An instrumental version of paruvame was being played on the speakers as we entered the gates of the Nehru Indoor stadium. After taking our seats the wait for Raaja sir’s entry was really exciting. And then a door opened slowly on top of the stage and we got our first glimpse of Raaja surrounded by little kids. As he started coming down the steps crackers started flying and he started singing janane janane. The King had arrived and we his fans went berserk as Raaja bowed to us in acknowledgment of the applause.
And thru the show Raaja was at his spectacular best. His own unique style of conducting the show like for instance, stopping in the middle of a song to correct his orchestra players, was fabulous, in its sheer novelty. The singing demonstration of different folks songs, handed over by word of mouth from generation to generation, was scintillating. The grandeur of the orchestration for songs like sundari kannal oru seidi really came thru listening to them live.
While a lot of the singers like SPB,Hariharan,Chitra,Jayachandra or even Mano sang really well, listening to Sreya Ghosal singing live was a huge dampener. She totally spoilt songs like elangatru vesude by skipping whole lines and mispronouncing the rest, and left me feeling she does not deserve to be in the same stage as Isaignani Ilayaraaja.Some of the celebrities speaking between songs, especially Barathiraja, were really irritating. It would have been nice if Raaja had performed songs from Nothing but Wind or How to Name It.
Certain joys in life cannot be put in words. The privilege of watching Raaja sir perform is one of them. What makes Ilayaraaja so special for so many of us? I have for a while been trying to figure out the answer to this. I think it lies in the fact that there are very few things and people in our lives, which are a constant and always there to comfort us. My immediate family, those precious people who are my close friends, and Raaja’s enduring music are those invaluable things in my life, which I would call permanent.
Monday, October 17, 2005
The King Performs
An instrumental version of paruvame was being played on the speakers as we entered the gates of the Nehru Indoor stadium. After taking our seats the wait for Raaja sir’s entry was really exciting. And then a door opened slowly on top of the stage and we got our first glimpse of Raaja surrounded by little kids. As he started coming down the steps crackers started flying and he started singing janane janane. The King had arrived and we his fans went berserk as Raaja bowed to us in acknowledgment of the applause.
And thru the show Raaja was at his spectacular best. His own unique style of conducting the show like for instance, stopping in the middle of a song to correct his orchestra players, was fabulous, in its sheer novelty. The singing demonstration of different folks songs, handed over by word of mouth from generation to generation, was scintillating. The grandeur of the orchestration for songs like sundari kannal oru seidi really came thru listening to them live.
While a lot of the singers like SPB,Hariharan,Chitra,Jayachandra or even Mano sang really well, listening to Sreya Ghosal singing live was a huge dampener. She totally spoilt songs like elangatru vesude by skipping whole lines and mispronouncing the rest, and left me feeling she does not deserve to be in the same stage as Isaignani Ilayaraaja.Some of the celebrities speaking between songs, especially Barathiraja, were really irritating. It would have been nice if Raaja had performed songs from Nothing but Wind or How to Name It.
Certain joys in life cannot be put in words. The privilege of watching Raaja sir perform is one of them. What makes Ilayaraaja so special for so many of us? I have for a while been trying to figure out the answer to this. I think it lies in the fact that there are very few things and people in our lives, which are a constant and always there to comfort us. My immediate family, those precious people who are my close friends, and Raaja’s enduring music are those invaluable things in my life, which I would call permanent.
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9 comments:
Wow.. that was a nice commentary, Sid.. Rajaanna Rajaadhan..
What makes Ilayaraaja so special for so many of us?
We grew up listening to his music.. All our best moments of our early age have a few songs of his attached to it..
nice coverage.. indeed, I was waiting for your version, after reading SIFY coverage yesterday. I feel he should have packed with more songs rather than interupptions by personalities like Bharathi Raja..
We were saved from these sort of gimmicks during ARR show.
Indeed, it is sad to note that Shreya Goshal has goofed up... on the stage, as you had mentioned.
I'm sure some of IR's melodies will be timeless and fresh even when my grandchildren get to listen to it.
Great to know you had fun man. Something to tell your kids about...
Thanks for sharing your Experiance of Ilayaraaja's live show with us.
ELVIS is still the King Sidd! :)
Cool!!
jealous of you :(
IR is special to me too. He is a great Music composer. I remember the days when Annakkili came out. What a refresher..and then bang..hit after hit 16 vayathinile, etc..etc.
Even today, there is a distinct feeling when I listen to a IR song. Its his usage of certain instruments , tune etc.!!
I am glad you had fun. I read you, Vatsan and also saw the pictures at IndiaGlitz...I felt sad that I missed it. Hope he comes to US.
It's not always that people get to watch their idols perform live.So chrish the moment forever.
Much as I admire him for his compositons (particlarly in the 80s when he was at his peak), I was never a fan of his singing.My thatha feels he same!that's the only glitch that comes to my mind.despite that however,he can never be displaced among Indian music composers.
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