POP MUSIC REVIEW : Khan Rocks Cal State’s Pyramid Arena

The stage looked like the center ring of a championship fight when qawwali master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan stepped before a capacity crowd at Cal State Long Beach’s Pyramid arena on Saturday. Khan is revered by the Pakistani (and general Indian subcontinent) community, but his pair of 75-minute sets was best described by a classic Americanism--he rocked the house.

The wildly enthusiastic crowd’s rhythmic hand-clapping enhanced the pieces, important both because the tabla was muffled in the mix and in setting a participatory mood that lasted the entire evening. The audience was a guide for Western listeners too--time and again what seemed like an impressive display of Khan’s vocal melisma elicited minimal response, but the understated punch line that followed brought roars of approval.

The music featured dual harmoniums (pump organ) supplying melodies while Khan engaged in vocal exchanges with the other singers in his nine-man party (group) that steadily built in intensity. It was his masterful control of that intensity that was so impressive, particularly during one 15-minute stretch in the second set when he repeatedly let the crowd’s enthusiasm wind down before prodding it into a fresh burst of energy.

The Pyramid seats approximately 5,000 for concerts with excellent sight lines, although the low volume of Khan’s qawwali music wasn’t a real test of its sound capabilities.