Concerts of Raaja

The Hindu reports on bay area concerts

This ending part is

The next morning I spot the genius, digging into a bowl of fruits, alone. I’m tempted to approach and strike a conversation, but decide to leave him to a few moments of introspection and anonymity. His music speaks volumes for him.

app_engine wrote:Fantastic personal account on IR-Dallas-Concert, by Nerd :
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sp4l6h

Nerd,
Wow! What a write-up! I could literally see Raja through your heart-felt write-up. The way you described him and the way you said, "you were only watching him all the time", I felt I was sitting next to you, just so close to him. A thoroughly illuminating write-up from a true fan. Thoroughly enjoyed reading your write-up. You are blessed and I envy you . This time too (similar to his last visit) I am missing him. Even though he is doing 7 concerts here, none is near us (just for a lame reason), it is frustrating that he is very near, yet too far that I could not reach him The concert venues are decided particularly to skip the heart of USA (central part, could have chosen Chicago) and only to travel around the boundaries which is more frustrating.

Excited to be going to IR's concert in NJ tomorrow - I have seats on the 5th row from the stage.  Anyone from the hub going to the NJ concert?  I am also super excited about an invite for a dinner with IR, singers and artistes from the troupe tonight.

ank,
Wow! Please post the updates. Missing all the fun.

Awesome ank..
keep us posted..

Very nice evening in Edison NJ.  IR stayed for half an hour.  Was very pleasant and patiently took pictures with everyone.  Looks like they had events for breakfast and lunch as well.  IR looked a little tired.  There were about 25-30 people there.  The others who were there were Karthik, Mano, Sadhana Sargam and Actor Napolean.  IR looked dapper.

Had a really good casual conversation with Karthik who sat for a leisurely dinner at our table - there were 5 of us plus Karthik.  He was asking about how long had we been following IR.  I told him I was in my 10th grade when Annakili came out.  He was asking to describe how big a hit Annakili was - how long it took for IR to become dominant.  There was a guy who was in our table by name Senthil who lives in NJ - he said Priya was the turning point (I thought IR had become dominant earlier than that).  Karthik said that IR narrates the same too - meaning Priya was the turning point.  I asked him about one of his recent (6 months back) facebook post where he stated that he had heard Adhikalai nerame from Meeendum Oru Kadhal Kadhai and if he has heard other such beauties from his era - Karthik went into how great the song was - Adhikalai Nerame - and started singing a few lines. He said IR has been in good mood through all the concerts this time around.  Great rapport between Karthik and IR.  IR looks for him and Mano when they were requesting pictures.  My wife couldnt make it to the dinner and Karthik spoke to her on the phone at my request.  It was a nice, casual and relaxed evening.

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sp4l6h

IR fans anaivarin ennamaga irundhadhu.....

ஒரு மனிதன், தனது 73வது வயதில், நான்கு மணிநேரம் ஓய்வில்லாமல் ஒரே இடத்தில் நின்று கொண்டே மேடையில் உள்ள அனைவரையும் கட்டி மேய்ப்பது என்பது எப்படி சாத்தியம் என்று சத்தியமாகப் புரியவில்லை. அதிலும் பல முறை எங்கள் மேல் ஒளிபாய்ச்சச் சொல்லி எங்களையும் கண்டு ரசித்தார். "நீங்க என்ன பாக்குறத விட நான் உங்களப் பாக்குறது ரொம்ப முக்கியம்". நான் ஒவ்வொரு நிமிடமும் அவர் என்ன செய்கிறார் என்பதையே கவனித்து வந்தேன். இந்த மாதிரி வாய்ப்பு கிடைக்க என்ன தவம் செய்தேனோ தெரியவில்லை.

unmaiyana vaarthai....... indha vayadhil... 4 mani neram... ninru.. pesi...... unmaiyail periya vishayam dhan.............

anaivaraiyum katti meithu. inum periya vishayam.... Memory nanraga iruka vendum........ thavarai kandu pidika vendum........ adhai dhairiyamaga
solla vendum......... romba kashtamana ondru indha kalathil.....
(naan petra en maganai.. oru thavarai sutti kaatinal.. romba kobam varugiradhae..sari seiya kashta padugirenae.. ) IR is Really Great ............

It was BRILLIANT - Great selection of songs.

The orchestra was fantastic.  I thought that they were able to reproduce close to the original orchestration of the songs, which is a phenomenal task given the complexity of orchestration of Raja's music.  I thought the singing was also very good especially Karthik, Mano and Chithra.  Surmukhi's voice was good but she missed the tempo initially in one of the songs and had problems in the beginning with Kanamani Anbodu but I thought she sang "Dhoorathil Naan Kanda Un Mugam" extremely well.  

It was a pleasant surprise that Dhoorathil song was performed - the singing and the orchestra was brilliant.  Karthik was a stand out - His rendition of Om Sivoham, Vedam and Megam Kottatum were fantastic.  And Yuvan and he rocked with Pottu Vaitha Kadhal.   The songs Raja asked Yuvan to sing were apt - April Mayile, Pottu Vaitha and Adiye Manam Nillunna Nikkadhadi.  Eventhough SPB and SJ are ultimate, Mano and Chithra's rendition of Sundari was enjoyable.  Ramya did a good job of singing Vegam Vegam a la Usha Utup style.

The other surprise inclusion was Kodai Kala Katre.  I didnt know the guy who sang it but he did well and the orchestra was fantastic reproducing the song.  Speaking about the orchestra highlights for me were guitar, bass guitar in Vanitha mani, Kodai Kala Katre, Megam Kottattum, Eh Aaatha Aathorma, Kanmani Anboda, strings in Sundari, Vegam Vegam, Anadha Raagam, Dhoorathil, Naan Thedum Sevvanthi Poovidhu, tabla in Om Sivoham, Melam in Machanai Parthingala, Drums in Adiye, Kattu Kuyilu, Megam Kottatum and flute by Napolean in multiple songs.  This has to be the BEST ORCHESTRA!

Raja maintained his cool despite some bozos constantly trying to irritate him - there was one on my row - close to the stage - shouting asking him to sing this song or the other - Raja patiently explained to the guy that they have prepared a list of songs and wouldnt be able to reproduce a random song without practicing for it.  After this guys third or 4th such shouting, even though Raja maintained his cool, there were a few of us in the audience who just shouted to this guy to shut up.  But Raja was cool with whistles, applause and shouting even as they were singing.  He was pleased when the crowd applauded during some of the extaordinary bits in a song - when the singer nails a difficult transition from a high note to a lower note or brilliant pieces by section of the orchestra.  He himself would provide them with his applause during those bits.

In summary, it was a great evening that I was blessed to witness.  I am blessed to be born and living when this legend is living.   Just listening to the songs and Raja's dedication to his music and the brilliance of these songs, I don't think yet we have given him the stature that the man deserves.  HE IS UNIQUE AND UNCOMPARABLE.  To compare him to anyone else is by itself a disrespect.  

Here are the list of songs:


Janani
Om sivoham
Jagadhanandha
Aanandha raagam
Jallante ramante
Keeravaani 
Vanitha mani
Dhoorathil naan kanda telugu

Janani
Om sivoham
Jagadhanandha
Aanandha raagam
Jallante ramante
Keeravaani 
Vanitha mani
Dhoorathil naan kanda telugu

ank,
Wow! Super!! Thanks for sharing the pictures and valuable moments of the event.

ank wrote:I am blessed to be born and living when this legend is living.   Just listening to the songs and Raja's dedication to his music and the brilliance of these songs, I don't think yet we have given him the stature that the man deserves.  HE IS UNIQUE AND UNCOMPARABLE.  To compare him to anyone else is by itself a disrespect.

You summarized it beautifully!

[img]IMGP0842 by arvindh76, on Flickr[/img]
To say that I had the time of my life at Ilaiyaraaja's NJ concert would be an understatement.  I will write in detail later.  Just want to share two one line drawings made at the show for now.

IMGP0843 by arvindh76, on Flickr" />

Super! Beautiful!! You got a rare and wonderful talent!! Keep it up

Facts and observations of Maestro’s USA Concerts 2016.

- A 73 year old Maestro not considering his age and health, rigorously touring 7 US states within a span of three weeks for 7 mind blowing concerts. Even the younger Pop/Rock stars or -1 concert experts would fear to do this kind of racy concerts back to back, even though they are far easy to do, comparing to this humongous effort.

- The amount of preparation went in for this concert. Imagine 30-35 songs per concert and there could be overlaps, but still can’t imagine the amount of preparation went in for around 100 songs, not sure when it all started to give this kind of experience.

- Maestro (and conductor) standing for 3-4 hours for every concert not even considering his/their age.

- Leading, managing and rehearsing with more than 50 musicians, singer, technicians at every stadium to get it right. I heard they also lost some of the original notes of some songs. So recovering the songs  from playing again repeatedly, instead of skipping to another song which would be an easy way, but did they do that?

- Imagine how many sleepless nights for every musician including Maestro, due to the change in environment, frequent travel, setting, food differences, weather, jet lag and what not. All this just because all of them love what they do and do what they love, and mainly for entertain and enthrall the audience and fans.

- Approximately 3000# of audience for a concert? 7*3000= 21000. It could be more. So enthralling these many people in just three weeks.

- The audacity of orchestral prowess to perform and match the original compositions so close.

- First ever Telugu solo concert.

- Lots of anecdotes, insights (from the horse’s mouth himself) into many compositions which we never heard of before. This adds to our listening experience.

- Hosting dinner events a day before the concerts which again takes considerable amount of planning etc.

- Not showing any sense of tiredness till the last concert.

- Even after all this humongous effort, there are still plenty to complain about the concerts from fans and audience (who not even try to understand what it takes to do such concerts), which will happen only to Maestro.

- Last but not least, this will obviously serve as an inspiration and real trendsetter for following musicians to perform like this.

- Once in a lifetime concerts, but the fact is I MISSED IT

Huge round of applause and salute to Maestro and all the musicians for making the concerts a grand success and first of its kind.

nanRi ank, for the pictures and the report about the NJ concert!

Excellent sketches panniapurathar!

My sis went to NJ concert (never knew she's such a fan, driving 3+3 hours, alone ) and was amazed at the 73 yr old STANDING and doing the show, for so many hours!

She commented that IR was in a really jolly mood 

The amount of preparation went in for this concert. Imagine 30-35 songs per concert and there could be overlaps, but still can’t imagine the amount of preparation went in for around 100 songs, not sure when it all started to give this kind of experience.

any inside info on how many songs they prepared?


Karthik is such a buzzkill in concerts, Haricharan would be a welcome addition.

Could someone who was at the DC area concert post the song list?

V_S wrote:Super! Beautiful!! You got a rare and wonderful talent!! Keep it up

Romba thanks V_S and app_engine!  Really appreciate your compliments.

Ank "In summary, it was a great evening that I was blessed to witness.  I am blessed to be born and living when this legend is living.   Just listening to the songs and Raja's dedication to his music and the brilliance of these songs, I don't think yet we have given him the stature that the man deserves.  HE IS UNIQUE AND UNCOMPARABLE.  To compare him to anyone else is by itself a disrespect. 

Completely agree with your conclusion!  Sorry to have missed meeting you ank.  About the part I highlighted above - Yes, we haven't, but I do not think this matters one way or the other to IR.  One thing I noticed is that he has an air of being a completely self-actualized person.  These things are immaterial - he is well aware of his accomplishments and is completely at ease with his place in the world.  Plus, he has the humility to talk about his own errors.

Wizzy -

I think IR mentioned preparing 250 odd songs for these concerts.


I looked at my car's odometer 1150 miles or so after going to both NJ and DC concert.  I was patting myself on the back on putting so much effort into watching IR until I stopped to compare this effort to a 74 year old who has pulled off the feat of performing at 7 live concerts with an unbelievable variety of songs!  He does this at the other side of the globe!  When I come back from India, I take 3 weeks to recover from jetlag! 

We are indeed the luckiest of folks to have this Being in our midst! 

To watch IR up close is a rare privilege.  I got to do that two days in a row thanks to a supportive family that knew this is incredibly important to me.

Some notes from having watched the two concerts:

Both concerts - Raaja's demeanor, calm and his command of the place!  Salute to him!  Wow! Wow! Wow!  I could see the pride he has for his Art, and for his dedicated team of musicians (he even called one of them a very good music director - may be Barani?).  Raaja's sense of humour and timing!  Just wish he did not pick on  Mano all the time - but probably Mano is in on some of these teasings. 

The orchestra!  The musicians are probably one of the best in the world!  What a beauty to watch them up close - I took my binoculars!

NJ - rocked with acoustics and no technical failure

DC- lousy mics - so many of the mics had to be switched around.  Feedback from them was horrible.  However, IR made light of that situation - mano andha mic unna paathu whistle adikkudhu!

My guess is the DC team did not have enough time to check everything - I mean the technical mic placement and acoustics. 
The orchestral team itself was operating on empty (though you could not tell this from listening to their phenomenal performance)- the musicians were flown overnight in a private jet and the musicians did not get good sleep.  I cannot believe how they rocked the place on so little rest the night before.  Seriously, the dedication of these artists is just unbelievable.

DC - loved that Raaja spoke in Kannada (Nagumo) and sang his first and only song in that language in this tour.

DC- loved 3 note song live (even though I have seen so many videos of him doing the same before

DC- could not contain myself when he sang "ezhu kadal kadandhu" towards the end of the concert.  I tried to contain my sobbing (did not want to create a scene).  also, was watching him through the binoculars ( a part of me was completely amused by a grown man holding the binoculars and crying his heart out - I hope this did not get captured on camera!)

DC - people streaming in and out for food and drink - was a pain to endure this.  Also, when a Malayalam song was played a chunk of the crowd got up and left.  I guess people do not want to hear something they havent heard before.  Maybe we forummers are hardcore and one cannot compare the '80s only' 'Tamil only' loving crowd.

NJ - IR started the song as if it were the OramPo song but then ended up singing the "veettukku veettukku vaasappadi vendum" song.- (the Mozart 25th symphony inspired song that our own Drunkenmunk has written a beautiful post about in his blog)

NJ - Caveat - I do not care for foreigner or North India mogam/approval, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find in the third row people speaking some European language (wasnt french), they seemed to be completely into our IR's music.  The couple next to me spoke Hindi and English for the most part.  They were praising IR to the skies.  If I am not mistaken, I heard something like "this is NOT your typical bollywood music - listen to the layers!  He writes the whole thing down!"  These were snatches of the conversation I heard.  They were glued to the seat throughout and talked only about his music!  I am making a note of this because I just did not expect people other than Tamil/Telugu crowd to be part of the audience.

Dc - loved his talk about a song that can be sung while you milk cows.  He says, "Ippa indha paattu poda mudiyumaa?  Mudiyaadhu! - machine vandhuruchi paa!  Paal varum aana paattu varaadhu!"  (Can we compose a song such as this today?  NO!  We cannot!  There are machines for milking cows!  We may get milk, but not a song!"  A pithy way of talking about the mechanized world we live in.  We think we are all so clever and being efficient with our time, but we lose out ultimately by succumbing to the so called modernization/progress.

NJ - loved the Keeravani song.  explanation of the ragam Keeravani in the Telugu song.

DC- The orchestra was rehearsing when we were let in through the doors.  The mind blowing interlude of Thalabathi song "Sundari" was played as we took our seats!!!  What a way to get into the auditorium!

DC- In Mayyam (pazhaya oodu), someone was talking about how IR's voice sounded old in "Mana Oori Ramayanam".  Well, IR is deliberately sounding different in that song.  I present the following anecdote as a testament to IR's consistent stunning voice:  A friend and his wife who accompanied me to the DC show, heard the opening lines of "Janani" and could not believe that this was a live performance.  They almost wondered if IR was lip syncing the thing and the whole thing was just played back!  In other words, our national treasure of a Maestro was pitch perfect in his rendering!!  The lines on his face may have changed since he originally sang this song in his studio, but the voice endures.....beautiful......powerful....ethereal...fresh as always!!!!



Will share more details later.

panniapurathar wrote:

V_S wrote:Super! Beautiful!! You got a rare and wonderful talent!! Keep it up

Romba thanks V_S and app_engine!  Really appreciate your compliments.

Ank "In summary, it was a great evening that I was blessed to witness.  I am blessed to be born and living when this legend is living.   Just listening to the songs and Raja's dedication to his music and the brilliance of these songs, I don't think yet we have given him the stature that the man deserves.  HE IS UNIQUE AND UNCOMPARABLE.  To compare him to anyone else is by itself a disrespect. 

Completely agree with your conclusion!  Sorry to have missed meeting you ank.  About the part I highlighted above - Yes, we haven't, but I do not think this matters one way or the other to IR.  One thing I noticed is that he has an air of being a completely self-actualized person.  These things are immaterial - he is well aware of his accomplishments and is completely at ease with his place in the world.  Plus, he has the humility to talk about his own errors.

Wizzy -

I think IR mentioned preparing 250 odd songs for these concerts.


I looked at my car's odometer 1150 miles or so after going to both NJ and DC concert.  I was patting myself on the back on putting so much effort into watching IR until I stopped to compare this effort to a 74 year old who has pulled off the feat of performing at 7 live concerts with an unbelievable variety of songs!  He does this at the other side of the globe!  When I come back from India, I take 3 weeks to recover from jetlag! 

We are indeed the luckiest of folks to have this Being in our midst! 

To watch IR up close is a rare privilege.  I got to do that two days in a row thanks to a supportive family that knew this is incredibly important to me.

Some notes from having watched the two concerts:

Both concerts - Raaja's demeanor, calm and his command of the place!  Salute to him!  Wow! Wow! Wow!  I could see the pride he has for his Art, and for his dedicated team of musicians (he even called one of them a very good music director - may be Barani?).  Raaja's sense of humour and timing!  Just wish he did not pick on  Mano all the time - but probably Mano is in on some of these teasings. 

The orchestra!  The musicians are probably one of the best in the world!  What a beauty to watch them up close - I took my binoculars!

NJ - rocked with acoustics and no technical failure

DC- lousy mics - so many of the mics had to be switched around.  Feedback from them was horrible.  However, IR made light of that situation - mano andha mic unna paathu whistle adikkudhu!

My guess is the DC team did not have enough time to check everything - I mean the technical mic placement and acoustics. 
The orchestral team itself was operating on empty - the musicians were flown overnight in a private jet and people did not get good sleep.  I cannot believe how they rocked the place on so little rest the night before.  Seriously, the dedication of these artists is just unbelievable.

DC - loved that Raaja spoke in Kannada (Nagumo) and sang his first and only song in that language in this tour.

DC- loved 3 note song live (even though I have seen so many videos of him doing the same before

DC- could not contain myself when he sang "ezhu kadal kadandhu" towards the end of the concert.  I tried to contain my sobbing (did not want to create a scene).  also, was watching him through the binoculars ( a part of me was completely amused by a grown man holding the binoculars and crying his heart out - I hope this did not get captured on camera!)

DC - people streaming in and out for food and drink - was a pain to endure this.  Also, when a Malayalam song was played a chunk of the crowd got up and left.  I guess people do not want to hear something they havent heard before.  Maybe we forummers are hardcore and one cannot compare the '80s only' 'Tamil only' loving crowd.

NJ - IR started the song as if it were the OramPo song but then ended up singing the "veettukku veettukku vaasappadi vendum" song.- (the Mozart 25th symphony inspired song that our own Drumkenmunk has written a beautiful post about in his blog)

NJ - Caveat - I do not care for foreigner or North India mogam/approval, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find in the third row people speaking some European language (wasnt french), they seemed to be completely into our IR's music.  The couple next to me spoke Hindi and English for the most part.  They were praising IR to the skies.  If I am not mistaken, I heard something like "this is NOT your typical bollywood music - listen to the layers!  He writes the whole thing down!"  These were snatches of the conversation I heard.  They were glued to the seat throughout and talked only about his music!  I am making a note of this because I just did not expect people other than Tamil/Telugu crowd to be part of the audience.

Dc - loved his talk about a song that can be sung while you milk cows.  He says, "Ippa indha paattu poda mudiyumaa?  Mudiyaadhu! - machine vandhuruchi paa!  Paal varum aana paattu varaadhu!"  (Can we compose a song such as this today?  NO!  We cannot!  There are machines for milking cows!  We may get milk, but not a song!"  A pithy way of talking about the mechanized world we live in.  We think we are all so clever and being efficient with our time, but we lose out ultimately by succumbing to the so called modernization/progress.

NJ - loved the Keeravani song.  explanation of the ragam Keeravani in the Telugu song.

DC- The orchestra was rehearsing when we were let in through the doors.  The mind blowing interlude of Thalabathi song "Sundari" was played as we took our seats!!!  What a way to get into the auditorium!

DC- In Mayyam (pazhaya oodu), someone was talking about how IR's voice sounded old in "Mana Oori Ramayanam".  Well, IR is deliberately sounding different in that song.  I present the following anecdote as a testament to IR's consistent stunning voice:  A friend and his wife who accompanied me to the DC show, heard the opening lines of "Janani" and could not believe that this was a live performance.  They almost wondered if IR was lip syncing the thing and the whole thing was just played back!  In other words, our national treasure of a Maestro was pitch perfect in his rendering!!  The lines on his face may have changed since he originally sang this song in his studio, but the voice endures.....beautiful......powerful....ethereal...fresh as always!!!!



Will share more details later.

Nice review.  Nice sketches.  I wish I had such talents.  Missed meeting you as well.

@ank - envy those pictures.. I would not have gotten the guts to stand next to him even for a few seconds.. but you are smiling :-)
@panniapurathar - enna drawings pa ..super.. situationku raja tune maathiri .. inspirationla vantha drawing.
Loved all your comments/description of IR and his energy. He is a role model.. we all need to emulate him.. go deep into our work.. work hard consistently without requiring praise/appreciation (like babies :-) ) .. I remind myself of this all the time.. Trust me this is what makes him look/be youthful.. After all, youth is all about energy, curiosity and perseverance ..
(About tamil/language differences - our country or even that region of that world still acts in a clannish way.. if we paid some attention and know tamil to some extent we should be able to understand malayalam, kannada and telugu (in that order, actually) (same goes the other way). Instead, we fight and burn buses and public property..feel like bharathi --nenju porukkuthillaiyE)

Re: thalapathy song - listen to the flute piece in Kurosawa's Kagemusha. Very nice inspiration/tribute by IR to Kurosawa idiom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR4Kvt7WRWI&list=PLsrTEODtKB11a46s6mrMqmhbmyIIXfBPD&index=2

kiru wrote:@ank - envy those pictures.. I would not have gotten the guts to stand next to him even for a few seconds.. but you are smiling :-)
@panniapurathar - enna drawings pa ..super.. situationku raja tune maathiri .. inspirationla vantha drawing.
Loved all your comments/description of IR and his energy. He is a role model.. we all need to emulate him.. go deep into our work.. work hard consistently without requiring praise/appreciation (like babies :-) ) .. I remind myself of this all the time.. Trust me this is what makes him look/be youthful.. After all, youth is all about energy, curiosity and perseverance ..
(About tamil/language differences - our country or even that region of that world still acts in a clannish way.. if we paid some attention and know tamil to some extent we should be able to understand malayalam, kannada and telugu (in that order, actually) (same goes the other way). Instead, we fight and burn buses and public property..feel like bharathi --nenju porukkuthillaiyE)

 Mikka nandri Kiru!
Also thank you Ank!

You are right about encouraging us all to be inspired by the creativity of IR. I was able to knock off about 80 or so sketches on those two concert days - definitely inspired by the spontaneity of IR! I will share more with an accompanying narrative when time permits.
Also, I agree with what you say about just being your own source of encouragement rather than wait for external praise.  

About tension across state borders - yes, what a shame!  If only we could appreciate how similar we are and find ways to share resources amicably without getting petty politics to divide and get at each others' throats.....

Coming back to the topic "Concerts of Raja" - an outstanding part of our IR's team is the phenomenally talented chorus team!  Hats off to them!!  Their execution was flawless (to me).  

Another titbit from DC concert - When one of the organizers talks about the audience giving IR a standing ovation, IR goes up to the mic and says, "Standing Ovationlaam kettu vaanga koodadhu!"  Those were his parting words!

Wow!!! Thanks Nerd, ank, Panniapurathar. Thoroughly enjoyed reading your "Up and Close" encounters with isai arasar, his parivAr and the concerts in different places of U.S. You guys are immensely blessed  and moments like these remain etched so that they can be cherished over a life time.
Just curious. Is SPB sorely missed? I am some how unable to imagine/digest an IR show sans his magical vocals.