The Magnum Opu... enough of this crap.. ok AR Rahman is coming to town.. God knows why he named his tourage " the 3rd dimensional tour".. do not get the wrong idea.. i am an ardent fan of ARR .. i might not have all his tracks and albums to prove my fanaticism but i really believe he is the best thing to happen to the Indian Movie/Music scene... Sure there are others such as Yuvan (YSR) and Ilayaraja (Honey music breeze) and various others with various synonyms..but none can actually compare with ARR.. he is simply one cut above the rest.. His music have this magical way of touching the soul.. one might not like his tunes instantly but slowly it creeps into your head and roots itself.. for some unknown reason , you simply cant get it out of your head.. i am sure all of you would have experienced it at some point of time.. for me, this time was the song ," marangothiyae" from A.A (formerly known as B.F).. even in my busiest moments , that song keeps looping over inside my head like some background score ..but the loop doesnt go beyond the words "marangothiyae...marangothiyae.." i wonder why..
coming back to the point..have you all checked the pricing for his show? if not pay a visit to SISTIC.. my goodness, the closest seats cost you 500 bucks and the cheapest seats are 50 bucks ( which doesnt make a difference as you are gonna invest another 45o bucks on telescope set, considering the distance between you and the stage)..hmmm.. i am a fan of his music, no doubt about it.. but would i pay this much ( even if i have the cash) to go and listen to music which i am eventually going to hear in MP3s (from the Net) or on SUN TV during the next Deepavali or Pongal..
Lets say that i am going in a group of 3 and i purchase the best seats.. i would have blown 1.5K out of my pockets.. 1.5K , an average man's monthly salary.. i know its a different experience but is it worth it.. We think so much when we come across a donation box to donate a few bucks.. but when it comes to ARR.. hmm.. any ideas why the partiality in the thoughts.. comments are welcome.. but its really gettin annoyin to see spam in my commentaries..
4 comments:
The AR Rahman concert has been conceptualized, labelled and now being heavily marketed as an "experience" in the best of music. The advertising messaging gives ARR an almost magical aura, that ultimately would have you believe that it's alright to blow a $100 on him.
But let's strip it down to the bare minimals (that I am an avid ARR fan notwithstanding): it's going to be a concert with stationary singers (Chitra, etc, maybe Blaaze and Hariharan might sway a bit); ARR is not going to do somersaults with his electronic keyboard; and even if he DOES use his keyboard (why would be bring an orchestra?) it'll be very suspiciously similar to listening to his CDs in the superb sound system of the Indoor Stadium. And once only. Can't rewind. And the crux is: music for me is to be listened and enjoyed. It's an auditory thing man, not a concert/visual thing.
I'd rather pay $10 and listen to the soundtrack of "Swades" on my iPod. At my own time and pace. And I'd rather listen to ARR than, er, see him. Unless he prays Maghrib with me.
personally, watching ARR in concert is in itself a worthwhile experience. so the question is whats the threshold price beyond which i wont go. its painfully clear 500 bucks is one such limit. I caught ARR's bombay dreams in london for 16 quid...about 50 sing. WORTH EVERY PENNY. but it was a musical, so lots of dancing, cleavage and drama. so 50 sing, good bargain.
ARR's show will be pretty good going by the reviews for his previous shows. I think my threshold will be 150 bucks. And it will be a hard enough decision to make depending on the company i have for the evening. Listening to it on cd, is like watching man utd play on tv. Watching it live should be the holy grail for self respecting fans dont you think?
You know how they say sometimes when something is "Beautiful from far" but upon closer examination it's actually "far from beautiful"? I wouldn't want the magic of ARR consumed into the latter category. A visual spectacle is good so far as it is meant to be a a spectacle in itself (like jiggling stomachs and cleavages in Bombay Dreams). But to sell music, known especially for its attention to detail, as a concert somehow robs the magic of the music, distracting it away from its original essence, ie. the audio aspect. And we've seen enough Tamil films that have destroyed ARR's great music through pungent visuals (eg. Kadhal Virus).
Of course, what is distracting to me may be "supplementary" for others.
my opinion.
to me ARR's Music takes auditory priority. we all know the difference between a studio album and a live play ( aka unplugged ).. the people whom are doing the show are singers, they are not dancers or performers.. their talents are polished to perfection onli in the studios mike.. come on , some of ARR's ingenious track effects cannot be reproduced live ( unless that guy is using a playback system).. His mastery is in music.. he should station himself where he is king. leave the performing to the performers. not sidelinin ARR tho.. furthermore u wud never know how the Singapore crowd might react. we happen to be less expressive then others around the world. and if our ppl go in expecting a bollywood dance musical.. than think of the negative impact on our ARR.. our ppl will easily come out condemnin ARR .. labelling him not worth the money paid.. hmm.. somethin to think abt?
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