I agree with Prasad completely. Here's my take: The Sydney concert was visually beautiful, the mood very energetic and electric, the song selection very good with great sampling of Rahman's works. I loved how Rahman was so outgoing, at ease, spontaneous, much more "crowd friendly" and "crowd comfortable" than he used to be in previous concerts IMO. I really think he's come a long way with regard to his social confidence and ease of live, mass communication...which is so nice and refreshing. Previously, we'd see ARR standing behind the keyboards looking down with very little audience engagement. That has changed. He's becoming a true showman now too!
Was AR's singing off "overall"? No. Was AR's singing off at times? Yes. So be it. And you know what? If ARR reads this here in the group, I think he would agree that his singing was off at times and personally wouldn't mind the criticism. Yes, we all know how difficult it is to sing live and to coordinate everything. Yes, we all know that Rahman is a great studio singer. Does that mean that someone can't make an observation and point out relative weaknesses in the performances? No. This group exists to celebrate ARR's music/performances, but also to analyze them and occasionally criticize too, and that's a good thing. Objectivity in a fan base only lends credibility. Healthy criticism does not mean you disrespect AR. Again, I think AR himself is open to reasonable criticism, and I think saying that his singing during the performance was at times off is reasonable and that there is room for improvement. By stating that, it doesn't mean someone is bashing AR, the concert, or showing disrespect. Please don't read too much into what some people are saying. Yes, I think the comment "ARR was off overall" is overstating things and not accurate, but there is truth that ARR's singing was quite off AT TIMES. At other times, he sang very well. Let's not make a mountain out of a molehill. If I believe that AR himself will take these things in good spirit and recognize areas of improvement for future shows, I think we too should follow in the same spirit and be careful of overreacting. We all love ARR a lot and emotions can run high sometimes, but please, let's just try to maintain a healthy perspective and avoid being impulsive and exaggerative in our statements. --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com, Prasad Varma <svspva...@...> wrote: > > I understand it is easy to be a arm chair critic and an opinion is just a few > loose key strokes away. > > Of course there are several highlights in the concert. The production was > grand, the effects were special, the enthusiasm was infectious. And Escape > and Mausam was off the charts.But in my opinion we are talking about some > valid criticism here > > No one is questioning Rahman's dedication or sincerity or the hard work that > goes behind each performance. I think some of us are prudent enough to > realize that the limitations of a live performance as well. But if you look > at some of the live recordings that have went on to become cult classics > ..... Pulse from Pink Floyd, Hell Freezes Over - Eagles....you will agree > that they add their own charm. ....Sure there is a lot of post production > work that must have gone in but still... > > On the other hand, I have listened to several live recordings ( Live in > Albert Hall types) of quite a few legendary Hindi singers (both alive and > dead) that make me cringe and scramble for the skip button. It does not mean > we are insulting these legends or my respect for them has gone down. It is > just that they have set themselves such high benchmarks through studio > recordings that any ordinary performance sticks out like a sore thumb. > > We have a couple of options here. > > One - we can celebrate mediocrity and be in denial and sing All Izz Well :-) > :-). > > Or look back... be honest... and progress. > > After Oscars as Rahman himself mentioned expectations have sky rocketed. > > I am sure Rahman has aroused the interest of new audiences. I do not think > this live performance makes a great introduction to his work though.... > > P.S. Also bummed out about a missed opportunity of a HD/5.1 DVD release of a > Rahman Live concert. > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Gomzy⢠<gomtesh.upad...@...> > To: arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Sat, January 23, 2010 12:44:21 AM > Subject: Re: [arr] Re: Sydney Concert Full videos on Youtube > > > I simply dont get it. What kind of a perfection do you guys want in a > concert? And why do you want it? If you want them to sing live, jump around, > walk around, and also be perfect in their singing arent we asking for too > much here ? > If you want accuracy in their singing, the score , the modulations and > variations please sit at home and listen to the recorded tracks ! > > Problem is what you guys want. Anyone realise how much AR rehearses before > concert ? Forget about the hours of rehearsing at his studio, he rehearses > the whole fricken night before the concert. about 10 hours. > > You guys need to also understand how ARs compositions are. They are usually > mixed easily at the studio with the singer not having to work too hard, cuz > there are multiple recordings that happen. They are very difficult to sing > live. > > Inspite of all of this they do a decent job. And they are improving after > every concert. > > Agreed its good to be honest. But please also see how much hardwork goes into > it. > > > On Sat, Jan 23, 2010 at 12:32 AM, Ramesh R <triscod...@yahoo. com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >> > > > >> > > > >Precisely! Jahanzeb is well within his rights to offer his opinion/criticism. > > > >And considering that Vijay is affiliated to KM Musiq (the label?) it's > >irresponsible of him to respond in that fashion. If you're going to be in > >the music/PR business then you should learn to take honest criticism in the > >right spirit. > > > >My personal reaction is quite similar to what Jahanzeb stated. I thought > >Mausam & Escape was terrific and perhaps the best part of the concert! I > >also liked a lot of the stripped-down/ simple versions like Udhaya/Tu Hi Re. > >ARR was good in Khwaja but it looked like he was out of breath in the other > >songs and I didn't like them as much. I'm not saying they were bad. It's > >just the nature of a lot of ARR songs being heavily produced with layers and > >effects that don't translate too > > well for me in a concert setting (a lot of the unplugged versions are > > exceptions though). For this same reason I haven't been keen on attending > > any of his concerts but it's very satisfying to see the production > > qualities continually improve. The stage, setting and display of artist > > names for the Sydney concert was very nicely done. Of course, all this is > > based on seeing the videos on Youtube and I do understand how the real > > experience is much better (but there's an upper-bound that's apparent too). > > > >RR > > > > > > > > > ________________________________ > From: avinaash.kapur <avinaash.kapur@ yahoo.com> > >To: arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com > >Sent: Fri, January 22, > > 2010 11:07:47 AM > >Subject: [arr] Re: Sydney Concert Full videos on Youtube > > > > > > > > > > > >Nothing wrong with posting a opinion. > > > >Do you want this group to be a bunch of YES MEN praising everything or do > >you want this group to be both critical and appreciative of our boss's > >output? > > > >>Jahanzeb was not very harsh in his tone. He said good things about the > >>concert too. Try to be objective and see if there is any validity in this > >>argument. Check out the songs again and if you still things ALL songs had > >>top notch singing then we have a issue.:-) > >>I do realize live singing is extremely difficult and challenging but AR now > >>has a reputation of a World Class performer and he needs to maintain the > >>high standards he set for himself all the time. Price of success and > >>acclaim if you ask me :-) :-) > > > >And good things can always come out of criticism. I salute the guys who had > >the courage to point out the "belmishes" in Blue. Thanks to them we are now > >enjoying the cleaner sound in VTV. I am sure AR will always ensure clean and > > crsip sound in his forthcoming albums. > > > >Thanks Jahanzeb for having the courage to stand up and speak out. We need > >more guys who can voice healthy ctiticism. > > > >P.S 1. For all those guys posting irrelavant you tube links trying to prove > >Aromale was a lift... > > > >If Aromale was copied from Pink Floyd/Other 70s Rock artists then all his > >quawwalis were copied from old hindi quawallis and all his dance numbers are > >inspired from countless techno songs. > > > >Just becoz two songs are in the same genre does not make the copied/inspired > > > >--- In arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com, Vijay <vijay@> wrote: > >> > >> Did somebody ask you for your expert opinion.... > >> > >> Sent from my iPhone > >>> > >> On Jan 22, 2010, at 19:50, "Jahanzeb" <jahanzebtippu@ ...> wrote: > >> > >> > thanks for sharing these wonderful > > videos. > >> > > >> > The best performance was Mausam & Escape hands down. Next come Jai > >> > Ho and Chandralikha. and oddly enough I liked Ringa Ringa too. > >> > Didn't like how they performed some songs without any lead singers, > >>> > like Chaiya Chaiya, Barso Re etc. > >> > Boss was off-tune overall. Rashid Ali killed pronunciations and ate > >> > words out as always. > >> > Really like the idea of displaying artists' name on grand screen. > >>> > Chandralikha performance was wonderful and appreciated the MJ part > >> > of it. > >> > Can only hope sometime they perform Jai Ho in its full glory i.e., > >> > with Sukhwinder. > >> > > >>> > /Jahanzeb > >> > > >> > --- In arrahmanfans@ yahoogroups. com, "s_girish2003" > > > >> > <s_girish2003@> wrote: > >> > > > >> > > Found this link in youtube....All parts of Sydney Concert > >> > > > >> > > http://www.youtube. com/user/ 4topcats# p/u/21/HoFokPHlG BM > >>> > > > >> > > Thanks to the original uplaoder.. > >> > > > >> > > >> > > >> > > > > > > > > > >------------ --------- --------- ------ > > > > > >Are you searching for a reason, to be kind? > >><b> > >Explore, Experience, Enjoy A.R.Rahman - The Man, The Music, The Magic. > >Only at arrahmanfans. com - The definitive A.R.Rahman e-community. > > > >Homepage: http://www.arrahman fans.com > >>Admin: ad...@arrahmanfans. com > >To Subscribe: arrahmanfans- subscribe@ yahoogroups. com > >To Unsubscribe: arrahmanfans- unsubscribe@ yahoogroups. comYahoo! 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