This year "2007" has turned out to be a very significant year for me as GOD has been very kind to me; first of all with the success of Doorie and then with the opportunity of performing in the prestigious Royal Albert Hall, London.
I thank all you Aadeez for all your prayers and support that you have always given me so now I would like to share these special memories with all of you.

Royal Albert Hall is the most prestigious place in Europe for a concert. Only legendary artists from around the globe have performed there and so when the organizers approached us for the event, it surely made us feel honored and excited that we were going to be apart of such an important event. The only Pakistani artists that have performed over there till now have been Late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Sahib and Junoon.

The show was announced in United Kingdom just one month before the actual date. The show was on 14th April 2007 and the promoters carried on their promotion campaigns giving the show the publicity it well deserved.

Our First meeting with the promoter, Mr. Razzaq who by profession is an Immigration lawyer in UK was in Islamabad and we were surprised to know the sad fact that he is blind. He has not let this fact cause any kind of hindrance to his professional life and we were astonished to see the amount of confidence he had, to take up such a huge responsibility. While Razzaq Bhai's team ( Raj, Koyes, Tanya and Shakeel) were gearing up for the concert in London, he came all the way from UK specially to arrange our visas. Razzaq Bhai is surely an exceptional person with great perception.

As the date of the show approached closer, excitement filled the air but along with that came certain amount of uncertainties and stress too but till 11th April which was just three days before the event we didn't have visas, work permits and airline booking and that was becoming an issue of concern.

On 11th April we went to the UK Embassy. After our interviews we all came out while Razzaq Bhai and Mobeen had to wait as his passport arrived later. It was at this time that Razzaq Bhai decided to play a practical joke with us and he called from inside the Embassy saying "All of us have got visas except for Atif so please send Atif back inside so that we could try to get his visa too". We all were very worried and perplexed wondering how come they refused to issue a visa for the main vocalist. Having just a day left, we began to wonder if we would actually be able to make it for the show.

As I walked back to the Embassy from the parking a lot of thoughts rushed through my head but after about 30 minutes when I came out, I surely had a smile on my face. All the band members asked me " what happened?" and I said " woh ander UK Embassy k staff ko autographs chahiye thay and Razzaq Bhai believed k I will not go back for autographs so he played a practical joke". It lightened up the atmosphere and everyone burst out into laughter.

Alhumdolillah we got our visas that day, the very next day got our work permits and proctors too. Now we just had a day to book our tickets to fly to London. Another roller coaster began when we got to know that due to the Easter holidays there was tremendous amount of air traffic and there were no seats available. But luckily and thanks to our travel agents; they managed to make an indirect connection on two airline carriers.
The schedule was Lahore- Dubai- Zurich- London and we all were waiting at the airport two hours before our flight but we still hadn't received our tickets from our travel agents who were actually suppose to be there before us. Exactly one hour before our departure Razzaq Bhai and the travel agent arrived with our tickets and then our journey had begun.

We reached Dubai and the flight crew brought to our knowledge that there was a possibility that our luggage would not reach London with us as there was a very short margin time between the two connecting flights. This again was another moment of anxiety as Sameer and Sarmad had their guitar pedals in the same luggage which they required while playing in the concert.

As we were again checking-in for our connecting flight, we got the news that our luggage had arrived safely which was a sense of relief for everyone. The Swiss airline crew were absolutely hospitable and went out of their ways to make it a memorable flight for us.

We reached London at 12 noon on the day of the concert and we actually couldn't believe that it all finally happened. While Shahbaz's and Sheraz's luggage didn't arrive on time and they dint get a chance to change into a different attire for the concert but all of us were certainly glad to have reached London on time.

After the long 16 hour flight all of us were totally worn out but the sight of Royal Albert Hall instantly energized us .Royal Albert Hall was built in early 20th century and it is complimenting the traditional London style of the royal building architecture. All the music legends of the world have performed there including Sting, Elton John, George Michael, Celine Dion, Micheal Jackson, Shania Twain and so many more. It surely is an honor for an artist to be able to perform there. The Hall has also been hosting the world boxing championships and the Miss World Event also commenced in the same royal ambience. The Hall has a special chamber which is reserved for the Queen of UK.

Normally on various concerts and shows our crew does a sound check of just about thirty minutes but for the Royal Albert Hall everyone was determined to give it their best so when we began our sound check, the entire crew was absolutely energized and they were enjoying every moment of it so much that the sound check continued for three hours without a break. It was an overwhelming experience for me and I enjoyed it enormously. I also enjoyed the professionalism of the way every detail in the hall was organized. Right from the lights, to sound systems and ofcourse the ambience was all perfection at its best.

The hour finally arrived and the show began. It commenced with some dress show, local dance artists and Juggy D. I had a time slot of ninety minutes but as usual the fans kept screaming my name and holding posters with worderful messages right from the beginning itself. As we watched the show on live monitors back stage it made the entire crew more anxious and energized to make the concert a memorable one for all.

There were 4500 people in the hall. Allhumdolilah the show was completely sold out. When they announced my entry on stage there was a five minutes break and all the lights went off so we could get our sound plugs in and be all set.
Wearing a Samurai outfit that was specially designed for the event by Shahbaz I went on stage with a huge explosion of fireworks on the center of stage holding a Samurai sword in my hand which I eventually kept on the stage when I started performing.
The Samurai sword was sharp and it brutally cut my fingers during rehearsals. The entire track list was predecided and totally rehearsed by the entire band members. So finally we had Sarmad on lead guitar, Mobeen on drums, Sameer on Bass guitars and Sheraz on the keyboard.

Alhumdolillah the crowd gave us a fabulous response and everyone was dancing with an ecstatic expression. Even the security guards shook a leg or two. The songs that got the maximum response were doorie, teray bin, bheegi yaadein, mahiya way soniya and mahi way.

I dedicated "teray bin" to a fan who was holding the banner of "tere bin". I also jumped into the crowd to make them feel livelier. The Lighting was complimenting the music beats. The fireworks kept adding an ardor to the performance. At the end I introduced my band members to the crowd and the crowd gave them a good round of applause too.

After the concert there was a long autograph session backstage and then we all went back on stage. This was the most satisfying moment for all of us that by the grace of Allah we actually performed at the prestigious hall and having got such an overwhelming response from the crowd. All of us hugged each other very strongly and it surely was a very emotional moment. We thanked God, for this success.

I still remember when once some one asked Junoon what was the most proud moment of their career and Salman replied "when we performed at Royal Albert Hall". Junoon accomplished it after ten years from the moment they began but God gave me this opportunity in the fourth year of my career MASHALLAH. So this truly has been an incredible experience for all of us.

Later, all of us were taken to a "Lahore Restaurant" which reminded us of home. Finally after forty hours of restlessness, anxiety and the feel of triumph we had a good sleep. The next morning Sarmad woke us up and being the ex resident of London for 15 years decided to show us around town. While having a look around we saw hoardings of the concert which reminded us of the wonderful audience we had.
As the day went on we all went our ways shopping and exploring the beautiful city. While shopping in the Blue Water Mall a cute little fan "Sara" gave me a beautiful twelve string guitar which I will cherish always. The next morning we received loads of congrats from various parts of the world and emails about the show. We left for Pakistan the very next morning with some really beautiful memories of London, particularly the walk in the mid night while it rained near the river on the empty roads and racing on the central London streets.

Thanks to my Big Brother for the wonderful photographs.

So you guys enjoy the pics and post your reviews. We will also be uploading
Some more tour pics so have fun.

Thank you all Aadeez for your prayers and support.

Your very own.

Atif.