Ya i did finally saw Him perform. No doubt the crowds were huge, but i think the crowd was more of ppl who were hindi music buffs, and must have heard popular stuff. So, jiya se jiya and few of the gems like dheemi dheemi or khamosh raat (which went unnoticed due to film's limited reach) were lost on them. The arrangements werebit haphazard and it felt as if te organiseers really were shell shocked wid the response they got. PPl paying 1000 bucks were also standing due to lack of chairs( I was 1 of them- but who complains when GOD is performing). The end of show saw us hitchhiking our way to pune city as no arrangemnts were made for sending ppl back to city by muncipality.
And i have 2 say this- i knw some of u are gonna kill me 4 saying this- the sound was HORRIBLE. They murdered the soundstage which He so painstakingly creates- many a times the vocals were lost, the songs were not balanced, the intricate pieces were being played but were not distinct. I have heard his concerts on dvd and i think they were managed MUCH MUCH BETTER. I read in one of the posts that all the equipments were not flown in- was it due to this? Whatshud i say about the god himself? he sang beautifully well and kwajaji rendition was by far the 2nd most mesmerising live rendition i have ever heard-(the 1st one if u ask- was didi's live kuch dil ne kaha on andheri sports complex in 2001). What 2 say about others- MAiya maiya was fantastic- so was hariharan and sadhnaa. Raja hasaan was a disppointment and actually kabhi kabhie aditi went a bit flat. Even benny dayal was not really in his spirits-(BTW No pappu cant dance?) Who was that guy who remixed rahman ka best pieces 2 gethr? I m ready to offer all monies at disposal of sultan of brunei to lay my hand on that work. AMAZING STUFF MAN!! Just felt that Bombay, Rangila, RDB, TAAL were bit under represented. But i m sure those who went home must have gone and checked the rest of rahman with much fervour(i.e playing other tracks beyond ringa ringa and jai ho in slumdog soundtrack) He seemed in more relaxed- was running to audiences and talking etc- liked him interacting. looked cute with puneri pagdi and all. Didi stole the show by rightly pointing to the so called educationist that he had put a TOPI to rahman-(In marathi it has similar meaning as of topi pehnana). she was all praises 4 him and he was humility personfied. The idiotic educationist though continued to teach him on stage what he shud do on the dias- These ppl wid money are real pain in the wrong place- why cant they keep their mouth shut 4 gods sake? Anyways, i ran frm mumbai to poona on saturday and stayed 8 freinds place to catch up with god. Every minute of his divine presence was worth the wait. Its an experience that ill carry 2 my grave. Thank u ARR 4 being U. Keep blessing us with yr pristine music. JAI HO AMOL KADU