SAN JOSE: An amazing night it was. On Saturday (May 21) evening, Farhan Akhtar, the rocker took over Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in San Jose for close to two hours for a live concert organized by BollyEvents, Farhan Live USA – Zinda tour, belting out the biggest hits he’s been part of as a director, producer, actor or singer.
Over 2,000 fans let out a deafening roar at the start of each song, erupted in excitement when Farhan displayed his rocker moves and sang along as he pointed his microphone towards them at the concert in association with Papon.
Earlier, Farhan had announced the “first ever” tour dates for his band Farhan Live’s music concert in the US. The six-day tour started on May 20 from Dallas, Texas and will conclude on May 29 in Washington, D.C.
The evening started with Papon performing his hit numbers and couple of Assamese folk songs. Papon is an Indian singer, composer and record producer from Assam. He is the lead singer and founder of the folk-fusion band called Papon and The East India Company. His soundtracks can be heard in films such as Dum Maaro Dum, I Am Kalam, Soundtrack, Patang, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Barfi.
Rooted in the rich folk traditions of India, Papon’s soothing and sometimes edgy music charms audiences.
Farhan, then, sauntered into the venue and finally took to stage, a little after 8 p.m. Over the course of the three-hour-long performance, he sang, jumped, hopped. There was a generous smattering of beautiful poems written by his father, and the songs were largely what Farhan had either recorded, produced or directed.
For Farhan, making music and performing live is not just about entertainment – it’s also about talking about issues that move him. Talking to the audience, Farhan said, “Performing live is more like a vehicle to take my MARD initiative to different parts of the World and tell them what MARD stands for. It is a way to engage boys, who would be men very soon, in thinking about what are the basic values that make a man, what is their opinion of who a man is”.
MARD is here to create awareness amongst men to instil gender equality and respect towards women. It is here to bring about a change in the mind set and thereby bringing about a sustained change in society.
He added, “Mard is a small step towards a big change”.
