Farhan Butt hopes to feed your soul with Cafe Rock

In a country where food is a perennial and the most ubiquitous form of entertainment, followed closely by music, it makes sense to put the two together. The first ones to realise this in recent times were the Peerzada group who set up a café, museum and open air auditorium of sorts. Unfortunately for us though, the location is nestled in the wilderness of Lahore’s outskirts, making it slightly out of the way.

In steps in Farhan Butt of Jal to capitalise on this novel idea and is working in overdrive to launch his restaurant, aptly titled ‘Café Rock’ in a more accessible-and popular-part of L-town by February. Refreshingly honest, Farhan admits that: “The state of the country has forced musicians like myself to think of alternative means of sustaining themselves. I mean if a band like Jal has not been able to perform since the last year and a half in its home country, then this is bad news for the entire industry.”

“This restaurant is my survival plan,” says Farhan, “it’s also my tribute to the musicians in the country and it will have their representation in a unique way. On a more serious level it seeks to provide a platform for underground artistes and even a place for established musicians to perform live. So every Friday and Saturday night we will host a performance.”  Phew finally we will get some access to live performances!

Even though the café is a solo project, Farhan intends on roping in his close friends: “Its not a Jal project but yes I am getting help from some of my friends such as Xulfi, who will help me out with the sound system here because without the perfect sound and acoustics, the whole agenda behind this venture will be lost. It’s just going to be able to accommodate 125 people so I want this small crowd to enjoy every moment of their musical experience here. I also want to get in some acts from abroad, I’m speaking to a few of them so let’s see how it turns out. With no live events happening, there entertainment industry has severely suffered. I really want people to come and see that Pakistan is not just about bombs and most importantly change the entertainment scene a bit in Lahore.”

With a nation starving for soulful sustenance, we predict that Café Rock will defiantly rock hard and be a massive success.

Source : Instep News