Raja - Live in Concerts - Madurai Concert Telecast/Videos

[naarayanan]

Seeing the trend, there are going to be many more live concerts. Shall we make it as "Live Concerts" thread.

Posting some NBW and HTNI live concert videos and photos..

[naarayanan]

This is an amateur attempt but i think the recent HTNI concert was also on the same lines...

[naarayanan]

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

hubber Kamesh Bavaratnam tweeted "How to name it" next to be held in coimbatore & bangalore

Bangalore, it will happen in September

[tamizharasan]

Can we get the dvd for this concert anywhere?

[sakaLAKALAKAlaa Vallavar]

TA, scroll back few pages, a link shud be there

[tamizharasan]

TA, scroll back few pages, a link shud be there

Thanks Sakala. Iwill try and find out.

[naarayanan]

3 more concerts in the pipeline..

'be with me' on 20th august.. @ chennai trade centre, chennai


bengaluru ganesh utsav celebrations concert on 23 september @ national college grounds, bangalore


engeyum eppodhum on nov.3 @ toronto, canada.

[KV]

It probably is a bit too late, but here are some of my comments on the ‘Be with me – Maestro’ program.
The program was a huge let-down for me for the expectations (quite naïve on my part in retrospect) that I had from it were totally different. The setup was nice - traditional welcome with naadhaswaram and thavil, AC hall almost packed, small orchestra on stage and all that, but beyond this, the idea and execution of the program was super sloppy. To begin with, the event management was a farce – not even the basics were addressed: no ticket checking (considering there were 5k, 10k denominations!) and no security checks () (needless to say, secondary things like arrangement for water and snacks were pathetic).

The program (I frankly don’t know if Raaja had some other ideas and it eventually rolled out this way, or if he originally intended it to be this way) was disappointing but for a few exciting bits here and there. Enduring Bosky in the NBW concert was very difficult. Now imagine this guy teaming up with Parthiban and Vivek! (To quote a paatti vachanam - kodumai kodumainu koilukku pOna, anga oru periya kodumai thalaiya virichu pOttu jingujingunu gudhichitu irundhuchaan!).

So, here we have Raaja, seated on a well planned dais (almost replicating his studio setup) with a haromonium and a 10 piece orchestra (complete with acoustic guitar, drums, bass among other instruments) keeping him company. Wouldn’t it be natural for anyone (fanO tubelightO, whoever) to expect something special? Alas, the god had different plans. He quite simply handed over the controls to bosky (obviously with a very anemic script for the show I imagine, because he was frequently referring to a ‘bittu’ paper). And what followed can probably be described best as ‘isai thalaivanukku paaraattu vizha’ (for aakarsh and other non-thamizh folks here: the erstwhile CM of TN had this narcissistic habit of organizing ‘self-pleasuring’ events on a lavish scale where a select few would sing paeans in his name; these shows went by the name ‘paasa thalaivanukku paaraattu vizha’). What then followed was a boring, drawn-out session replete with gaudy showers of praise on Raaja and many run-of-the-mill, blunt-knife-at-the-neck questions. The only redeeming factors were the video clips and Raaja on the guitar (a long pending dream of mine – was a tad disappointed to know he wasn’t in touch with playing it these days). The Marudhanaayagam song was a total surprise for me, not just in making an appearance in the show but musically too; I hadn’t, for a bit, imagined a folk/siththar song for the visuals (expect the unexpected when with Raaja many a time!). Another clip showing his Hungary jazz buddies playing a guitar lead section was also very nice (recently recorded for another new movie, we were told by a gentleman in the crowd). Rita and Haricharan sang a couple of songs and they were decently engaging. These 15-20 minutes are all that I will take from the 3 odd hours that the program ran for. The rest was all drivel. Raaja even admitted towards the end that he had other things to share but couldn’t on that day. Sad stuff. L

A note to all those who were involved in organizing (I don’t even want to use this word here) this show – We all love him and his music and we’ve expressed this in ample already. Please stop feeding us chaff and allow us to drink a bit of the real juice.( I’m not even complaining that I spent 1000 bucks on this show, for he has given me music and happiness all my life that is invaluable. I will be indebted to him forever).
In future, for any such programs, please select people who are decently well-informed about the man and his music. Think SPB, Guitar Prasanna, Mandolin Srinivas, Bombay Jayashree, Sivamani, Suka, Balu Mahendra and the likes. Like Wizzy had suggested, even having his own musicians speak about their musical experience and journey with him would be good. We need quality shows where such people can bounce off ideas from Raaja and engage him in interesting and meaningful dialog. If these shows are proving to be too expensive and impractical to organize, think TV programs or documentaries. We’d happily settle for that. Think of documentaries like ‘it might get loud’ (which we’d discussed in the Rock music thread some months back) and imagine Raaja with some quality musicians/artists in a similar setup. How lovely would that be? The man seems to be eager to share his musical knowledge and experience, but the right medium is not being setup. Not his fault alone; we all will have to partake in this guilt.

Well, I’ll probably stop here. A voice inside tells me I’ll have to stop taking life too seriously and go easy instead.

[MumbaiRamki]

It probably.................................... The man seems to be eager to share his musical knowledge and experience, but the right medium is not being setup. Not his fault alone; we all will have to partake in this guilt.

Well, I’ll probably stop here. A voice inside tells me I’ll have to stop taking life too seriously and go easy instead.

KV , like these + FB comments were shared with KR . We will definetly have a better arrangement next time .