Arooj Aftab 6/21
The vibe was date night at the Arooj Aftab show. On Saturday night, June 21st, a crowd seemingly full of middle-aged couples piled into Fine Line in Minneapolis, opting for a laid-back show instead of one of the two sports games going on a few blocks away. Even if you didn’t have a date, however, Aftab’s show was a good reminder that you should date yourself first, and just enjoy the music.
Minneapolis-based artist Lady Midnight opened the show. She mentioned she’d played Fine Line before, and was clearly comfortable on the stage. Her set was self-described as “mellow.” She bantered to the crowd, “I hope we allow you to get into your feelings, and release whatever you need to release.”
The mellow description was quite accurate. Lady Midnight sang her chill dance tracks, backed up by a lot of bass—I could feel the venue shaking—and handsome layered vocals from her keyboardist. I appreciated her singing and the instrumental, which reminded me of Snoh Aalegra at times. Lady Midnight’s lyricism didn’t totally translate for me, however. Her slightly gospel-esq songs tended towards cheesy, the sonic equivalent of an inspirational quote. I could see how it might have resonated with the crowd, who were on average older than shows I’m used to being at. I wasn’t really feeling it, though. To introduce her final song, Lady Midnight said, “This is a prayer. I hope it reaches where it needs to.” I’m not sure it made it to me. Perhaps it didn’t because I was so far away. I was perched on the back windowsill, sucking on a lime and worrying about whether I had accidentally parked illegally (I had, after 9PM, and narrowly avoided getting towed). Despite the 90 degree weather swirling outside, the building was shockingly cold. I stood up to move around, and inched towards the stage as the pre-show music rolled.
Eventually, the on-screen projector lifted, and “NUEVAYoL” by Bad Bunny faded out. Arooj Aftab emerged with her band from the haze of smoke-machine fog and blue stage-lights. She had on dark sunglasses and a pointy blazer, immediately cool on this heat wave of a day. Her singing—mostly in Urdu—was enchanting, as were the instruments behind her: Drums, upright bass, and a harp. Aftab gave the musicians ample time to shine during each song, and gave it up for them at the end of one of the first by pointing a single, efficient finger-gun behind her. To my surprise, her gorgeous siren-like vocals transitioned into a quite chipper talking voice. “Hey guys,” Aftab exclaimed, “Seems like we’re gonna have fun tonight!” She explained her plan to sing from her latest album, Night Reign from last year, as well as older, “less depressing” songs from her catalogue. “Can we cry and have fun at the same time?” Aftab wondered aloud. Apparently yes, because part of the way through the set, Aftab passed out whiskey shots. It was someone’s birthday, and Aftab had a silly back-and-forth with them about it. “It’s cancer season, you crazies.”
Arooj Aftab’s set was realistic in its melancholy, as well as hopeful in an end-of-the-movie sort of way. Life is hard, especially right now, and it is also beautiful, because music like this exists.
Show review: Helena Squires Mosher
Photos: Anshu Patel