Monday, December 18, 2017
After an AR Rahman concert, musings on the music and beyond
I went to an AR Rahman concert at Brabourne.
Music good; some new numbers unrecognized
I recognized most of the old numbers; but of the recent ones (Highway, for example) I did not know. My favorite ones from the night (and in general) were; Swades, Urvashi. There was a bass guitarist girl who was good- was it Mohini Dey? Need to figure out more (This post is to be updated). I feel concert energy levels wise, Shankar Ehsaan Loy take the cake. However, it depends so much on the mood you are in, of course (mine today: phlegmatic). Further, see below:
Not exactly within touching distance of the maestro
Sound quality was a bit muffled because we'd scrimped on ticket costs (1,500 per head) and bought far off seats- 20th row from the ground level, at Brabourne stadium (if you've ever been there). In terms of watching a cricket match, it was close enough- pitch was close- but AR Rahman was near the sightscreen area, and I was at deep point (20 rows behind). CSS had an interesting point when she said that she'd decided that she'll go for concerts only if she buys the real pricey tickets where you can get up close and personal with the artist, else she prefers MP3s at home. Maybe it goes hand in hand with the life philosophy of do a few things well vs. do a bunch of things ok-ish.Another maestro is summoned; slightly ridiculous stage props; and cricket
Often, when there was a gap, people started shouting "Sacheen, Sacheeen", which was amusing. The sight of one maestro reminded the crowd of the other? Not really, I think cricket ground and shouts of Sachin go hand in hand. Some of the stage props I thought were bit ridiculous, like a girl dancing inside a bubble. It was like Filmafare awards meets India's got talent. Oh, and they had respectfully cordoned off the pitch and nearby areas. I was imagining a bunch of flippant lads actually playing cricket while the concert was on, completely oblivious of their surroundings. They would have restricted ARR's motion on stage- movement near the sightscreen!India's got few music-alone stars- most are Bollywood
In India, there are few mainstream music "stars" who have made it big without Bollywood. AR Rahman, SEL, Lata Mangeshkar - all are movie driven. I'm keeping classical music aside. The western music scene is just replete with singing mega stars, across genres, who have no connection whatsoever to Hollywood. I wonder, will this change? Hope some of the more music attuned folk will reply below.
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