It is hard to be sure just how many goosebumps the human body can experience per second until you have heard Sufi-folk legends Padma Shri Ustad Puran Chand Wadali and his son Lakhwinder Wadali, belt out a song together.

Such is the enigma of Sufi, rendered sacrosanct by the tremendous vocals of the Punjabi icons whose generational legacy encompasses the famous musical group, ‘Wadali Brothers’. Originally featuring Ustad Puran Chand Wadali and his late brother Ustad Pyarelal Wadali, the family ensemble has evolved through the years, now distinguished by the addition of Lakhwinder Wadali’s robust voice since 2019

Performing live at The Grand Theatre, the Wadalis make the pursuit of love and the pursuit of spirituality meet in the middle. Through the course of the performance, romantic ballads diffuse into one heartfelt arzi (appeal) to the Creator through the eternal words of Bulle Shah, Baba Farid, Shah Hussain, and Shiv Kumar Batalvi, and other philosophical pioneers. Soft and slow songs interspersed with poetic interludes set the mood, before the evening picks up momentum with increasingly energetic numbers. Each new performance – including crowd favourites like ‘Tu Mane Ya Na Mane’, ‘Nit Khair Manga’, ‘Charkhe di Ghook’, and ‘Mast Qalandar’ – is an invitation for the audience to sing along. Add to the mix the folk tales of Laila-Majnu, Heer-Ranjha, Sassi-Punnu, and Jugn, or the verses of Amir Khusrow, and the atmosphere is charged with a higher vibration, where the infinite wisdom of fakirs and poets find their way to the audience across the time-space continuum. 

The collective yet intimate journey is elevated by impeccable renditions of Indian ragas, marked by intricate alaaps and taans unique to the singers from the Patiala gharana, and by a power-packed ensemble of keyboards, tabla, dholak, guitars, and drums.

Born in Punjab’s ‘Guru Ki Wadali’ village, Ustad Puran Chand Wadali is the brightest beacon in the world of Sufi-folk. Although he has performed all over India and the world, and earned a bouquet of prestigious laurels including the Padma Shri, the fifth-generation musician leads a simple life teaching music for free. He is one of the few old-school custodians of genres such as gurbani, kaafi, ghazal, bhajan, and more. If Ustad Puran Chand promotes Sufi traditions through his performances, through his disciples, he preserves it. Lakhwinder Wadali trained from a young age under the tutelage of his father and his uncle. Considered among the leading folk and Sufi singers of his generation, he has cultivated a distinct style that combines a fine blend of Classical and contemporary music. Awarded the title of the ‘Best Sufi Singer of India’ by Watno Dur Channel of Toronto, Canada, he has performed with a host of eminent musicians such as Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shankar Mahadevan, Ila Arun, Mohit Chauhan, and others.