The promoter promises an “out-of-the-world experience.”
Less than 14 months after he enthralled the qawwali lovers in the Washington, DC, area with a mesmerizing performance, Pakistani maestro Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is returning to the nation’s capital for another blockbuster concert.
On Saturday, he will perform at the Eagle Bank Arena, as part of the singer’s Me, Myself and I tour.
This time the organizers, Intense Entertainment and promoter Manish Sood, who will be hosting the singer for the fifth time since 2012, are guaranteeing an even better musical experience for the audience.
“So many people asked me what would they see different, or new in Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s concert this time around that they have not seen before,” said Sood, a veteran promoter who has hosted more than 50 concerts in the area. “The concept and the production of Me, Myself and I is out of the world. You have never seen, or even imagined the kind of production you will see in this show.”
The promoter said the concert will have three very different segments, “Bollywood, Fusion and Qawwali.”
“It will be so different that you will feel like three different show,” he said, adding that the fusion segment that Khan is set to perform has never been performed before. “It is beautifully choreographed and has elements of Sufi music and jazz played by some very talented musicians,” he said. “You will be transported into a very different world.”
WHAT: Me, Myself and I
WHERE: Eaglebank Arena, 4500 Patriot Circle, Fairfax, VA 22030.
WHEN: 8:00 pm, October 19, 2019
TICKET PRICES: $39, $59, $79, $129, $159, $209 and $259
Despite a call by some Indian activists to boycott Khan — who is a Pakistani national — in the backdrop of the current India-Pakistan imbroglio over the Kashmir issue, Sood expects the concert to be a huge success.
Born into a Punjabi family of Qawwals and classical singers in Punjab, Pakistan, Khan is the nephew of legendary Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who trained him since the age of seven. Rahat debuted as a playback singer in Bollywood with the movie Paap in 2003 with the song Mann Ki Lagan.
His UK tour in April 2012, with performances at Wembley and Manchester, witnessed a record maximum sale of tickets with more than 20,000 audience.
His song Zaroori Tha from the album Back 2 Love (2014) became the first non-film music video in South Asia to cross 200 million views in less than three years after its release.
He became the first Pakistani to perform at Nobel Prize concert in 2014 at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. He appeared in MTV Unplugged (India) in 2016.