back to my hotel so I could load it on my laptop. Mum wasnt too thrilled as that was supposed to be Cloak time for her. As you can imagine - tonight was a big deal for me :)
So people will say that this is haraam, and concerts are imitating the West and we are all going to turn into swines and monkeys (btw Mufti Muhajir Makki refutes this idea in his tafseer of the Quran by saying that no one in this Ummah will be transfigured) but I felt more spiritual tonight than I have felt since coming out of Itikaf. It really was magical. As soon as Sami walked off the stage I hugged my dad. It was that powerful.
The show started late - which sucked! But the timing was a little silly. I mean - half past seven? Thats Esha time (I'm a hypocrite as I dont usually read Esha on time anyway but most people do) The MC/opening act/Comedian sucked - Muthu Murugans less famous brother (kinda like that episode of South Park where they had Jon Stamoses's brother) I looked at this guy on stage and I thought to myself - I could so do a better job. But yet - the audience loved his stuff. Even though he made so many mistakes and his stuff wasnt culturally relevant, and some jokes did border on crude, they lapped it up. The guy kept calling Amichand Rajbansi Amitabh (silent BH) - No mate, thats Bachchan. But he got laughs so Kudos to him. Next up was the Oasis CEO who came in with a Blue Bulls flag. It was really funny as you could sense that the rugby reference was lost on the majority of the crowd. After that they played a long ass Oasis video - an Epic Video! I felt like I needed an intermission just to get through the whole thing. But this is the price we pay for Sami so it was worth it. Good video - at the end of it I was like 'Shit - please invest my money mr Oasis Man'.
Nielfa did a wonderful blog on the concert so I wont repeat that stuff suffice to say - The guy played at least four instruments during his performance and he played each one like a Jedi Master. You could put a cheese grater and some pebbles in his hands and he'l make it sound like Spur Buffalo wings for your ears. When he played the santoor (whatever the hell that is - looks like a xylophone had sex with one of those old school desks with the lids on them.) it sounded so beautiful that I have no yearning to get a violin anymore. I want a Santoor.
Half way through his performance he invited on stage a local Choir (I cant quite remember their name but they are from an AIDS orphanage near Pinetown) This was amazing! To see Sami perform with them. Most artists condescend towards their audiences with cheap pops by saying Hello in the native tongue - anyone remember Hrithik Roshan messing up with Dumelang at the IIFA's a few years ago? Sami sang bits of the Zulu song with them and it was really beautiful. By this time I imagine you might be quite sick of reading my praises for him but i really dont care.
There was a point when a couple of youngsters went to the front and started clapping. The Oasis guys were quick to tell them to cool down - and i'm sure some people in the audience must have been a little uncomfortable with it. I was a little. However - its all quite simple really - Its about choice - no one held a gun to my head and forced me to go to the front and scream. So I sat on my seat and enjoyed the show. I would rather have them in the front singing along to Allahu than at the Himesh Rishamiyah (spelling?) concert singing along to his version of As Salaam U Alaikum.
Sami's Band was amazing. My family is in the Sound and Decor business so Ive been to at least a hundred shows in my life. Never before have I seen a band that played so beautifully together.Not a single mis cue or a missed beat whatsoever. Absolutely superb. The sound volume was also really good (not too soft like Chris Rock so we couldnt hear anything, and neither too loud so it felt like a Rock concert)
After the show I got a chance to meet him, and while I was there I just sat back and observed him. You could see that the guy was exhausted yet he spent all his time meeting people, posing for pictures, getting their names right, and even looking each person in the eye when they shook hands with him. Here is one of the leading artists in the Nasheed world, and yet so warm and generous, that you cant help but be in awe. I find this same warmth in Dawud Warnsby Ali, so its mind boggling how our local chaps will release one Naath CD and develop these huge egos.
Theres too many pics of me on this blog, so for a change I'm putting one up of my dad next to Sami.
MJ
