A.R Rehman in Concert at NY
Posted by Anandhan Subbiah on Jun 17, 2007 in Events and News, Movies, Music • 6 commentsI 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
I am not satisfied with AR Rahman Concert in NY. The Concert was definitely good, but I am disappointed as there are no Telugu Songs. Just one song and it was not executed well. I am a big music lover and spent lot of money for the concert. I wish Rahman should have performed atleast couple good songs in Telugu. My wife had good time as Hariharan was her bigtime favourite. I think Rahman concert is a big disappointment to all Telugu fans if they are not aware of Tamil or Hindi songs. But Humma-Humma was rocking. I wish in future Rahman will come up with some songs organised equally in Hindi, Telugu & Tamil.
Yeah. I agree. There should have been a good mix of Tamil , Telugu and Hindi. I heard that lot of North Indians were complaining that there were too many Tamil songs too. Either way I think overall the concert was not all that bad.
I went to his VA concert and I must say that he did do equal no of Tamil and Hindi but only one Telugu and that was by Hariharan ( nelluri nerajana ) Kururkku Siruthavale in Tamil.
And yes, Hariharan was amazing. Loved his jathi/alaap intro for Ghanna Ghanna giving a totally different feel to the song
[...] This is the title song and pick of all the songs in the movie Thottal Poo Malarum. Vijay Yesudaas did not impress me in the A.R Rehman concert but this dude can really sing and you will know I am spot on when you listen to the song. It is a beautiful and scintillating melody. This song is also a romatic song where the youth describes the beauty of his lover and expresses his love for her at the same time. Yuvan like his usual self has opted for a soothing fusion music. If you listen to the composition of Yuvan you will notice that he has mastered the violin like his legendary father. Right from his manmadhan days he has relied heavily on the violin ( even though he copied the violin piece in manmadhan from his dad . Compare it to the the background score of the Rajini starrer Siva and you will know what I am talking about) . [...]
@SASI….. Remember, RAHMAN has not even composed for a SINGLE Telugu movie..All the songs u hear in telugu are from the Tamil movies which are dubbed into Telugu.. Also, only Telugu audiences listen to Telugu… But that is not the case for Tamil and Hindi… Here in Kerala, TAMIL and HINDI MUSIC is first for the youth…
So, TELUGU performances are only necessary when Rahman comes to Hyderabad.
[...] pick of all the songs in the movie Thottal Poo Malarum. Vijay Yesudaas did not impress me in the A.R Rehman concert but this dude can really sing and you will know I am spot on when you listen to the song. It is a [...]