Rahman and I @ Kozhikode

Dated: 3rd May, 2009

Place: Kozhikode, Kerala

From Left: Karthick, Siva, I and Deepan

From Left: Karthick, Vivek, I and Vasanth

The ARRahman concert just about rocked the entire stadium of Kozhikode. The publicized start timing for the concert was 7PM but we knew that as per schedule means ‘not on schedule’. We entered the stadium by 5PM and just managed to scamper to seats that gave a pretty good view of the stage carrying with us half a dozen bananas (four of us did not have our lunch), thanks to Aravind. We sat there waiting for the music magician to make his appearance for more than 2 hours. As expected the concert started 45 minutes past the ‘on schedule’ time. However the last time I attended ARR’s concert it started 1.5 hours late, so I consider this an improvement.

‘Mausam and Escape’ from Slumdog Millionaire, the beautiful sitar pieces that had taken my breath away when I first heard it was performed live on stage by Azad (supposedly). That was when I realized that the sound was not as good as I expected it to be. (The sound at Chennai Concert rocked!)

The Man entered the stage singing ‘O Saya’, sorry to say, a dumb entry – it’s a powerful song, but the setup kind of lacked the amazement that should have adorned the entry of a Hero (Yet again, Chennai scored here – I still remember that fire screen – with ‘Oruvan Oruvan Muthalali’s’ trumpets as Rahman appeared with his keyboard). Shivaji’s ‘Athiradee’ followed which was followed by the thumpy ‘Padaakali’ (from ARR’s only mallu movie ‘Yodha’) very interestingly sung by Benny and George.

Hariharan came up with the trademark ‘Roja Jaaneman’ and Raja Hasan’s Masaakali, clearly put into limelight the missing soul of the song, which was Mohit Chauhan. Various other singers adorned the stage – which was mostly a mix of totally new, and new singers. Except for Hariharan and Chitra other big names were missing.

CONCERT DETAILS

Courtesy: Rahmanism.com

Singers:

Male Singers : A R Rahman,Hariharan,Javed Ali,Rashid Ali,Raja Hasan,Benny Dayal,Mohd Aslam,Goerge Peters and Blaaze

Female Singers : Chitra,Sadhna Sargam,Suzzanne,Vivian Chaix, Neeti Mohan,Saynora,Raihana,Tanvi

Instrumentalists:

• Naveen - Flute
• Sanjeev Thomas - Guitar
• Rashid Ali - Guitar
• Stephan Devassy - Keyboard
• Unknown – DJ
• Unknown – Tabla
• Asad – Sitar
• Raja Hasan - Percussions

Track List:

1. Welcome speech by Saynora with Shano Shano (Yuvvraaj) in background
2. Mausam and Escape (Slumdog Millionaire)
3. O Saya (Slumdog Millionaire) - A R Rahman,Tanvi n chorus
4. Athiradi (Sivaji) - A R Rahman, sayanora
5. Padakaali (Yodha) - George Peter and Benny Dayal
6. Tu muskura (Yuvvraaj) - Sadhana Sargam
7. Roja janeman (Roja) - Sadhana Sargam. Hariharan
8. Masakali (Delhi 6) - Raja Hasan
9. Jiya se jiya (Connections) – A R Rahman
10. Oru koodai (Sivaji) - Blaaze
11. Liquid dance (Slumdog Millionaire) - Cinematic Dance - Recorded
12. Guzarish (Ghajini) – Javed Ali
13. Netru illatha (Pudhiya Mugham)(K.S.Chitra)
14. Malargale (Love Birds)(Chitra n Hariharan)
15. Kabhi kabhi (Jaane Tu)(rashid ali) with a beautiful engish song bit in prelude
16. Rehna Tu (Delhi 6) - A R Rahman
17. Ringa Ringa (Slumdog Millionaire) – Syanora, Neethi Mohan
18. Gangsta Blues (Slumdog Millionaire) - Blaaze
19. New (New) - Blaaze
20. Kaalabhander (Delhi 6) -Blaze n Benny Dhayal
21. Azeem O Shahenshah, Rukhmani and Veerapandi medley (Jodhaa Akbar,Roja,Thiruda Thiruda) - A R Rahman
22. Latika's theme (Slumdog Millionaire) - Suzzane
23. Kwaja ji (Jodhaa Akbar) - A R Rahman
24. Arziyan (Delhi 6) – ARRahman, javed Ali, Raja Hasan
25. Manassu manassinte (music by arr’s father late RK Shekar)by KS Chitra | this song was a malayalam song which is fav of Rahmanji's father and rahmanji himself. His sis Rehana talked a little bout their father and dedicated that song to him.
26. Kannalane (Bombay) - Chitra
27. Aye hairathe (Guru) - A R Rahman , Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam
28. Vaaji vaaji (Sivaji) - Hariharan, Sadhana Sargam
29. Mustafa mustafa (Kadhal Desam) – Sanjeev Thomas(Guitars), A R Rahman
30. Dhakalakkabukka (Yuva) – AR Rahman
31. pappu cant dance (Jaane Tu) - AR Rahman, Benny, Blaaze
32. Aye Bachu (Ghajini) - Suzzane
33. Urvasi urvasi(ar rahman) a part of the song only (bt rahman missed lyrics and skipped some parts)
34. Taxi taxi( benny dhayal,Blaze,Vivian Chaix n ar rahman)..
35. Antha arabikadaloram(started off with taal se taal western beats and then a mind blowin abrupt switch to the intro bgm of arabikadaloram)
36. Jai ho (Slumdog Millionaire)
37. Vande matharam

Highlights:

ð Amazing Crowd.

ð The last 1 hour rocked the house. (Mustafa Mustafa – Guitars Sp. Mention, Humma Humma, Pappu cant Dance, Oorvasi Oorvasi, JanaGana Mana, Taxi Taxi)

ð Chitra’s Netru illatha maatram.

ð Hariharan, Suzzane, Rashid Ali

ð The Malayalam song by Benny Dayal and George Peters.

ð Ringa Ringa (Amazing looking Neethi Mohan, Song not a concert material but reproduced very well on stage)

ð Rehna Tu…

Lowlights:

ð Sound: Two gigantic speakers can never make up for a crowd of 50000.

ð Slumdog Millionaire: It may have got him the Oscar, but we know better. The whole album being played, took the place of other classics that adorn his concerts.

ð Intro of ARR: too simple.

ð No ‘Dil Se re’ – No ‘New York Nagaram’.

ð No ARR with Keyboard.

ð No biggie singers except Hariharan and Chitra.

ð No Cameras Allowed!

Verdict:

It was an enjoyable concert, no doubts – however it was nowhere near the Chennai’s Unity of Light concert that I attended. The Chennai’s concert beats Kozhikode fair and square in all faces, right from the singers to the sound to the performance. The only thing that was better in Kozhikode was the stadium which was a better concert arena than Chennai’s. If I rate Chennai concert as 10/10, I’d rate this as 7/10. But then, who cares – it’s Rahman!