Fans, mostly young and restless, bold and beautiful , waited outside the MIT Kresge hall for an hour and half before the doors opened to let them in for the long awaited and anticipated Junnon concert . Crowds sloshed in the small hall way, every time the moderator appeared to apologize for the delay , he would be greeted with groans and hoots. All stood around,grumbling good naturedly, listening to the tuning and setting-up noises of the band's instruments emanating from within.

That said, the restraint of the crowd was commendable, the hall filled up quickly and the first item a boisterous Bhangra number by a soloist with his dholak had everyone on their feet dancing and prancing. A fan ran around the audience waving the Pakistani flag and drawing appreciative hoots from the crowd. A collective shout greeted the band and their voices were drowned out by the roar. Remarking that " you guys are even louder than us" Salman Ahmed, guitarist, backing vocalist blasted our eardrums with some great strumming while Lead vocalist Azmat Ali and bass guitarist Brian horsed around for the benefit of the fans. Responding fervently to Salman's questions " Anyone here from Karachi? From Lahore? From the Punjab region?" nostalgia and homesickness abounded in immigrant hearts.

Chaotic, cathartic, merciless, relentless, every songs assaulting and awakening the senses, Junoon rocked away the night. The fans had every lyric of their early hits like Sayonee and Nihire memorized. Sometimes sounding like incoherent screaming, Ali's words were pure poetry to the kids in the pit. Some somersaulted over the heads of people and the moshed around in the pit. Brian and Ali played to the crowds, reaching out, touching and holding proffered hands. It was a sight indeed to see Ali almost pulled of the stage by enthusiastic adoring fans. The concert reminded this reviewer of her own reckless youth, of her utter disregard for discipline and order during those turbulent years. Also, the thumping and grinding, ear drum blasting music were a grim reality check of my advance into the geriatric phase of my life.

Gleefully lapping up the adoration of the audience, Ali sang amazingly well, putting his heart and soul into each rendering, driving girls and boys wild.

Salman, extolling the virtues of peace, love, tolerance and equality kept his sermonizing in check and let the music do the talking. Currently one of the greatest rock acts in Asia Junoon strutted its stuff and rocked the house.

The Junoon concert was organized by PAKSMIT(Pakistani students at MIT).

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