Major spoilers ahead, please don't read further if you plan to watch the concert in any of the other cities. The author refuses to take blame for spoiling the fun, she merely tried to share the excitement with fellow Rahmaniacs who couldn't be there. Thank you!

ARTISTS:

Vocals: AR Rahman, Hariharan, Benny Dayal, Vijay Prakash, Blaaze, Alphons Joseph, Neeti Muhan, Shweta Pandit, Harshdeep Kaur, Zeenia Roy, Krystal Garib.

Supported by: Takuyo Hirano (Percussions), Keith Peters (Bass), Sanjeev Thomas (Guitar), Naveen (Flute), Aditya Kalyanpur (Tabla).

TrackList:

Enter Malachi from the audience, searching for someone. He runs around for a while and jumps onto the stage and boom - the door as shown on the projector opens.

1) O Saya (Slumdog Millionaire): A man looking like ARR is running as the projector shows pictures of ARR and his milestones. Train like feel, you see! Everyone thinks Rahman is running. He's air lifted and the boss enters singing. Howl !!!

2) Adhiradi (Sivaji): ARR is wearing a black coat with LED lights on them. Looked really funky. Only one charanam was performed and surprisingly he didn't forget the lyrics.

3) Say naa naa (Couples Retreat): Enter Benny & Blaaze with Krystal Garib. Benny was wearing a really funky long kurta with feathers and doing some really enthusiastic hopping/skipping. While most Indians blinked, the few Americans enjoyed it.

4) Some bloody brilliant jamming by Sanjeev Thomas (dressed in a red panjakacham with a black shirt complete with Nike sports shoes!) and an American on the banjo. Very very spunky!

5) Yeh jo des hai tera (Swades): There was a patriotic undertone to the entire concert, and it all began with this. It ended with Naveen's first solo of the day. Soulful !

6) Takuyo Hirano is definitely talented. This was his turn for a solo drum act with some foot-tapping bhangra beats, but he failed to engage the audience like Sivamani does. The act transitions into the Rang De Basanti title track performed by Benny, Harshdeep Kaur and Neeti Muhan.

7) Dreams on Fire (Slumdog Millionaire): Again just one charanam performed by Kristal Garib. She seems like an ABCD, but held the act together very well.

8) Nazrein milana (Jaane tu ya jaane na): Performed by Benny Dayal, Sanjeev Thomas (yes, the cool guitarist sang too!) and Shweta. Benny & Shweta had an amazing chemistry and some really good moves too!

9) Barso re (Guru): Neeti muhan & Kristal Garib with Naveen, an Asian Violinist and the tabla guy jamming to end it with the na rey na rey bit.

10) Dil se rey (Dil se): ARR messed up the lyrics for this one. Infact, he sang the same charanam twice. I'm not complaining, I had gooseflesh when he hit the high pitch in the end. I did miss Raihanah & Tanvi in the backup vocals. I thought the crowd was relatively less noisy for this one.

11) Bombay Theme: Naveen on flute and the Asian string player on Cello with Malachi doing some break moves, while another Asian woman contorted her body into weird positions!

12) Mausam and Escape (Slumdog Millionaire): Sanjeev Thomas let his hair and his strings run loose for this one. Oh-My-God-can-a-guitar-sound-like-that-too material! And when people around me exclaimed : "Who is that?" I was only too proud to announce: "Sanjeev Thomas - ARR's lead guitarist !" He just redefines cool!

13) Bharat Humko / Tamizha Tamizha (Bombay): Hariharan finally enters with his wisdom and wearing an atrociously hideous garb that looked like it had been made by tearing the Indian flag apart. Nevertheless as always, he held the entire song together while the other singers struggled to keep pace with Hariji's alaaps. We all know who's the boss !

14) Theeyil Vizhunda theana (Varalaaru) opening humming transition to Lukka Chuppi (Rang De Basanti): Lata Mangeshkar singing the entire song was used a projection alongside Rahman. It looked absolutely ethereal and I am sure every soul wanted to run back home to their mothers when this came on!"Yahan sab kuch hai maa, phir bhi, lagey bin tere mujhko akela!"

15) Aazadi (Bose): Orange, White and Green lights flood the auditorium. ARR on his highest note. Patriotism strikes. Freedom. Goosebumps. Shudder. Spine chills as he hits Aazadi.

16) Liquid Dance (Slumdog Millionaire): The track is played instead and dancers do crazy acrobatics that knots your stomach!

17) Pappu can't dance (Jaane tu ya jaane na): ARR wears some funky headphones and Benny, Blaaze, Neeti & Shweta set the stage on fire ! Short-lived.

18) Tribute to Michael Jackson: ARR sings Black or White that sounds strangely like MJ himself(gooseflesh!) and Malachi does some more break dance and moonwalking dressed up like MJ.

19) ARR on Piano and says : "Let's have some smooth blues" : He plays a mix of Hosanna & Mannippaya which you don't want to end but does so in a couple of seconds and transitions to Hello Mr. Ethirkatchi (Iruvar) performed by Neeti Muhan. She kadichu thuppifies (massacres) the words, but has a creative style of her own version of the song. The last briha bits are very jazzy and sound nothing like Harini's original. It was a very genre-oriented take on the song.

20) ARR walks on to the ramp and begins crooning Marhabaaaaa(Oorvasi) which is forcibly mixed with Taxi taxi being taken over by Blaaze & Benny. I have to admit, Benny is quite the performer ! He flirted with every female dancer who danced past him ! :P

21) Hai Rama (Rangeela): Hariharan & Shweta Pandit - OMG!! Hariharan flatters everybody with his vocal abilities and Shweta Pandit stays on par with him! She picks up notes with such ease and has so much versatility ! She makes an excellent replacement for Chinmayi.

22) Only you: ARR. Unplugged Solo. Should I say more. Period.

23) Medley of Hindustani styles: A tribute to Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saab: Hariharan, Vijay Prakash, Shweta Pandit and Zeenia Roy sit around ARR while he's on the harmonium. Hariji begins with Bhor Bhaye, snaps into a thumri. Now, Vijay Prakash begins singing Ennavale in Telugu gets the loudest cheer of the day - gets flattered - blushes and sings with full feelings! *heart skips a beat, I fall in love with him at first note. Hariji gets a little jealous and starts Kandukonden kandukonden which he takes to Anbe anbe kolladhe. Zeenia Roy failed miserably to catch up with the tempo despite ARR giving her the cue for Dheeme Dheeme gaoon(Zubeidaa). Shweta Pandit got the crowd out of their seats with her Genda Phool. The crowd went wild when Rahman sang Rehna Tu and even louder when Vijay Prakash ended it with Hosanna. By the end of this performance, I was already head over heels in love with Vijay Prakash.

24) Mehndi hai (Zubeidaa) : The men leave and Shweta Pandit & Zeenia Roy perform decently.

25) Mangalyam (Alaipayuthey): Alphons & Vijay Prakash ! Why can't we hear more of these two! Malachi in a velvet suit, plays matchmaker to 2 dancers! Funny ! The male dancer resembled Madhavan according to the fat maami who sat behind me. *turn left, quickly turn right and repeat procedure as fast as you can*

26) Ringa Ringa (Slumdog Millionaire): Neeti Muhan & Shweta Pandit : The men were drooling all over the two pretty singers who did some booty shaking as well. These girls can sing, I tell you! Chitra & Sadhna Sargam will not be missed at all if these 2 are around. A big treat to the ears as well as the eyes!

27) Ik Onkaar (Rang De Basanti): Harshdeep Kaur in her Sufi ke Sultana garb hits all the right notes and marks the start to the religious turn the concert takes henceforth.

28) O paalanhare (Lagaan): Shweta Pandit & Zeenia Roy: Zeenia begins with an alaap and Shweta takes over. You just don't want her to stop. Divine.

29) Khwaja (Jodhaa Akbar): ARR, Alphons, Vijay Prakash: He starts by saying that this is one of his most special songs. It sounds just about right, yet a little hurried. And it was not followed by Arziyaan, maybe because Javed Ali wasn't there?

30) Ganesh (Bombay Dreams): Huge umbrellas covered in colorful LED lights held by dancers meander through the audience as this track from Bombay Dreams is played. Taken over for the "hoi hoi, la la" part by Benny & Vijay Prakash; it ends with Vijay Prakash screaming "Ganpathy bappa moriya!"

31) Dekho aayi holi (Mangal Pandey): The only thing I remember apart from the colorful dancers is Vijay Prakash! Don't ask me more, I beg of you! *drool*

32) Chaiyya chaiyya (Dil se): Harshdeep Kaur starts off and ARR comes on stage playing his guitar like keyboard(what is it called?) with Vijay Prakash & Alphons. And then before you know anything else, the crowd is off their seats and everyone is running towards the stage. The securities fail to control the crowd and everyone is gathered in front trying to be in the same frame as the maestro. And then you realize that ARR is not singing, its Vijay Prakash, and then you hear a voice in its highest pitch and some neck craning later you realize that its actually Alphons doing the high pitched "Chaiyya" notes. Sukhwinder, dude, you've got some major competition from namma pasanga!

33) Humma -Andha Arabic Kadaloram (Bombay): Blaaze and ARR stand atop the steps, arms on each others shoulders and they swish their hands in unison at the projector and the words HUMMA appear in graffiti style. What do you think would happen? The crowd that had just retreated to their seats is back to the front of the stage. The singers don't stop for a good 6.50 minutes, and the crowd begs them to go on further. ARR is all smiles and keeps continuing with his Humma's. But all good things must come to an end. And it did end and we were almost ready for the next one.

34) Jai ho (Slumdog Millionaire): All the singers unite to croon the title song of the world tour. Everything seems right. The world is a happy place !

35) Vande Mataram: The perfect culmination to every ARR Concert. Your faith is restored and you are left to search for something else to look forward to in your life. And with a very content and a heavy heart, I refused to budge until the curtains dropped and the couple behind me cleared their throats rather too loudly to get me to move.

I was surprised to not find Rahman behind the keyboard through the entire show. He was either singing, playing the piano or climbing up and down the stairs on stage. Oh yes, the stage despite being small, was utilized appropriately. Keith Peters had too small a role for the rockstar that he is. Overall, I did feel that the performances seemed a little rushed when they tried to be super efficient and churned out song after song without a gap at all. It was just too much to take in at one point of time. I wouldn't complain if I had two extra pairs of eyes and ears and an extra set of hands to record ! The dancers who were a motley mix did an excellent job and kept the spirits soaring. And there it all ended and I'm now left with amazing memories and hopes for another concert or the release of a new album by ARR! :D

PS: For the first time after coming to the United States, I'm seeing so many Indians in one place. For a moment I felt like I was in Ranganathan Street ! (Ranganathan Street is a road in Chennai where you will witness a population density that is higher than that of Mongolia!)

|

Kanne thadumaari nadanthen
Noolil aadum mazhayaagi ponen
Unnal thaan kalaignaai aaneney
Tholai thoorathil velicham nee
Unai nokkiye enai eerkiraaye

Melum melum urugi urugi
Unai enni yengum
Idhayathai enna seiven
Unai enni yengum

Cannot get this out of my head! Could I love something more than this ? Yes, even my lust to listen to Aaromale has lessened. If I watch the movie, I'll remember to close my eyes when this comes on. I just cannot imagine Simbu lip syncing this. But then if SJ Surya could do Aararai kodi, this seems fair too! *sigh!

|

Much awaited from ARR after his Oscar, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya's music held high hopes way ahead of its release. And when it came, it amazed everyone. According to me, this is one of ARR's most quirky and experimental albums in recent times. The songs have a completely different approach and do not follow any standard patterns. And that is exactly what gives the album a raw and exotic appeal which doesn't conform to usual mass standards.

Much might have been said, here are my few cents about Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya.


Until something better catches my fancy, Aaromale continues on an endless loop.

|

For my music review of Delhi 6, go here.

What is it really with girls/women and the color pink? Is it mandatory that every girl ought to own a pair of pink colored garb ? A few of my friends were flabbergasted when I contorted my face on seeing their newly-acquired-eighteenth-pink salwar kameez.
Having been brought up in a family full of boys, I have only inherited their worn-out t shirts and ruggedly torn jeans along with their cricket bats and badminton rackets which I am dutifully passing down to nephews.
In another case, when I went shopping to buy a dress for my neighbour's newborn girl (Oh what a sight she is!), all I could find was pink pink pink and more shades of pink ! Why can't baby girls be dressed in blue or green or purple or any other color. Or is it put down in any baby rule book that blue is for boys and pink is for girls? What a glib way to differentiate the sexes right after birth!

On the contrary, I have great respect for men who can pull off a pink shirt and still retain their masculinity in it!
How can I write an entire post on pink and not mention roses !! Especially, those gigantic pink roses that literally grow out from behind some women's ears. I'm sure someday they would sprout a bud or two outside their ears, if you water them regularly. I have nothing against roses, but again, I love white and yellow roses the best!

I'm not against the color, but I hate women and feminity being associated with the color pink. I've always felt, pink can never look chic, mellow maybe, but never chic!

Should you be confused, maybe you should read this post on negating my own statements. :P

Just for the record, Pink Floyd happens to be my favorite band ! :P

|

A.R Rahman only puts his fans in a dilemma with this album. It is very hard to pinpoint one song as a favourite. With Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na music also released simultaneously, I am in a state of utter confusion. Anyways, I love this album so much that I had to pen down what I thought of Ada's musical journey by ARR.

Ishq Ada hai - Rashid Ali
Rashid has a voice that could have the narcotic feeling on you. Especially the varying pitches at which he sings, leaves you in a phase where you don't want the song to end. Personally, I love the part where he sings - "..ishq gila hai, ishq sila hai, ishq ibaadat ka silsila hai" around 1.20. There's so much pain and power at the same time. And the careless guitar strumming throughout the song and in certain pauses is brilliant.

Hawa Sun Hawa - Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik
Alka Yagnik sounds a lot younger than her other recent songs. Whenever Sonu says "hawa", there is a hollowness to his voice that makes you feel like a gush of air just passed across you. Beautiful flute interludes. I've always felt Sonu's pronunciations are brilliant. A completely refreshing song.

Gumsum - Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik
What variations! Sonu Nigam is on a roll. Just listen to the way he opens the song. The notes are hit bang on target. It makes your neck go backward and forward. Very catchy beats. And the bass guitar (??) or the drums(??) at the end of song surprise you. Totally unexpected and it makes you want to pose like the guitarist of a rock band and strum the air.

Gulfisha - Sonu Nigam, Sunidhi Chauhan & Vivian Chaix
The song opens with Vivian's chanting of what sounds to me like Parseltongue. And Sunidhi is one person who can beautifully carry off a base voice as well as high notes. The way both Sonu & Sunidhi sing the word "Ada" is very flirtatious. Finally, there is an alaap done by Sunidhi which gradates to Vivian's chanting and closes on a very mysterious note.

Meherbaan - AR Rahman
Oh my god !! I'm stoned. This song gives you a sense of hope and the feeling of being loved by all. He surprises you with his pitch at the end of the song which is very unlike the soft start. I have a thing for ARR's way of singing words with the "Z" sound in them. The man and his magical strings. Could it get any better? From the be-swaadi ratiyan in Guru's Tere Bina to the be-zameen and be-aasman in meherban, you couldn't ask for more, trust me.

Tu mera hai - Chitra, Sukhwinder Singh, Naresh Iyer
This sounds very familiar. I really can't place it now. Chitra sounds very Bollywoodish, and her octaves for 'Ya Rab Shukriya' match Sukhwinder's right amount of power for a song of love. I had gooseflesh when I heard it for the first time. Naresh's interludes have a twinge of pain that makes you want to sympathize with him.

Hai Dard - Udit Narayan
This one is going to take me a while to like. A song of lament and when by Udit Narayan, you expect a twist in the movie when this comes about. It falls short when compared with the other songs in the album.

Ishq Ada hai (female) - Parul Mishra
Intoxicating. Parul's voice is so wholesome and round. Its like a very sharp knife slicing through butter. She's 20 years old but has an addictive sound quality about her voice. This is a little different from the male version in its organization and inducement of a classical touch. Her alaaps are brilliant. What pitching ! I hope ARR uses Parul more in songs to come.

Milo Wahan Wahan - Alka Yagnik, Jayachandran
Jayachandran is the link. The opening of this song is the BGM from Kannathil Muthamittal. These type of songs are Alka's forte in Bollywood. She comfortably carries the song, while I feel Jayachandran pronunciations sound a little enforced. But if you concentrate on his voice quality, that's not a problem at all. Is there a male chorus singing along with Jayachandran at the end ? It sounds as one voice actually.

Meherbaan (Instrumental)
I feel so happy just talking about this song. If ARR's voice is also to be slotted as instrumental, then this is rightly classified. Listen to the portion from 1.20 to 1.40 and the guitar transition from then onwards, his voice sounds nothing less than an instrument.
All of us have to be Meherbaan to ARR for giving us such a beautiful album. (Meherbaan means grateful)

|

Its one of those phases in life, where you wish words fail and since I'm still red from pinching myself all night and can't wait anymore to announce proudly that, I attended my first ever AR Rahman concert last night. The Live Life concert.
Along with Sandhya and Aravind's families(thankees guys), we reached 3 hours before the show was about to start. Despite the fussy security procedures, we somehow managed to secure great seats.

The stage was set the way it is always in a ARR concert - Sivamani in his cocoon of percussion instruments on the right, the compact chorus on the left, musicians scattered strategically and the man himself in the center with his keyboards. It looked ethereal to me. I used to imagine this vision in my mind every time I read his concert reviews and now I was looking at it with my own eyes, a few feet in front of me! At that moment, he descended the white steps wearing a black sherwani while Chitra crooned Jaage hain from Guru. It was a magical moment. I had goose flesh all over me.
Hariharan and Chinmayee went on with Kadhal Rojave from Roja. Somehow I felt, Hariji sounded very unlike himself initially. Chinmayee was a shocker absolutely. Neeti Mohan who was mistaken to be Shreya Ghoshal by most of us; came next with her Barso Rey and drenched us all with her smooth voice, great looks and moves too ! (She sang and belly danced for Mayya mayya later!!)
Naresh Iyer came to rock with his Paathshala and Roobaroo ! Benny Dayal has oodles of style. His singing of Marlyn Monroe with Ujjaiyinee was extremely cheesy and flirtatious. The voice chemistry between Chinmayee and Benny in Maduraiku Pogadhadee was almost tangible. I'm still confused if that really was Javed Ali who sang Jashn-e-bahaara ? Rahman's rendition of Khalbali, Athiradeekaaran, Dil se rey, Tere bina and Humma Humma made the crowd scream for more. We just couldn't get enough of his music, his voice and his versatility.
That's when he surprised everyone by combining Azeemushah Shahenshah, Rukmani rukmani and Veerapandi Kottaiyile into one song. Through the length of this song, the percussion beats were retained of that of Azeemushah's. Its brilliant how he uses his old songs in such new ways. I was bowled over completely.
Blaaze joined Naresh Iyer, Benny Dayal and Aslam for a thrilling rendition of Vaada vaada theme from Sivaji. Chinmayee and Hariji came back for Vaaji vaaji galore with his lilting improvisations and Sivamani(??) singing the dhidukita dhidukata part. Chitra returned a long while later with her Kannalane.
There was an unplugged slot in the show where Rahman sat with his keyboard and Chitra, Chinmayee and Hariharan sat opposite him for a one-to-one singing. After some technical adjustments, during which we were entertained by Hariji with a beautiful swar-alaap that metamorphosed into Tamizha tamizha followed by Uyire uyire with Chitra. Chitra came out with her solo version of Anjali anjali from Duet. And Chinmayee finished the one-to-one session with Sahana Saaral thoovudho. ( I wished she had sung something else, there was just too much of Sivaji - but no regrets !!)
I must mention, the chorus(Raihanah, Ishrathi, Tanvi Sayonara, Dr.Narayan) who did a commendable job with all the songs, the dancers who thematically moved to every song, the lights that danced according to the rhythm in most songs (esp kannalane) and the fireworks too.

The final showdown, the anticlimax, call it what you want,but this song would always prove to be the perfect close to a Rahman Concert - Vande Mataram, it is. All the singers came together on the stage and sung it with the man himself leading the song to a crescendo. I wished time to freeze, I wished to be lost in that moment forever, I was content :-)

|

Past tense - "So much to do;so less time"
Present tense - "Nothing to do;so much time to spend"

I feel like I'm living a life of extremes. Maybe I'm just not striking the balance well ? Anyways, just to keep myself a little occupied and beat boredom, I created this and it is proving to be something more than a time pass. Being a music crazy person especially Bollywood music justifies song & lyrics that happened like a reality in disguise.
When I posted the translation of Lukka Chupi as a dedication to someone, sons living abroad, sent the post to their mothers back home as a sign of their unexpressed shy love. I had such mothers commenting how this had rekindled the love even while living in 2 different worlds. I was touched ! Period.
Tere bina from Guru was translated for the pure joy the song gave me; as it happens to rank high amongst my favourites. But honestly with so many websites devoted to lyrics, I didn't expect it to be noticed at all.
I've transferred both the posts mentioned here along with a few other songs.
Do continue to give your unparalleled support, suggestions,linkbacks & requests to this second baby of mine too!
Folks of the blogsville, I give you Songs & Lyrics !
*Applause*

|

After quoting the Blogger's Exam Rule in almost every post, I stayed away from blogging during my exams and now I figured out that things would have been pretty much the same otherwise too ! Well, this year has instilled a lot of changes in me. Change is good and actually fun !
If you ask me what color I like the most, and pat the reply would come- Black ! But now, I've found new fantasy in the color green! I actually went out to buy some clothes, and ironically, this time to my mother's surprise I didn't pick any black or stuff remotely close to black either. And no prizes for guessing it, all the gear happened to be green !! Oooohh, my template is green too ! ;) (But not for long) I'm starting to see the world through green tinted glasses !!
Fantasy number 2- Old Hindi songs. I dug up my dad's Rafi, Asha, Lata, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Manna Dey collection and what a stress-buster it has been. Its sheer joy to listen to music with great vocal quality and by using basic instruments like the tabla, sitar and dholak, the virgin nature of music was left to rest in peace. The traditional patronage is almost dying out now despite fatal attempts to revive it with the remix technology.
Fantasy number 3- I've been scribbling using the anti-technology writing device- the lovely pencil. I've love to write lyrics of my favorite songs.I'm notorious for pressing down the tip of my pencil so hard that you can see the impression on the next 3 pages or more. Its absolutely bliss to scribble away on a plain white page. Drag in an arrow from the middle of a line to the last of another, no formatting, no spacing, no font trouble, do caps or go cursive, use shorthand ! And do it the way you like it, the elementary, primitive way!

|

Some of the tortures my mother put me through in the tender years of my life were dance and music classes. But it was music that I loathed learning the most.
My folks took me to this carnatic singer during one of my visits to Madras; from whom it was considered most auspicious and fortunate to start a musical lesson. And so began my encounters with the 7 swaras at a tender age of 3 ! There I sat in my tiny frock, cross-legged before this man who seemed hippy-like compared to my 2.5 feet height ! Unshaven, shoulder length oil dripping hair, a red beetle nut coated tongue and wearing a filthy white shirt, he resembled a gardener more than a guru. Before I could make more assessments regarding his appearance, he made a huge slap to his thigh and crooned "Saaa, paaa, sollu paakalam"
And the smart-ass that I was,asked, pointing to his thigh - "Apdi adikanuma ?" (Well come on at 3, I was ignore of the existance of the concept of taalam!) He let out a guffaw and said - "Aama kozhandai" ! I looked back at my mother who gave me a Do-what-he-asks-you-to look. And so I slapped his thigh with my little fingers and said saa paa in my pinju kural. :D Once I heard a huge intake of breath from behind me, I realized that the slapping is going to interchange once we get home. Slowly I turned waiting for the repercussion of my act of bravery and gratefully I escaped with a smile ! Thanks to my cute-appavi looks !
Every class from then onwards, I was taken dutifully by my mother coaxed and cajoled in the false hope that, it would be my last class. But then God knows, what they saw (heard) in me, the last class never came and before I realized I had actually begun to like the routine and was looking forward to them.
Today, I'm so grateful to those days, for instilling such a deeply rooted love for music.

|