Siva. Shankar. Selva. Srinivas. And one Ustad.
I wore thin my leather sandals, struck up back slapping conversations with total strangers, all for what? One Extra Pass. By zeus, the trials and tribulations one has to endure for a live concert. But then again, this wasn't just some coked out grandpa rocker concert, this was something else.
Personally, live concerts are up there with free first day first show tickets to the latest rajni release. The experience become even more profound when the performers up there are some of modern India's greatest living musicians. And so it was on a Wednesday evening in Bangalore when the collective talents of five astounding gentlemen had us totally in their spell. Someone could have exploded a laxmi bomb under me and i won't have noticed. The performers were Sivamani, Shankar Mahadevan, Mandolin Srinivas, Selvaganesh and Ustad Zakir Hussain. The event was the Times of India’s Heart Beat Concert held in St. Joseph’s School on Museum Road.
The thing about live performances in general and especially about this one:
It's just us and them. We the audience, and them the performers. Without any of the filters of technology or recording paraphernalia to dilute the experience, it's just the pure undigitized voices and the raw energy of the performers that reach out to us.
Enough has been written about them and this concert in the dailies, here are some of my personal recollections of the evening:
What I carry from this rare treat is the sound of the mandolin that keeps resonating within me, even today. No mean feat that considering it had stiff competition from the percussion talents of Sivamani, Selvaganesh and Ustad himself. All through the concert, the soft tones of the mandolin strings seemed to rise above the cascades springing forth from the other instruments, and stayed with me long after everything else had faded.
At the end of the concert, the sight of Sivamani bending down and giving away his drum sticks to one of the youngsters in the audience + when, during the main event itself when he came from behind his drums and sat down beside Selva to watch the Ustad jamming it up solo. Camaraderie. The expression on his face at that moment in time was priceless.
There was an instance where after Selvaganesh’s solo, Zakir Hussain asked us if we were actually able to listen to his kanjira above all our screaming - not that he minded of course, which artist won't like some vocal appreciation of his talents. He praised Selva by proclaiming that Selva is the one guy who could coax so many sounds from a humble kanjira, sounds which takes Sivamani all of his 200 drums to poduce. Ahem...Another instance when the Ustad requested the photographers crowding the stage to move aside so that he could see the audience. Not that he could have seen much beyond the VIP enclosure but nonetheless, that remark got him extra claps from the janta.
No comments here about the organization, crowd management, the crowded snack sellers on the sides of the enclosure (one of whom kept hollering “bhelpuri bhel...belll” at just the wrong times). Just being able to attend this event was worth every bit of discomfort endured. No marks to TOI for the organization.
I have always admired Shankar Mahadevan as a commercial filmy singer and as a composer, but to see him live rendering Hindustani and Carnatic compositions with the same élan as he does for a A.R. Rahman composition, now that was wonderful.
The man started off with a ganesh stuti, followed it up with a jazz composition infused with carnatic elements, ably supported by mandolin srinivas and ended the program with a soulful rendition of ‘raghupati raghav raja ram’. A fitting tribute,considering the recent events in Bombay.
The real treat was after the show, when we got to see the artistes up and close. Sivamani and Mandolin Srinivas in the flesh:) Siva gave away his drumsticks away and Mandolin Srinivas inreracted a bit with the young people. Rock stars in Bangalore don't get the adulation that these gentlemen did.
Somewhere in the middle of the concert, Ustad mentioned that it today was two days since Sivamani's birthday. He immediately followed this with a rendition of "Happy Birthday to you" on the tabla. The audience (not the VIP snobs) chipped in with thier vocal version of "happy birthday to u siva....".
All in all, quite an evening. Now the main issue is, how do i get back home?
Comments
I wished i were there....