Concerts of Raaja

Usha wrote:
inga enga veetula oppiste mythila... enaku varutham.....pulambinen. kanavar samadhanam seidhar..
Orchestravai gavani.. IR ai par endru....

Singing was atrocious.
Period.
I don't think anyone who watched the program can disagree.

Even the "Ms.reliable" KSC is not in fine form
(I don't know why IR asked her to sing puththam pudhukkAlai - struggled - the girl who sang in Megha was right there on stage and could have easily done a better job IMHO)

'chinnachchinna vaNNakkuyil' by the super singer girl - I've seen her singing the same song much better on FB posts and whatsapp forwards (from TV programs / stage shows), this one was lifeless.

Hariharan was atrocious. IR saved the 'en mana vAnil' song (excellent confirmation on the meta references).

While singers cannot be given marks in this concert, I won't say "I missed SPB", after that nonsense FB post by him. NOT ANYMORE.

If we want his great singing, we'll play it from CD.  

People come to / watch the concerts for IR. His gestures for that butterfly flying alone is sufficient to have one's money's worth!

In general, why does he do these concerts?

Is it because he does not have enough income to make his studio payments as well as keep his session musicians?

As his older compositions do require a big orchestra, he needs a jumbo jet to ensure that his people and equipment fit. The latest song in his list is 'Om Sivoham' which is 8 years old. Even Raja is not driving a clear message.

Thankfully they did not brag that they lost the sheet music for some song...

ravinat wrote:In general, why does he do these concerts?

Is it because he does not have enough income to make his studio payments as well as keep his session musicians?

I think so.  

The current TFM that is keyboard-driven does not need many instrument players (recently read this coming from a current MD who is trying to revive orchestral music). So, all those terrific players on stage of Malaysia concert need these events to continue their standard of living IMHO.

KR (as confirmed by IR in the concert), who is someone without many assignments like these players, wants to put together such events.

from 32.14 poo potta thavani....... kashtamana instrumentation....... azhaga present panninanga..... adhai thodarndhu..

IR.. Anitha conversation.... Janaki mam paatuku.. avangalae padinangala.. endru...

IR solrar.. Naan dhan solli  koduthen. .. epadi endru........


ponmeni urugudhae..  naan sonna thanae  theiryum.... naan dhan solli kuduthen......

enna oru style........... Anitha.. Really nice rendition.......

..naan paatuku edhodho pesikitu iruken........  kindal and vekkam mugathil.........
ipovavadhu solli kondarae.

Ilaiya nila.. solli kdutha vidham... enna oru  bhavam...  vaarthaiku vaarthai  modulation....... enna oru notes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDm-j-vSYCY

Hearing that Raaja will be accompanied by musicians from Budapest, this time.
Anyone can confirm this? 

I hope the performance includes some BGMs. March 17 - exclusive Telugu; March 18 - exclusive Tamil concerts;

I detect low enthusiasm for the Bay Area concert among my friends.

soco_sri wrote:Hearing that Raaja will be accompanied by musicians from Budapest, this time.
Anyone can confirm this? 

I hope the performance includes some BGMs. March 17 - exclusive Telugu; March 18 - exclusive Tamil concerts;

I detect low enthusiasm for the Bay Area concert among my friends.

that poorly equipped Concert hall is probably the reason why there is such low enthusiasm - the 2013 hall was perfect!

soco_sri wrote:Hearing that Raaja will be accompanied by musicians from Budapest, this time.
Anyone can confirm this? 

I hope the performance includes some BGMs. March 17 - exclusive Telugu; March 18 - exclusive Tamil concerts;

I detect low enthusiasm for the Bay Area concert among my friends.

The Bay area Telugu concert is sold out!  I guess the enthusiasm is not bad!

Note: never mind it looks like they cancelled the Telugu concert.  Sorry, I guess the enthusiasm is indeed lacking....

Got this link in twitter - IR's team rehearsing for the Texas concert - EnjOdi manjakkuruvi!
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=874818042701099&id=100005187340993

There was another link tweeted that mentioned the arrival of musicians from BSO for this concert!

Definite treat for those who plan to attend! Texas people and those in that area, enjoy!

app_engine wrote:Got this link in twitter - IR's team rehearsing for the Texas concert - EnjOdi manjakkuruvi!
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=874818042701099&id=100005187340993

There was another link tweeted that mentioned the arrival of musicians from BSO for this concert!

Definite treat for those who plan to attend! Texas people and those in that area, enjoy!

Thanks for the link app.....

enna oru thalam... mesmerising ...... rehearsal. IR... always sweet........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uobo5HS4UXA

"Naan dhanga unga kuda varen."

oru amma madhiiri... oru sandhoshamana perumai.......

(idhai ninaithu thanae IR compose seigirar.. adharku kidaitha vetri dhanae idhu.......)

"andha padalgal illamal neenga vazhavaeeeeeeee mudiyadhu." 

unmai........

உணர்ச்சிமயமான twitlonger by sagi:

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sqfdnv

A couple of fantastic clips from the Texas concert in this thread, especially KSC's "mAlaiyil yArO"!

https://twitter.com/naveengmc/status/973144446182264832

Deccan Chronicle report :
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/music/140318/maestro-mesmerises-with-symphony.html

en jodi manja kuruvi... padiya manovuku.. paatu mudindhadhum  IR correction....

Arthathhhhoda paatu padaiyaa.. Thavarai sari seigirar IR......

mano udane correct seidhu padi kaatarar...

pattuku vayasu achu.. padiyavargaluku vayasu achu....
compositionku vayasu agavillai. instruments vasithavargaluku vayadhu agavilai........
new young singers. Ready for IR.... muyarchi seidhu padi irukirargal... chorus.. vijay tv super singers team....
Mano and SPB.. ivargal kuraluku match agira madhirii young voice kidaika vendi kolgiren.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxUwHCqOCs8

rehearsal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOPt3IWPeJA

The Hindu reports on Chicago concert :
http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/film-music-across-shores/article23381084.ece

The inexplicable delay, chaotic seating and the terrible acoustics were forgotten when the lilting, timeless tunes flowed

Similar to what V_Sji talked about (over phone).

Venkkiram's twitter thread on the Connecticut concert:

https://twitter.com/venkkiram/status/978520477076516864

Even if you don't want to dwell in the whole thread, don't miss his twitlonger that reviews the songs that got performed :

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sqfu6b

நேரடியாக கச்சேரி அனுபவத்திற்கு வருகிறேன். 

வெள்ளை உடையில் பச்சை துண்டோடு ராஜா மேடையில் நுழைந்தவுடன் அரங்கமே எழுந்து நின்று கைத்தட்டி வரவேற்றது. 
...
...

My comments on the Fairfax, VA concert (March 31, 2018), as posted on Facebook. I enjoyed this one a lot more than the previous concert at the same location, in Sept 2016. Something to do with the song selection, I think, and also liked the fresh voices, even the new chorus singers. Missed Chithra though, and no explanation was given as to why she did not perform - she was a regular fixture in the earlier concerts of this tour.

White and white, harmonium, center stage. Commanding your aural attention with every note, the music evergreen even if the creator is pushing 75 now. Privileged to be at the maestro’s live concert for the 3rd time in 5 years. What stands out in the performances of the varied song selections is the stunning versatility - the epic energy of “Ram Ram (Hey Ram)”, the lascivious stylings of “Ponmeni Uruguthe”, the folksy lilt of “Pothi Vacha Malliga Mottu”, the Carnatic machinations of “Vedham Anuvanuvuna (Sagara Sangamam)”, and finally blowing the roof off the place with “En Jodi Manjakkuruvi” and “Podhuvaaga En Manasu”. The highlight of the evening, to me, was when he had the orchestra perform the string harmonies, the choral parts and the electronic elements of the first interlude of “O Priya Priya (Geethanjali/Idhayathai Thirudaathe)”, separately and then together, illustrating the spontaneous brilliance of the orchestration and the use of instrumental color to enhance the composition. Thank you for all the magic, maestro. #rajarocks #ilaiyaraajalive #budapestsymphony

few clips from toronto

https://youtu.be/8BLobpZL_iM

https://youtu.be/7Zw4g5tkyJQ

https://youtu.be/SbPXRxMxgfU

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXHJE9tso9nLXls7y29du1PWpfDPzCr1_

Toronto - 2018 concert

Caution: This will not be a fan boy review of the Raaja concert in Toronto on Apr 1, 2018. Held at the Air Canada Center, this is a huge hockey venue where I have heard concerts by several other artists from around the world. The biggest villain of the evening was the poor sound quality – I am not sure if everybody had a problem or it was due to the box that I was in. However, unlike the 2013 concert, this had several high and lowlights. I will not go into the song by song account of this concert as there are several others from the US, who have done it as part of the TX,CA,IL,CT,VA concerts. All songs were Tamil songs and the list was mostly the songs from the US, though they added a few more Tamil numbers (total of 32 songs). I can call it a BM memory concert (Moodu Pani, Rettai Vaal Kuruvi, Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam, Moondram Pirai). My focus will be on orchestration, as I had high expectations with the BSO performing with Raaja.


Highlights
1.      

1. All the singers did a splendid job (exception Raaja) as nobody tried to improvise any of the songs. Surmukkhi, Harcharan, Mano and Vibhavari did some awesome singing
   
2. The BSO did play some songs such as ‘Ada Machamulla’, ‘Ninaivo Oru Paravai’, ‘Pothi Vachcha Malligai’, ‘Madai Thiranthu’  as good as the Raaja orchestra and they deserve to be applauded for that
   
3. The BSO played the ‘Ram Ram’ song very well as the violinists were perhaps the ones who recorded the original
   
4. Surmukhi had some awesome songs such as Dhoorathil Naan Kanda Or Mugam (Nizhalgal), Kaatril Endhan Geetham (Johnny)
   
5. Vibhavari sang Ananda Ragam (Panneer Pushpangal), Putham Pudhu Kaalai very well
   
6. I did not miss Hariharan or SPB as they would have improvised and tested our patience
   

Lowlights

1. Orchestrally, Puniya Srinivas (veena) and Cello Sekhar were missed as somehow the BSO folks could not get great cello play underway. Sada could hardly be heard. With the poor sound quality Sashi was almost non-existent. Prabhakar was conductor #2 with greatly reduced duties. Most of the bass I heard were perhaps out of the keyboard, I guess
   
2. Raaja, the singer was awful – he missed lines, added his own lines and tried to justify his misses with some rant that went nowhere
   
3. The sound quality was awful – I have heard much better sound in the same venue by other artists. There was not even TVs to see who is singing or performing. Mostly, it was guess work
   
4. The song selection – I knew it will be Tamil, but there were all again mostly from the 80s, but for two songs (Om Sivoham, Ram Ram). That was upsetting as Raja has done several good songs in the 21^st century. The TV shows already do the 80s recycling – why should Raja also do that?
   
5. Orchestrally, the first song, Janani Janani was a wash without the veena in the interludes. Punya Srinivas was missed. Sada’s guitar work could hardly be heard
   
6. I am hearing Om Sivoham for the second time live and though vocally, they do a half decent job, orchestrally, the live versions are poor approximations of the recorded polyrhythmic version
   
7. When BSO came into the picture, I thought, they should have given Haricharan his own track from Megha (Kalvane Kalvane – 2013) that was played by them. What a huge opportunity lost! Anyway, Hari was a baby in the 80s!
   
8. Chitra sang Maalaiyil Yaaro and she sounded very strained. I thought at some stage, the BSO will take on the pizzicato strings and play the brilliant interludes. Again, another opportunity lost
   
9. Mano sang Raaja Kaiya vachcha and the second charanam’s rhythm was a mess. Even if it is from Raaja, it was simply not right
   
10. Raaja sang Ada Veetukku Veetukku Vasapadi (Kizhakku Vaasal) and I thought he will conclude that with Mozart’s Symphony #25, as he had BSO in the concert. No such luck. Another opportunity lost  
    
11. Raaja sang Kaatu Vazhi Kaalnadaiya from Athu Oru Kana Kaalam and the violins from BSO were ineffective. The rhythm of the song was too loud and the song was a wash
    
12. En Iniya Pon Nilaave had some very poor orchestration support. I could not hear Sada’s guitar and the strings were very subdued in the interludes
    
13. Rakamma was an orchestral low point and I did not expect such a lack luster performance from Raja – the transition to the aberi based thiruppaavai was almost out of sync. The violins were so subdued that it was like some sruthi laya orchestra performing
    

Suggestions

1. Raaja keeps saying that he is not in the show business, but keeps performing shows. He need to get his act together. There are some things that you need to do when you do shows and stop living in the past. The techniques of the 20^th century do not work anymore. Given the fact that he has less work, he wants to use concerts to take care of his commitments. If this is a new revenue stream, give the respect it deserves
   
2. He has to have a strong team that looks at both audio and visuals of his shows. Get somebody qualified
   
3. He must project himself as a pan-South Indian composer or even pan Indian composer. Regardless of the audience, do songs from Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada apart from Tamil in all shows
   
4. He must perform songs of the 21^st century to drive home the fact that he is still active
   
5. Stop the nonsense of singers falling on his feet
   
6. Be cheerful and stop ranting in concerts. Carry yourself well and sing less and not more
   
7. If you collaborate with BSO, give them space to perform in their comfort zone and elevate the listeners to appreciate western classical music – intersperse it with his interpretation of some of the traditional WCM compositions
   
8. Have professional compering. Introduce every song being presented along with the singers
   
9. Seek audience feedback (get a compere to do that if you are shy) and keep the engagement going
   
10. Step back and evaluate what needs to be done next. If KR is doing a bad job, fire him (you are after all in Trump land!)
    

This is not to take away the genius of the man. Nor my appreciation for his work. I do not want to pussy foot and state that everything was great. After all we want him to do well and not blindly accept whatever he does on shows.

Few things raja mentioned in the show

1. After ninukori held a score sheet and said this sheet contains the score of the song you heard and started reading what was written. it says the film director ..and then date : April 1, 1987 and smiled. then he emphasised the date as crowd didnt realize it was indeed april 1st , 2018 ...31 years have passed since he wrote the score of ninukori

2. when he started janani first 30 seconds or more nothing could be heard due to mic issue he continued singing as mic was corrected he restarted from first and in the end "i love u all reason mic is howling"

3. since the begining as usual there were bunch of crowd with loud whistle and he started whistling "kadalin deepam ondru" and explained the story how he whistled out composed that song from hospital and said ..whistle na appadi adikanum   

4. one point i think he was bit angry with crowd or someone, and continued .. said the hungary orchestra came all the way for you so listen without noise and respect. he stopped and asked to play i beleive heyram or idayam bit to highlight violin depth for people to appreciate.

5. As time passed looks like he got into ramana maharishi and went philosophical. said.."intha pirapea waste. athu oru mistake". someone in the crowd said we know.   
   he took it jovial .."yov athu joke ilaiya . nijam " and continued..

6. otherwise there were usual teasings with Mano and some high peppy songs were reserved for crowd at the end. Before he played end credits mentioning whole troupe and he left the stage suddenly around 10:40 pm(may be irked by some crowd mischief or tired with back to back concert from DC. ( he entered around 7:15 pm) around 3:30 minutes of non stop music without any host . with around few seconds of break between songs.
 there was a sponsor break for 5 minutes otherwise it was non stop music all the way till end with main emphasis for budapest sympony as most songs had violins. There was no "thenpaandi seemaiyelea" even though few shouted for it. He connected audience throughout the show through whistle section and idhayam oru kovil

As i was about to post i can see ravinat has a very detailed nice writeup..i will stop here

ravinat wrote:Toronto - 2018 concert

Caution: This will not be a fan boy review of the Raaja concert in Toronto on Apr 1, 2018. Held at the Air Canada Center, this is a huge hockey venue where I have heard concerts by several other artists from around the world. The biggest villain of the evening was the poor sound quality – I am not sure if everybody had a problem or it was due to the box that I was in. However, unlike the 2013 concert, this had several high and lowlights. I will not go into the song by song account of this concert as there are several others from the US, who have done it as part of the TX,CA,IL,CT,VA concerts. All songs were Tamil songs and the list was mostly the songs from the US, though they added a few more Tamil numbers (total of 32 songs). I can call it a BM memory concert (Moodu Pani, Rettai Vaal Kuruvi, Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam, Moondram Pirai). My focus will be on orchestration, as I had high expectations with the BSO performing with Raaja.


Highlights
1.      

1. All the singers did a splendid job (exception Raaja) as nobody tried to improvise any of the songs. Surmukkhi, Harcharan, Mano and Vibhavari did some awesome singing
   
2. The BSO did play some songs such as ‘Ada Machamulla’, ‘Ninaivo Oru Paravai’, ‘Pothi Vachcha Malligai’, ‘Madai Thiranthu’  as good as the Raaja orchestra and they deserve to be applauded for that
   
3. The BSO played the ‘Ram Ram’ song very well as the violinists were perhaps the ones who recorded the original
   
4. Surmukhi had some awesome songs such as Dhoorathil Naan Kanda Or Mugam (Nizhalgal), Kaatril Endhan Geetham (Johnny)
   
5. Vibhavari sang Ananda Ragam (Panneer Pushpangal), Putham Pudhu Kaalai very well
   
6. I did not miss Hariharan or SPB as they would have improvised and tested our patience
   

Lowlights

1. Orchestrally, Puniya Srinivas (veena) and Cello Sekhar were missed as somehow the BSO folks could not get great cello play underway. Sada could hardly be heard. With the poor sound quality Sashi was almost non-existent. Prabhakar was conductor #2 with greatly reduced duties. Most of the bass I heard were perhaps out of the keyboard, I guess
   
2. Raaja, the singer was awful – he missed lines, added his own lines and tried to justify his misses with some rant that went nowhere
   
3. The sound quality was awful – I have heard much better sound in the same venue by other artists. There was not even TVs to see who is singing or performing. Mostly, it was guess work
   
4. The song selection – I knew it will be Tamil, but there were all again mostly from the 80s, but for two songs (Om Sivoham, Ram Ram). That was upsetting as Raja has done several good songs in the 21^st century. The TV shows already do the 80s recycling – why should Raja also do that?
   
5. Orchestrally, the first song, Janani Janani was a wash without the veena in the interludes. Punya Srinivas was missed. Sada’s guitar work could hardly be heard
   
6. I am hearing Om Sivoham for the second time live and though vocally, they do a half decent job, orchestrally, the live versions are poor approximations of the recorded polyrhythmic version
   
7. When BSO came into the picture, I thought, they should have given Haricharan his own track from Megha (Kalvane Kalvane – 2013) that was played by them. What a huge opportunity lost! Anyway, Hari was a baby in the 80s!
   
8. Chitra sang Maalaiyil Yaaro and she sounded very strained. I thought at some stage, the BSO will take on the pizzicato strings and play the brilliant interludes. Again, another opportunity lost
   
9. Mano sang Raaja Kaiya vachcha and the second charanam’s rhythm was a mess. Even if it is from Raaja, it was simply not right
   
10. Raaja sang Ada Veetukku Veetukku Vasapadi (Kizhakku Vaasal) and I thought he will conclude that with Mozart’s Symphony #25, as he had BSO in the concert. No such luck. Another opportunity lost  
    
11. Raaja sang Kaatu Vazhi Kaalnadaiya from Athu Oru Kana Kaalam and the violins from BSO were ineffective. The rhythm of the song was too loud and the song was a wash
    
12. En Iniya Pon Nilaave had some very poor orchestration support. I could not hear Sada’s guitar and the strings were very subdued in the interludes
    
13. Rakamma was an orchestral low point and I did not expect such a lack luster performance from Raja – the transition to the aberi based thiruppaavai was almost out of sync. The violins were so subdued that it was like some sruthi laya orchestra performing
    

Suggestions

1. Raaja keeps saying that he is not in the show business, but keeps performing shows. He need to get his act together. There are some things that you need to do when you do shows and stop living in the past. The techniques of the 20^th century do not work anymore. Given the fact that he has less work, he wants to use concerts to take care of his commitments. If this is a new revenue stream, give the respect it deserves
   
2. He has to have a strong team that looks at both audio and visuals of his shows. Get somebody qualified
   
3. He must project himself as a pan-South Indian composer or even pan Indian composer. Regardless of the audience, do songs from Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada apart from Tamil in all shows
   
4. He must perform songs of the 21^st century to drive home the fact that he is still active
   
5. Stop the nonsense of singers falling on his feet
   
6. Be cheerful and stop ranting in concerts. Carry yourself well and sing less and not more
   
7. If you collaborate with BSO, give them space to perform in their comfort zone and elevate the listeners to appreciate western classical music – intersperse it with his interpretation of some of the traditional WCM compositions
   
8. Have professional compering. Introduce every song being presented along with the singers
   
9. Seek audience feedback (get a compere to do that if you are shy) and keep the engagement going
   
10. Step back and evaluate what needs to be done next. If KR is doing a bad job, fire him (you are after all in Trump land!)
    

This is not to take away the genius of the man. Nor my appreciation for his work. I do not want to pussy foot and state that everything was great. After all we want him to do well and not blindly accept whatever he does on shows.

..After all we want him to do well and not blindly accept whatever he does on shows..
Yes looks like he has reached the stage were he simply addresses everybody like as if he talks with inside his studio where he is known to be harsh with people

Things were bit aritificial about people falling on his feet and  he himself highlighting it as if thats the norm. and we are not hearing to hear such high quality output in future. (no need to explcitly state that frequently) He was out of sorts at one point "appadiyea iru nee muneri ruvea" No clue who he was addressing? that was just b4 "ninaivoa oru paravai". Also have no clue why he yelled at "elorum mansushanga thanea". i dont think anybody from crowd were mischeif during BSO played interludes . that ranting came out of no where. or he did it artificially (?) to highlight BSO violine proweness as he asked them to play bits again. There were whistles but not during instruments being played. BSO violins seeemed to more emphasised over voice at times like karoke instrumental (i was in floor section near at end near mix ). sound setting yes..guitars were no were coming except at times. and also he left abruptly for some reason. Also not a sold out show other than floor section would say only 50% in stadium seating. May be organizers and himself expected big turnout !

Nevertheless good show with minuses of ranting, philosohpy, sound setup, and intentional mistakes are taken for granted (as if people asked for it ). Karthikraja and YSR were absconding as well. Looks like he decided to host himself.

I did send a big list of 2000 and after songs like valmiki, azhagar malai, ASK symphony, or some BGM tracks like monkey theme from mumbai express.. when organizer tweeted for list of songs . but none of them played.

irfan123 wrote:

ravinat wrote:Toronto - 2018 concert

Caution: This will not be a fan boy review of the Raaja concert in Toronto on Apr 1, 2018. Held at the Air Canada Center, this is a huge hockey venue where I have heard concerts by several other artists from around the world. The biggest villain of the evening was the poor sound quality – I am not sure if everybody had a problem or it was due to the box that I was in. However, unlike the 2013 concert, this had several high and lowlights. I will not go into the song by song account of this concert as there are several others from the US, who have done it as part of the TX,CA,IL,CT,VA concerts. All songs were Tamil songs and the list was mostly the songs from the US, though they added a few more Tamil numbers (total of 32 songs). I can call it a BM memory concert (Moodu Pani, Rettai Vaal Kuruvi, Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam, Moondram Pirai). My focus will be on orchestration, as I had high expectations with the BSO performing with Raaja.


Highlights
1.      

1. All the singers did a splendid job (exception Raaja) as nobody tried to improvise any of the songs. Surmukkhi, Harcharan, Mano and Vibhavari did some awesome singing
   
2. The BSO did play some songs such as ‘Ada Machamulla’, ‘Ninaivo Oru Paravai’, ‘Pothi Vachcha Malligai’, ‘Madai Thiranthu’  as good as the Raaja orchestra and they deserve to be applauded for that
   
3. The BSO played the ‘Ram Ram’ song very well as the violinists were perhaps the ones who recorded the original
   
4. Surmukhi had some awesome songs such as Dhoorathil Naan Kanda Or Mugam (Nizhalgal), Kaatril Endhan Geetham (Johnny)
   
5. Vibhavari sang Ananda Ragam (Panneer Pushpangal), Putham Pudhu Kaalai very well
   
6. I did not miss Hariharan or SPB as they would have improvised and tested our patience
   

Lowlights

1. Orchestrally, Puniya Srinivas (veena) and Cello Sekhar were missed as somehow the BSO folks could not get great cello play underway. Sada could hardly be heard. With the poor sound quality Sashi was almost non-existent. Prabhakar was conductor #2 with greatly reduced duties. Most of the bass I heard were perhaps out of the keyboard, I guess
   
2. Raaja, the singer was awful – he missed lines, added his own lines and tried to justify his misses with some rant that went nowhere
   
3. The sound quality was awful – I have heard much better sound in the same venue by other artists. There was not even TVs to see who is singing or performing. Mostly, it was guess work
   
4. The song selection – I knew it will be Tamil, but there were all again mostly from the 80s, but for two songs (Om Sivoham, Ram Ram). That was upsetting as Raja has done several good songs in the 21^st century. The TV shows already do the 80s recycling – why should Raja also do that?
   
5. Orchestrally, the first song, Janani Janani was a wash without the veena in the interludes. Punya Srinivas was missed. Sada’s guitar work could hardly be heard
   
6. I am hearing Om Sivoham for the second time live and though vocally, they do a half decent job, orchestrally, the live versions are poor approximations of the recorded polyrhythmic version
   
7. When BSO came into the picture, I thought, they should have given Haricharan his own track from Megha (Kalvane Kalvane – 2013) that was played by them. What a huge opportunity lost! Anyway, Hari was a baby in the 80s!
   
8. Chitra sang Maalaiyil Yaaro and she sounded very strained. I thought at some stage, the BSO will take on the pizzicato strings and play the brilliant interludes. Again, another opportunity lost
   
9. Mano sang Raaja Kaiya vachcha and the second charanam’s rhythm was a mess. Even if it is from Raaja, it was simply not right
   
10. Raaja sang Ada Veetukku Veetukku Vasapadi (Kizhakku Vaasal) and I thought he will conclude that with Mozart’s Symphony #25, as he had BSO in the concert. No such luck. Another opportunity lost  
    
11. Raaja sang Kaatu Vazhi Kaalnadaiya from Athu Oru Kana Kaalam and the violins from BSO were ineffective. The rhythm of the song was too loud and the song was a wash
    
12. En Iniya Pon Nilaave had some very poor orchestration support. I could not hear Sada’s guitar and the strings were very subdued in the interludes
    
13. Rakamma was an orchestral low point and I did not expect such a lack luster performance from Raja – the transition to the aberi based thiruppaavai was almost out of sync. The violins were so subdued that it was like some sruthi laya orchestra performing
    

Suggestions

1. Raaja keeps saying that he is not in the show business, but keeps performing shows. He need to get his act together. There are some things that you need to do when you do shows and stop living in the past. The techniques of the 20^th century do not work anymore. Given the fact that he has less work, he wants to use concerts to take care of his commitments. If this is a new revenue stream, give the respect it deserves
   
2. He has to have a strong team that looks at both audio and visuals of his shows. Get somebody qualified
   
3. He must project himself as a pan-South Indian composer or even pan Indian composer. Regardless of the audience, do songs from Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada apart from Tamil in all shows
   
4. He must perform songs of the 21^st century to drive home the fact that he is still active
   
5. Stop the nonsense of singers falling on his feet
   
6. Be cheerful and stop ranting in concerts. Carry yourself well and sing less and not more
   
7. If you collaborate with BSO, give them space to perform in their comfort zone and elevate the listeners to appreciate western classical music – intersperse it with his interpretation of some of the traditional WCM compositions
   
8. Have professional compering. Introduce every song being presented along with the singers
   
9. Seek audience feedback (get a compere to do that if you are shy) and keep the engagement going
   
10. Step back and evaluate what needs to be done next. If KR is doing a bad job, fire him (you are after all in Trump land!)
    

This is not to take away the genius of the man. Nor my appreciation for his work. I do not want to pussy foot and state that everything was great. After all we want him to do well and not blindly accept whatever he does on shows.

..After all we want him to do well and not blindly accept whatever he does on shows..
Yes looks like he has reached the stage were he simply addresses everybody like as if he talks with inside his studio where he is known to be harsh with people

Things were bit aritificial about people falling on his feet and  he himself highlighting it as if thats the norm. and we are not hearing to hear such high quality output in future. (no need to explcitly state that frequently) He was out of sorts at one point "appadiyea iru nee muneri ruvea" No clue who he was addressing? that was just b4 "ninaivoa oru paravai". Also have no clue why he yelled at "elorum mansushanga thanea". i dont think anybody from crowd were mischeif during BSO played interludes . that ranting came out of no where. or he did it artificially (?) to highlight BSO violine proweness as he asked them to play bits again. There were whistles but not during instruments being played. BSO violins seeemed to more emphasised over voice at times like karoke instrumental (i was in floor section near at end near mix ). sound setting yes..guitars were no were coming except at times. and also he left abruptly for some reason. Also not a sold out show other than floor section would say only 50% in stadium seating. May be organizers and himself expected big turnout !

Nevertheless good show with minuses of ranting, philosohpy, sound setup, and intentional mistakes are taken for granted (as if people asked for it ). Karthikraja and YSR were absconding as well. Looks like he decided to host himself.

I did send a big list of 2000 and after songs like valmiki, azhagar malai, ASK symphony, or some BGM tracks like monkey theme from mumbai express.. when organizer tweeted for list of songs . but none of them played.

Few things in reply to above posts by ravinat and irfan123:

- In the DC Tamil concert on Saturday (day before Toronto concert), Raja was in a good mood, crowd was well behaved, and no rants or irrelevant philosophy or anger was shown. The man is pushing 75, and Toronto was his third successive concert evening. Give the man a break!

- In the DC Tamil concert, he stayed till the very end. But in 2016, he left abruptly but did sing the standard Thenpaandi closing song but left before the Megam Kottatum finale. He was not angry or anything that year, so must have just been tired. No Thenpaandi in Toronto means he was very tired and/or pissed.

- These live concerts are huge compromises, as Raja himself has said several times in the past. I can see that they cut corners with the orchestra and the orchestration, the sound level monitoring, and so many other things. The drum kit, for example, is often too loud, and they use it to substitute for various ethnic drums in many songs.

- Except us hardcore fans, nobody seems to care for anything but the Raja songs of the 80's and 90's, with a few 70's thrown in. The mainstream audience seems to want a nostalgia trip more than anything else. So, they seem to go with the majority and cater to that need. Hence, little chance of hearing anything much from the 2000's and beyond.

- Nobody is immune to adulation, praise, attention, appreciation.... Raja seems to be doing these concerts, especially in the US (his 3rd tour in 5 years), to soak all that in, from generally very respectful crowds, besides the financial rewards aspect. Little incentive to change the format if his personal goals are being met. I would love to see a more nuanced approach to presentation of the songs, more analysis, etc., as ravinat says, but I don't think it will ever happen (if someone else takes over the organization, perhaps?)

- Which leads to what worries me: After Raja's time, who's going to give the live orchestra treatment of his songs to even this degree of fidelity to the original compositions and orchestrations? These concerts, to me, seem like the last chance for us to experience his music in the best possible way, as no other way seems apparent in the future after he's gone. Where would be the live performers (especially the instrumentalists) to do it, even if someone is willing to pull it all together? This is a very depressing thought :-(

- Regarding Chithra: Surprised that she made it to Toronto. She skipped the DC concerts in favor of a concert of her own in the UK on Saturday. Looks like she flew back to North America, so no wonder you say she seemed out of sorts.

Great points ravinat, irfan and nambik.  One way to solve this issue of satisfying both the nostalgia based admirers and the likes of us here on forumms is perhaps to have two kinds of shows lined up.  One would be the kind that is being done now - maybe do about 4 such shows and at least two that are held in a hall where classical music gets showcased.  There he could explain the nuances of songs and even play his recent compositions and BGMs and several language songs. 

I doubt that he can pull off a mix of languages in his regular show.  I wish he could (I for one would welcome it).  However, the reality is there is a lot of pettiness that goes on.  People shouting for their language songs repeatedly, threatening to ask for refund if another language gets into a show because it was originally advertised as Tamil only.    

Even as I express these wishes, a part of me also wants him to just not strain himself with live shows and just stay home and compose.

Great, great posts about his recent concerts!

Coming from true-well-wishers (and not merely some 80's fans), very valid points!

Well, at last, I had the opportunity to be in an IR-live concert for the first time in Toronto on Sunday

Some of the songs are still playing in my mind as I type this...I don't know when I can formulate my thoughts properly and make some decent posts...