Awesome.
enjoyed reading it.
--- Shama <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Alright, here goes. I think if it was not for this
> group, I would not
> have found out about the concert as early as I did.
> It would've taken a
> longer time for me to realize that ARR was going to
> be here. Anyway,
> thanks to the group, I managed to get my tickets in
> time and spent a
> good amount of money for that.
>
> I was trying my level best to not get carried away
> daydreaming and all
> that, just for the fact that this was going to be on
> a much smaller
> scale than most ARR's concerts. Time just flew by
> and the day I was
> waiting for had finally arrived. Since we were going
> from Canada, we had
> to make sure we got there well in advance.
>
> On the morning of April 15, I could not make myself
> to sit and study as
> I was way too excited to get there. I had not spared
> anyone who actually
> bothered to listen to me going on about the way I
> was feeling about
> going to ARR's concert. Finally, the time had come
> for us to leave. As
> childish as it may sound, I had checked my tickets
> at least 10 times
> during the drive there. I was really anxious
> considering it was not a
> full-fledged ARR concert. Everyone who knew about it
> wondered out loud
> whether it was worth paying all that money just to
> see some Americans
> perform ARR's songs. But I kept telling myself that
> all that
> mattered was the fact that ARR himself was going to
> be there performing.
> It is usual for original singers to perform his
> songs. If anyone is to
> visit the message board on miindia.com, you will
> probably come across a
> lot of messages saying it was not worth their money
> and what not. And
> obviously I do not agree with it.
>
> After we got there, we didn't wait around too much.
> We just showed our
> tickets and got in. When we entered the stadium, it
> was a bit
> intimidating 'cos it was still sinking that I was
> really there. We were
> shown to our seats in the 4th row. Oh, just before
> the concert, there
> was a reception where one could get to meet everyone
> including ARR, but
> that was 150 dollars per person. Skipped that. The
> stadium was yet to be
> filled in with people. I was just taking in the
> details of the stage in
> front of us. I could see the KORG keyboards that was
> a sign where Rahman
> was going to be. And I could not be happier. He was
> going to be right in
> front of me. Time passed and the stadium was filled
> up with a lot of
> people. I truly was not expecting that many people,
> considering
> Ypsilanti is a small city and all. Anyhow, finally
> it was time for the
> show to begin.
>
> The Global Rhythm group entered and took their
> positions. The singers
> were distributed in 3 groups (comprising of atleast
> 25 people each).
> Then there were the string instrument players, the
> keyboard players and
> the percussionists. The President of EMU made an
> opening speech,
> praising this effort and ARR. And then we were told
> that the music was
> directed by ARR, and was going to be conducted by
> Ethan Sperry. After
> that one white girl came up and started, " Sari
> madushaala pi aaya...".
> I could not believe what I was hearing. My instant
> reaction was 'What in
> the world?!' And what followed after shut me up for
> the rest of the
> concert. The way these people performed 'Ramta jogi'
> was mindblowing.
> The energy levels were skyrocketing. My eyes were
> welled up by the time
> they ended the song. And I remember thinking, 'Tears
> already? This is
> just the beginning!'. I managed to get my act
> together by the time,
> Ethan asked us to welcome The Man himself. At this
> moment, walked along
> a man who is admired, adored and loved by millions.
> He showed up clad in
> white cotton clothes. And he got the loudest cheers
> and a standing
> ovation. ARR took the mike and said (paraphrasing) "
> Can you believe
> what is happening on the stage?" A cheer followed.
> "Neither can I".
>
> It must be mentioned that there were some groups in
> the audience who
> were really loud. I mean I totally understand that
> everyone was excited
> to see him on the stage and everything, but there is
> something called a
> decent behaviour. It was to the extent that someone
> pointed it out to
> ARR and he had to say (paraphrasing) " Please listen
> to the singers
> while they are performing and shower your
> appreciation and love after
> the act was done". I felt ashamed. But I think it
> silenced people to a
> certain extent. I am roughly going to talk about the
> songs performed in
> (almost) orderly fashion and my own opinion of the
> performance:
>
> Khalbali : Performed by ARR. Brilliant. Very well
> sung. I think it was
> Karaoke.
>
> Yaaro Yarodi : Performed by Vasundhara Das. The
> chorus was a few Indian
> girls from the GR (Global Rhythm). The music was
> also performed by GR.
>
> Veerapaandi Kottayilae: Performed by GR. It was
> brilliant. I am going to
> take the liberty to say I don't think that this song
> could sound anymore
> amazing during the chorus. The male part was sung by
> all the males in
> the group and the female part was likewise.
>
> Roobaroo: This was again a great performance. It
> must be kept in mind
> the songs were sung by different singers from GR and
> then ARR joined
> them every now and then. The funniest part of this
> song was when they
> were wrapping up the song and singing "aye saala''
> during which they all
> pointed towards the audience. Every single time
> towards the end of the
> song, 'aye saala' was towards to audience. Too
> funny.
>
> Raaga's Dance : Vanessa Mae's one. Performed by
> Melissa Reiner
> (violin),V R Sekar (cello), ARR (keyboard) and
> Patrick Hernly (tabla).
> Brilliant.
>
> Paathshala - Be a Rebel : Performed by some female
> GR singers. They even
> danced to it. Awesome stuff.
>
> Ik onkar - Performed by Vasundhara Das. Very well
> sung.
>
> Rang De Basanti - Performed by singers from GR. The
> male lead was
> awesome. And the female counterparts were great as
> well. They did
> complete justice to the masti and energy factor of
> the song.
>
> Dol Dol (Yuva) - This was one of my most amazing
> performance. Performed
> by GR percussionists. I am a huge percussions fan
> and I loved this to
> bits. The vibes given off by this performance were
> unbeatable. Brilliant
> stuff.
>
> There was a brief intermission after Dol Dol. There
> were little
> incidents that happened during the performance. One
> was when ARR said
> just one word in tamil which I didnt understand. But
> the people cheered.
> Then there again was a lot of noise from the same
> side of the audience
> who earlier were chanting 'Rahman sexy'. This time
> around Rahman said
> something in tamil which I am guessing had to do
> with him giving these
> people the mike or something. And then this was the
> best part : People
> were chanting 'We want Rahman'. And he responded
> saying, "I am here.
> Take me". Followed by a loud cheer and I said
> something like "I will".
> (I know it will sound corny. Excuse me for that)
>
> Once the concert resumed, the GR group had changed
> their clothes. The
> males had their head covered and the females were
> wearing sarees. This
> was a sign something very pious was about to happen.
> The Mayor of
> Ypsilanti took the stage and honoured ARR by giving
> him the Key to the
> City ( a medieval tradition symbolising trust, love
> and faith) ARR gave
> her a hug, which was soo sweet of him. There was
> also a lucky draw where
> the 2 prizes were an autogrpahed poster of ARR and
> tshirts of EMU and
> Miami University. Then followed more performances.
>
> Desh - This was an Indian classical bit performed by
> GR. Loosely termed
> it was an aalap. It was the only non-ARR
> composition. This was picked up
> by Kevin Lambert whilst he was in Chennai working
> with ARR and then put
> to chorus by Ethan. It sounded to me as if it was in
> Desh raag.
>
> Zikr - A pleasant surprise. The vibes were awesome.
> They all sang very
> well. This also explained the change in dressing.
> Then followed a little
> conversation with the audience which I shall quote
> (and paraphrase) from
> Ganpy Nataraj (already posted in the group) : ARR
> quipped towards the
> end of the act (paraphrasing) "I think I met Ethan
> 4-5 years back around
> Christmas and I wished him Merry Christmas. He said,
> Merry Christmas to
> you - I am Jewish" Laughter followed. "When I was
> composing for Bose, I
> explained to Ethan Sufism, Islam and the meaning of
> the song Zikr. When
> he sent me the list of songs that they had picked
> for this concert, the
> first one in the list was Zikr. This is a song that
> I normally would
> feel odd about performing in my own
> show...because...you know..." He
> went on to add how this relationship is important
> and his wish to go
> further and music crossing boundaries, etc. His
> ending comment
> (paraphrasing) "If one of these students here
> becomes the president (of
> the USA), the world will be more peaceful..."
>
> Rang De - A dance performance by GR members. The
> original song was
> played. There was a technical glitch when the song
> stopped playing for a
> few seconds but then resumed. Props to all for being
> good sports about
> it.
>
> Then Vasundhara Das came on stage to mention how ARR
> and every other
> classical 'gurus' back in India are trying to
> preserve our heritage of
> Indian Classical Music. She went on to say, how ARR
> is making an effort
> to make sure he reconnects today's youth with their
> classical heritage.
>
> Bombay Awakes, Nahin saamne, Ghanan Ghanan, Mangal
> Mangal -
> Instrumentals performed by ARR, Sekar and aalap by
> Srinivas Krishnan.
>
> Thee Thee - Performed in tamil by Vasundhara Das and
> Indian members of
> GR.
>
> Shakalaka Baby - Bombay dreams versions. Karaoke
> performed by Vasundhara
> Das and Chorus by singers of GR.
>
> Dil se - Performed by ARR. Chorus by singers of GR.
> Needless to say,
> Awesome!!
>
> Yuva - Performed by GR singers. Again awesome stuff.
> ARR pitched in.
> This was one time I actually thought he was really
> jumpy. I loved it.
>
> Classical performance - aalap/ taraana by Srinivas
> Krishnan and Patrick
> Hernly. Awesome.
>
> Chale Chalo - Aah! Gorgeous performance. It was a
> live version and every
> single person on stage was involved in the
> performance. Towards the end
> of the song, where the pace of the song picks up,
> that was given shape
> on the stage by thunderous claps by the groups on
> stage. Heavenly.
>
> Vande Mataram - As I had mentioned, no ARR concert
> is complete without
> it. Singers on the stage were swaying their hands
> and did complete
> justice to the song during the chorus. The lead was
> done by ARR (of
> course!) When they began playing and singing this
> one, everyone was on
> their feet. I had tears in my eyes. I have not been
> able to decide why
> exactly there were tears. Whether it was because I
> was watching ARR
> perform 'Vande Mataram' right in front of me or it
> was because this
> meant the concert was coming to an end. Though
> involuntary, the emotions
> were high.
>
> The concert ended and people parted. We lingered
> around for a bit hoping
> to catch a glance of The Man, but in vain. In my
> opinion, this was worth
> every single penny that we had spent on it. We
> thoroughly enjoyed
> ourselves. This was truly a completely ARR concert.
>
> This is ARR's dream to bridge people with the power
> of music. And what
> we saw last night was definitely a great beginning.
> Here is one man who
> lives by what he says. And if we call ourselves his
> fans, I think it
> makes complete sense to support him in his dream.
> Take the energy and
> love towards music of ARR and times it by 150.
> That's how the evening
> was. ARR was having a great time. The Global Rhythm
> group is a highly
> highly talented group. We all know how difficult it
> is to sing even a
> single ARR song properly. These people were non-
> Indians who were so
> great with his compositions. It is definitely not a
> kids' play. Who else
> has the power to make 150 non- Indians sing in hindi
> and tamil? Who else
> has the capacity to attract all thousands of people?
>
> Music truly has no boundaries. ARR is a living proof
> of that and so is
> his music. I wish I could meet him in person and
> tell him all this. But
> I consider myself lucky for being able to see him
> twice in less than 2
> years and that too in the U.S.
>
> And I am so very much in love with ARR and music all
> over again. I truly
> truly respect this man and I hope he knows what he
> means to so many of
> us.
>
>
>
>
rOshAn
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