Yet another grand day when it comes to events in the UAE. And once again Rahman dazzles in a big way.
Very true when he claims that it was the first show at Dubai that earned him the title of a performer. That was his first major concert and everyone who was there knows how grande that one was. The first Rahman concert I attended though was his second one, when he came down in 2004. Just the excitement was giving me sleepless nights. And was I blown away or what. Four years later, Rahman's back...this time I took the wise decision of getting a seat back at the gallery instead of the pricey ones, because that is where the fun really is. And to make it even more exciting, I took a bunch of buddies , all of whome were attending a Rahman concert for the first time. And all of them loved the show. Me...well I preferred the 2004 concert for some reason. Like they say, the first one is always special! First of all, things I loved about the show: The gallery errupting with the Sivaji and Boys track. That was specatcular. Khwaja Khwaja rendition from Rahman. For me the highlight of the evening, because for the first time the song touched me in a special way. Watching Rahman rendering the song in that reverence, ...I was moved, shaken and stirred :-) I was really hoping for the Secret of Success...and in the final moments of the concert, there they were....WE ARE THE BOYS Dil Se...Full marks to the stage settings. The backdrop flames on the display screens gave a fiery effect to the whole performance. Things that disappointed me: Even if it was for a few mins, I would have loved the aucostic renditions that Rahman did in the 98 concert. The one where he had four singers around doing only the soulful melody numbers of his while Rahman have a go on his piano. Everyone remembers that one and a definitely a feature I would have loved to see him return to. That is the one where he could throw in a lot of the songs that gets lost in the glitz and blaze. (No, not a reference to the singer but just to all the fast numbers). A concert without Mustafa Mustafa ...oh no... I was also hoping Naresh to croon Anbe Va. The problem again is the desire to please the Hindi crowd. Because there was a lot of Guru and Jodhaa Akbar. Even if that was the case, i wish SWADES (Yuhi chala, Yeh jo desh), SAATHIYA (o hum dum is a sure fire) or even good ol RANGEELA made it to the final cut. The Mangal Pandey number could have been avoided because it just looked like a last minute attempt, with the notes going all haywire. I mean, I was hoping that they would have tweaked a lot for the Dubai one, but I guess they were just going ahead with the regular song line up from the recent concerts like Delhi. Still at the end of the day it was a wonderful concert. Cannot deny it its rightful place in the event calender. Anyways, for the second time in running, my attempts at meeting the great talent backstage failed. Again this time all I could see was him being guided right into his car. Both the time i was at touching distance...(hmm, one day...one day for sure) Ok now to open up the pandora's box....how many of the songs were lip syncs and how many weren't....any guesses?
