Prologue:
A small write up about an concert I had attended back in the year of 2012, by beloved singer SPB.
A small write up about an concert I had attended back in the year of 2012, by beloved singer SPB.
Just got back from the concert around 11.pm , if only I had litle bit of more energy I would have typed this write up then but from the journey of 7 hours up and down and another 4.5 hours at the concert, my back needed a rest.
Columbus Tamil sangam had organised this grand concert with Dr.S. P. Balasubramanian and troupe, at Alladdin Shrine Centre, Columbus Ohio. I left from my place Troy, MI around 9.30 am in the morning, It took me around 3.5 hrs by car to to the place. People were already getting into the hall, i did not waste a single minute when I saw that I had to get in, i just ate my lunch (actully hardly) and went inside, to my relief inside people were waiting for the doors to be opened. soon after it was opened I secured myself the first row seating.
The concert was supposed to start at 2.30 pm, but could not start then, it started only at 3.00pm, (later SPB sir said that their flight from Chicago landed only at 11.30 am and they came straight to the hall, and one of the troupe members could not get seat in the same flight and his flight landed at 12.30 pm only) . so sad these people they turmoil themselves to give nice music to our ears.
There was a brief announcement made by the organizers and SPB sir and his troupe were introduced on stage, he made an entrance, my man was just standing there, simple, dressed in stripe shirt and black pants. shylaja madam, kalpana raghavendar, and sri krishna along with two key board artist, one bass guitar player , one lead guitar player, two tabla players , one sound engineer and two persons on percussion.
Columbus Tamil sangam had organised this grand concert with Dr.S. P. Balasubramanian and troupe, at Alladdin Shrine Centre, Columbus Ohio. I left from my place Troy, MI around 9.30 am in the morning, It took me around 3.5 hrs by car to to the place. People were already getting into the hall, i did not waste a single minute when I saw that I had to get in, i just ate my lunch (actully hardly) and went inside, to my relief inside people were waiting for the doors to be opened. soon after it was opened I secured myself the first row seating.
The concert was supposed to start at 2.30 pm, but could not start then, it started only at 3.00pm, (later SPB sir said that their flight from Chicago landed only at 11.30 am and they came straight to the hall, and one of the troupe members could not get seat in the same flight and his flight landed at 12.30 pm only) . so sad these people they turmoil themselves to give nice music to our ears.
There was a brief announcement made by the organizers and SPB sir and his troupe were introduced on stage, he made an entrance, my man was just standing there, simple, dressed in stripe shirt and black pants. shylaja madam, kalpana raghavendar, and sri krishna along with two key board artist, one bass guitar player , one lead guitar player, two tabla players , one sound engineer and two persons on percussion.
Before the concert started, he did not forget here to say pranams to his parents who gave this birth to him and all his guru's.
As it was already late on starting time, SPB sir made no waste of time, he started with the lines "janani janmabhishida" and the group sang the first song of Vande maataram, Vanda maatraram. Each and every line pronounced to the perfection, voice same as ever, young as ever. followed by it the second song was Naada Vinodhangal from Salaingai oli, while shylaja madam rendered the female part, kalpana and shir krishna joined in singing the chorus part. started with the slogan part of "vakartha sambrithou vakkath prathi pathayae' full rendition. to its peak, nobody can just come par at him in this one particular song.
Third song was " Kinnerasani Vachindamma" from the movie Sitara , the whole concert was 75% tamil songs, and 25% telugu songs, whatever language it is , never mind,music is music, SPB sir's voice is there, what else I need here. This song gave a jump start to the concert.Meanwhile all this were going on he had to correct the monitors for good sound, and for this he had to ask the audience "excuse me , i will just take two minutes of your time(he need not ask us at all,that is SPB the most humble person on earth).
The fourth song was "Maatae manthramu" from Seetakokachiluka, this song I have heard it in Tamil "kadhal oviyam" from alaigal oyivathillai, this was a duet with shylaja madam, soulful rendition, no words to say. This song also started with the sloka " Shathmanam bhavathi shayath purusha". Whatever is done, it is done perfect.
The fifth song was Nadham ennum kovilae, from Kalpana solo song, this time he had to take a break, he introduced kalpana, as an upcoming singer, trained in classical, sings many languages , at this point kalpana didn't forget to get blessings from him by touching his feet and started singing, she did a nice job.
The sixth one was "oh priya priya na priya priya priya" from Geethanjali, duet with shylaja madam, another beautiful melody song. Every song , he kept on praising laurels of Raja sir, he would have said his name about more than 10 times, varthai ikku varthai raja raja raja, nice to hear that, in between the song, when the prelude and interludes where playing here and there said listen to the music that's where Raja stands.
He kept on saying Ii am trying to keep good justice to the audience by singing one Tamil song and one Telugu song, and as always music has no language and audience shouted "vande maatram" and that's right. I sing in so many languages and i forgot what my mother tongue is, enjoy the music and don't take language as a barrier..
Now he introduced the little boy, shri krishna he was the winner of the Telugu program "paadhallundi" he said he almost like my son , he just into the galaxy of music and also working as an assistant one music director, from there on krishna sang a solo song, from a Telugu movie, originally sung by him .
The next song was again it was duet song between shylaja madam and shri krishan "konja neram Konjam neram " from the movie "chandramukhi, krishna and shylaja did full justice to the song, some audience when they were coming out of the concert, they were still singing this song. He also mentioned here about Vidyasagar who came into movies long ago and then went to Malayam industry and now come back to Tamil again. some beautiful numbers he had composed.This song again there was a monitor problem, and he stopped shyla madam singing at one point, corrected it and then she had to start it from the first place. perfection = SPB.
The Eighth song was "Mounama vela " from 'salaigai oli" in Tamil, sagara sangamam in Telugu duet with shylaja madam, here he was singing the Tamil version for the charanam part and shyla madam was singing the Telugu, part,each part of the audience were shouting and clapping when each of their verses came, and it was so nice to see, as I was very near to the stage, he simultaneously opened both the lines and was shifting one Telugu line to one Tamil line with his never ending smile in his face. As the audience were sitl urging shyla madam to sing in Tamil too, he gimmick "I cannot do anything with her". He just took back the crowd to the 80's with this song, again here also he did not forget to mention about Raja sir, saying nobody can write or ever create a music like Raja. He is a historian mentioning Raja "
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As it was already late on starting time, SPB sir made no waste of time, he started with the lines "janani janmabhishida" and the group sang the first song of Vande maataram, Vanda maatraram. Each and every line pronounced to the perfection, voice same as ever, young as ever. followed by it the second song was Naada Vinodhangal from Salaingai oli, while shylaja madam rendered the female part, kalpana and shir krishna joined in singing the chorus part. started with the slogan part of "vakartha sambrithou vakkath prathi pathayae' full rendition. to its peak, nobody can just come par at him in this one particular song.
Third song was " Kinnerasani Vachindamma" from the movie Sitara , the whole concert was 75% tamil songs, and 25% telugu songs, whatever language it is , never mind,music is music, SPB sir's voice is there, what else I need here. This song gave a jump start to the concert.Meanwhile all this were going on he had to correct the monitors for good sound, and for this he had to ask the audience "excuse me , i will just take two minutes of your time(he need not ask us at all,that is SPB the most humble person on earth).
The fourth song was "Maatae manthramu" from Seetakokachiluka, this song I have heard it in Tamil "kadhal oviyam" from alaigal oyivathillai, this was a duet with shylaja madam, soulful rendition, no words to say. This song also started with the sloka " Shathmanam bhavathi shayath purusha". Whatever is done, it is done perfect.
The fifth song was Nadham ennum kovilae, from Kalpana solo song, this time he had to take a break, he introduced kalpana, as an upcoming singer, trained in classical, sings many languages , at this point kalpana didn't forget to get blessings from him by touching his feet and started singing, she did a nice job.
The sixth one was "oh priya priya na priya priya priya" from Geethanjali, duet with shylaja madam, another beautiful melody song. Every song , he kept on praising laurels of Raja sir, he would have said his name about more than 10 times, varthai ikku varthai raja raja raja, nice to hear that, in between the song, when the prelude and interludes where playing here and there said listen to the music that's where Raja stands.
He kept on saying Ii am trying to keep good justice to the audience by singing one Tamil song and one Telugu song, and as always music has no language and audience shouted "vande maatram" and that's right. I sing in so many languages and i forgot what my mother tongue is, enjoy the music and don't take language as a barrier..
Now he introduced the little boy, shri krishna he was the winner of the Telugu program "paadhallundi" he said he almost like my son , he just into the galaxy of music and also working as an assistant one music director, from there on krishna sang a solo song, from a Telugu movie, originally sung by him .
The next song was again it was duet song between shylaja madam and shri krishan "konja neram Konjam neram " from the movie "chandramukhi, krishna and shylaja did full justice to the song, some audience when they were coming out of the concert, they were still singing this song. He also mentioned here about Vidyasagar who came into movies long ago and then went to Malayam industry and now come back to Tamil again. some beautiful numbers he had composed.This song again there was a monitor problem, and he stopped shyla madam singing at one point, corrected it and then she had to start it from the first place. perfection = SPB.
The Eighth song was "Mounama vela " from 'salaigai oli" in Tamil, sagara sangamam in Telugu duet with shylaja madam, here he was singing the Tamil version for the charanam part and shyla madam was singing the Telugu, part,each part of the audience were shouting and clapping when each of their verses came, and it was so nice to see, as I was very near to the stage, he simultaneously opened both the lines and was shifting one Telugu line to one Tamil line with his never ending smile in his face. As the audience were sitl urging shyla madam to sing in Tamil too, he gimmick "I cannot do anything with her". He just took back the crowd to the 80's with this song, again here also he did not forget to mention about Raja sir, saying nobody can write or ever create a music like Raja. He is a historian mentioning Raja "
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Now came fun part, by this time he had taken his time to get into the mood , the instruments were finely tuned by then, we could easily feel it, Kalpana said that let's sing some carnatic song, he said I dont'know carnatic, we all know and nobody believed , kalpana started calling 'appa appa' and went to touch his feet, he said "appa appa solli ne en kala vaari vidathae, I know one day you are going to do it" with this they started singing "Adiyae manam nillu naa nikkathadi"from Neengal Keetavai" Whistles started blowing out from all sides for this song, crowd enjoyed this song very much, he finished the song saying "keerthanam eppodiyo paadi mudichachu" .
Again a break for him ,with krishna rendering a solo song again, I forgot the song, another Telugu one. By this time I was expecting a solo version from him.Here he made fun of that krishna saying he needs a young lady to marry,please get a bride for him, and for this krishna replied "sir I am getting girl friends but by the time they listen to your songs they are going away from me,what to do" , "they are always people at the back of you", SPB sir asked then krishna to sing as many songs just like him and then people will do the same thing with you, and he dedicated the next song to krishna Pothi vachi malaigai mottu from "mann vasanai duet with kalpana, solla varthai ellai entha song, same as we heard it before .
Next came "Bangaaru Koodi petta eh papa eh papa" from Gharana Mogugu , if chiranjeevi sir would have heard this song he sure would have started dancing and he sang as if chiranjeevi sir in India would have heard it by then, such a loud voice, from his bottom of the heart, full force. As usual nice response from Telugu audience for this song with all dancing.
I almost forgot when they announced the break, between these songs, they recognized & honored SPB sir and his troupe with a plaque,ponaadai and honorary citizenship from the mayor the city and a memento to all the troupe members, he failed not to do introduce each and every one of them and recognize them how much hardships they undertake on all Friday's and Weekends, as they had to unpack all the instruments and get to the flight on time, all the rehearsal they had to undergo , and in the end all the need is the claps from audience .Another nice song from shylaja madam and krishna "kanna varuvaya " from manthil uruthi vendum, krishna sang this song .
Again a break for him ,with krishna rendering a solo song again, I forgot the song, another Telugu one. By this time I was expecting a solo version from him.Here he made fun of that krishna saying he needs a young lady to marry,please get a bride for him, and for this krishna replied "sir I am getting girl friends but by the time they listen to your songs they are going away from me,what to do" , "they are always people at the back of you", SPB sir asked then krishna to sing as many songs just like him and then people will do the same thing with you, and he dedicated the next song to krishna Pothi vachi malaigai mottu from "mann vasanai duet with kalpana, solla varthai ellai entha song, same as we heard it before .
Next came "Bangaaru Koodi petta eh papa eh papa" from Gharana Mogugu , if chiranjeevi sir would have heard this song he sure would have started dancing and he sang as if chiranjeevi sir in India would have heard it by then, such a loud voice, from his bottom of the heart, full force. As usual nice response from Telugu audience for this song with all dancing.
I almost forgot when they announced the break, between these songs, they recognized & honored SPB sir and his troupe with a plaque,ponaadai and honorary citizenship from the mayor the city and a memento to all the troupe members, he failed not to do introduce each and every one of them and recognize them how much hardships they undertake on all Friday's and Weekends, as they had to unpack all the instruments and get to the flight on time, all the rehearsal they had to undergo , and in the end all the need is the claps from audience .Another nice song from shylaja madam and krishna "kanna varuvaya " from manthil uruthi vendum, krishna sang this song .
By this time audience were requesting him to sing favourites, he said how much can one person take, don't put so much missiles on me , "thangu vena yousicheengala"(did u think), I only have two lungs and I am 64. I have to put myself to a limit. when audience shouted 40000, he said no no only 36000, . all this songs, mannil and balleka everybody saying without breath "I sang,how can one sing, I will die if i do that, it is all technology". he enthralled the audience with a melody of "panivizhum, Mannil intha kadhal andri, Vaanam konda ven nilavae, nilaavae vaa, Anthi Mazhai, Ilaya nila " and two other Telugu numbers. They were few more requests and he said,you will keep on asking and I will keep on singing and I cannot say no nor I cannot say I don't know the song , I have to sing, please now let me sing the songs and you hear it, you had your say and it is my time now.
He sang jothey alli jothey ali kanada song, I almost cried in this song, same as original, without any doubt .This song also he mentioned same music, same composer Raja, just the language is different.
Now, came the introduction of Rehman and his dad, "small four year old boy running here and there when I went to meet his dad,never did I think that one day i would sing a song in his composition, just a nice down to earth person", he sang Anjali Anjali from duet, that high pitch voice without any strain he got it through, kalpana accompanied him in this song.
Now it was time was for Hindi, Pehla pehla pyaar hai from Hum aapke Hain koun, it was like as if saying "in between us "SPB and music, SPB and Raja,SPB and ARR , or I should say SPB his family and all his lovers, fans composers nobody can come between them. Those who can understand the lyrics of this song and had heard the original enjoyed it very much.
Next one was Priyatama nanu palakarinchu hrudayama from jagadeka verrudu athiloka sundari no looking at the time and all, he wanted to entertain the audience that was his only motive.
Again an mention about Vidyasagar his music krishna sang "kaatrin Mozhi " from the movie "mozhi, krishna just did his job perfect in this song. in the end SPB sir also mentioned, the original singer also sang well, but "I feel krishna did more justice to the song."
Now he says, time to sing some fast numbers, people should not think i know only melody songs, he sang "balleka from sivaji with full force " when that breathless part came , audience cheered him with claps.
Time to sing another duet, "malarae Mounama " from karna, entha song , "eppadi paadi irupaaru solla thevai ellai."
Now to say about Ghantasala, another beautiful singer, krishna sang the Ghantasala part and he sang his original version, "prathi rathiri vasantha rathiri from eka veera, he was fortunate to sing with just great singers Ghantasala.
Again back to his old friend, Ilayaraja, he mentioned how Raja sir was not a pious man before in his early years, and once when he went inside the Thai mookambigai temple, from that day on how is life totally changed, he had a strange feeling inside the premises, and he became pious man, his career boomed and started to make such beautiful numbers, one number being this song " Naadhiyil aadum poovam " from kadhal oviyam , he also mentioned this was one of the first songs of computerized version of Raja and this song is the one where ARR played keyboard for Raja sir.
This is almost the 25th number of the concert "Valai oosai" from sathya, such a nice memorable piece from Raja sir.In between shylaja madam sang "jallandhakavindha " from gethanjali, she didn't forget to mention about Chitra , how she is still the same person after so many years.
Time to sing , the Grand Finale songs, it was indeed "Sankara naada " from sankarabharanam, his award winning songs. We could not feel it was his last song, just as he sang his first song, the same way he did full justice to this song. After this he said, " after singing this song, he said "if I sing any song it would not fit appropriate. but at the last minute , the sangam committee had a one last wish, it was oruvan oruvan muthalali, from "Muthu" he just sang the first charanam and ended it the concert with his full bow to the audience.
He thanked the audience for their time to spent here. we all departed him with heavy heart just because the concert ended , but memories and his songs will lasts with us forever and ever.
Overall the concert lasted for about 3 1/2 hours with 27 songs. It was such a power packed performance that will last through a lifetime.
I wrote this write up just as a kid would write an essay, if he/she is back from a trip. I felt the same way too. My inspiration being from one Mr.Dasarthi (SPB fans yahoo groups ) who used to write a nice write up whenever he finishes attending concert of SPB sir. Here I should not forget to mention thanks to my husband for driving me all the way from my place to Ohio and taking good care of our kids, so that I could attend the concert without any other thoughts in my mind.
I had a great time, and hope those who read this will feel the same way too.
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