Surtaal kids band to open Asim Azhar's tour after 'little Nusrats' fame

The Lahore children who went viral across the border as the “little Nusrats” are about to play their first real concert. Asim Azhar has announced that the Surtaal Kids Band will open his Pakistan tour, with shows in Faisalabad on 6 November, Lahore on 7 November and Islamabad on 8 November.

What is new since our story on their viral Alfaaz video: the kids asked Asim to visit, he came, and he gave them a stage.

How it happened

The students of Surtaal Music Academy had sent Asim a reel of themselves singing “Meri Zindagi Hai Tu”, his OST for the drama of the same name, as an invitation. He accepted, visited the academy and sat with them as they sang “Khabbay Sajjay” and “Jo Tu Na Mila”, one of the young players on harmonium.

The announcement went up as a joint Instagram post with the academy. In the video he explains why: “The kids invited me here with so much love that I thought I should return the gesture.”

After the three Pakistan dates, Asim heads to the US for shows abroad and returns for a Karachi concert at Christmas.

Who the Surtaal kids are

Surtaal Music Academy in Lahore was set up in 2016 by music teacher Zia-ul-Haq. It gives free music lessons, mostly to children from low-income families, and trains more than 100 students in singing and instruments.

The academy has been getting famous visitors for a while. Amar Khan sang Punjabi songs with the students, Natasha Baig joined them on a Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan qawwali, and Norwegian singer William Gamborg jammed with them on Hamza Malik and Zain Zohaib’s “Alfaaz”. That last video is the one that crossed the border.

Why Indians call them ‘little Nusrats’

In the Alfaaz clip the children sing in full qawwali style, clapping and pushing their voices in a way that reminded viewers of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Indian users filled the comments with praise and the nickname stuck; several Indian outlets wrote up the clip as a rare moment of people on both sides cheering the same thing.

It has helped the song too: Alfaaz topped the lyrics site Genius’ weekly chart this week.

Why this matters

For most kids at a free academy, the path from a classroom video to a real stage does not exist. A support slot on a sold-out tour gives them a crowd, a sound system and a story to tell. If you are going to any of the three shows, get there early: the opening act starts before the headliner.