Was Neon’s Cover of Junoon’s Mahi Aja Really Bad?

Source: Dawn Images

The fifth episode of the fourth season of Pepsi Battle of the Bands has recently broadcasted. Some bands like always impressed the judges. Some on the other hand did not. This resulted in their elimination. The hot topic of that episode is the battle between Neon and Aarish.

The episode format was that each band had to perform their favorite songs. Aarish paid tribute to the late Junaid Jamshed by performing Na Tu Ayegi. Their attempt was appreciated by the judges. However the audience on the other hand as seen on social media thought it was average as compared to their other performances.

It is important to note here that Aarish has a pop rock sound. This was more of an alternative rock song. It was something along the lines of hard rock and dark rock. This was something different from Aarish but was not good as their performances before.

You can watch the performance here:

You can watch the original song here:

Their competitor was the Neo Rock band Neon who performed Junoon’s Mahi Aja. They performed it in a funky style format. The original is similarly a funky feel. However it has more of a Sufi rock and soft rock touch to it. Another important thing to mention here is that the bass plays a major role in it. Brian O’Connell has done an amazing job with the bass line of the song. This song is one of Junoon’s underrated songs.

You can watch the original song here:

Now let us talk about Neon’s version. It had a completely different style. There was a strong funk as well as Neon’s own neo rock touch to it. They went experimental with Junoon’s Mahi Aja. The bass did not deliver much however it was just the amount of touch needed for the song. Neon’s stage presence is undoubtedly the best among all the bands.

However their experiment did not sit well with the judges. The song received negative feedback from all the judges. Bilal Maqsood of Strings criticized the Neon’s version heavily. He said that it was terrible and the band was not skilled enough to cover the song. This resulted in Neon’s elimination.

Neon was clearly better than Aarish in this episode. However favoritism got the better of them and they were eliminated. This also reveals the mindset of the judges and Pepsi Battle of the Bands. The elimination of bands such as Neon who are bringing something new to the table are not fit for the show. It’s all about making money and in Pakistan pop rock is popular with the youth and that is the only thing Pepsi is concerned about.

Bilal’s comments were way too harsh. He should remember that Neon are way better than Strings when they were at this age. Unfortunately it is a commercial show and experimenting is useless.

You can watch Neon’s version here:

You can watch the full episode here:

Pepsi Battle Of The Bands – The Elimination Stage

Left to right: Pepsi Battle Of The Bands Season 4 Judges Bilal Maqsood, Faisal Kapadia, Meesha Shafi and Fawad Khan (Source: Brand Synario)

The third episode of the fourth season of Pepsi Battle Of The Bands aired this Saturday. Host Hina Altaf was joined by her co-host well known VJ and media personality Ali Safina to make the show more interesting. The format of the show was changed as it was an elimination battle between two bands unlike the seasons before.

Before the bands started to battle against each other, Strings who were among the judges performed their song Chal Para from their new album 30. In this episode the bands that faced each other were E Sharp VS Skehlaaj, Neon VS Mousiqa and The Starzone VS Aaarish.

The elimination stage is an interesting concept and what makes it better is that each band will have to give their full. That way, the audience gets to enjoy it fully as well. However it is still quite a difficult task for the bands.

E Sharp VS Skehlaaj

Source: Something Haute

The first battle was between E Sharp and Skehlaaj.

E Sharp performed their original Sarkari Mulazim. They gave an energetic performance and stayed true to their funk rock genre. The song was appreciated by the judges. They did not give any negative comments although Bilal Maqsood did joke about Ahmed, the vocalist’s weird dance moves.

Skehlaaj performed their original Motion in their main grunge rock genre. There were obvious problems with the song. The song was similar to the song they performed in the auditions and the lyrics were quite weak. This was noted by the judges as well.

The battle was won by E Sharp.

Neon VS Mousiqa

Source: Something Haute

The second battle was between Neon and Mousiqa.

Neon performed their original Haddi Daal Dou. It was a comedy rock song. The vocals and music arrangement was great but was predictable. As for the lyrics, they were quite weak as well and showed a factor of something different was missing. The band received negative comments from the judges.

Mousiqa performed their original Dhundon Kia in the blues rock genre. There was nothing wrong with the song. Everything was perfect in fact for one thing: The vocalist’s low tones were quite flat but the high notes did seem to make up for it for some reason. There was room of improvement but overall it was a good song. The judges unfortunately did not like the song.

This one seemed like an unfair winner because Neon won over Mousiqa but many think Mousiqa were more deserving.

The Starzone VS Aarish

Source: Something Haute

The third and final battle was between The Starzone and Aarish.

The Starzone performed their original Taaron Ki Roshni. It was performed in the post ambient genre which is the band’s main genre. It was a sweet and melodious song. It was good but there was definitely room for betterment.

Aarish performed their original Awaaz in the pop rock genre. It was a huge improvement over what they had performed in the auditions stage and this was noted by the judges as well.

The three winning bands were called on to the stage and E Sharp which was the best performer of the day was awarded with a brand new Ibanez guitar.

The episode ended with E Sharp, Aarish and Neon moving to the next stage. The Starzone, Skehlaaj and Mousiqa went to the danger zone but The Starzone was saved from elimination while the other two bands were eliminated.

The next episode will feature the remaining six bands which are Auj, Blackhour, Jhoot, Marjaan, Seismic Tremors and Uraan battling against each other.

You can watch the episode here: