I went to the Rehman concert at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island NY. The expectation was very high as Rehman is known to be a perfectionist and I was not disappointed . I went to the concert with my wife Amy and her two sisters Jen and Rita. My navigation system somehow took me to the Lincoln Tunnel and before I realized it I was in Manhattan . The traffic was way too high and to make things worse no one bothered to follow the traffic rules. It reminded me of driving in crowded Bangalore. The fact is when there are way too many vehicles it is not always easy to follow rules or to enforce rules. I wish India had a lesser population and maybe things would be more organized then .
The concert was actually very good. The quality of the sound was outstanding even though there were phases where the vocals were not clearly audible . The seating arrangements and the lighting arrangements left a lot to be desired but that did not stop the thousands of fans who had gathered there from having fun or enjoying the music . The songs included latest hits like Sivaji,Guru,Rang De Basanti and Rehmans old hits.
The pick of the singers was Hariharan . He even did a small dance much to the amusement of the audience . Blazee was the crowd entertainer . He was full of energy and made his presense felt with Secret of Success and the theme song of Sivaji. He also went around the audience and drove them to a frenzy.
The best songs overall were probably all the sivaji songs , Secret of Success and Chaiya Chaiya . Kailash Kher (wore a funny turban and was) a perfect partner for Sukhwinder Singh. Chithra and Sathana Sargam did thier job to perfection. Naresh Iyer , the singer from Indian Idol made sure that the faith Rehman had in him was spot on !! .
Vijay Yesudas did not get too many opportunities but the singer had a tough time with the Sivaji song ‘Sahana ‘. Rehman was at his best as usual but he was visibly tired . His rendition of the popula song “Antha Arabic” from bombay was one of the highlights of the concert . The crowd simply went nuts when he sang the blockbuster hit from Sivaji. My sister-in-law Rita got all excited listening to Hariharan singing her favorite song from Roja. Amy and Jen had a great time as well . Amy was even singing along with the singers ! The only thing which was bothering both me and Amy was that our daughter was not with us . I was thinking that I should take Ria to a Rehman concert when she is old enough just to let her know the awesome talent we have in India.
Overall it was the best place to be in if you are a music fan. Rehman is a class act and he confirmed it with a terrific concert.
I managed to take some pictures but they are really not high quality but anyway here they are http://www.anandhansubbiah.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=925.
Here are some songs(original) from the concert:
Boys - Secret Of Success
Bombay - Antha Arabic
Bombay - Kannalane
Roja - Kadhal Rojavae
