Desicritics Category: Media: Concerts

Travel Report: Korba Street Festival - Heliopolis, Cairo

Kim — Wed, 14 May 2008 02:19:02 EDT

Last Friday was the annual Korba Street festival in Heliopolis - a residential suburb in Cairo.

Baghdad street was closed off to traffic and stalls were put up along the sidewalks. There were stalls from the Asean countries selling native food and some handicrafts.

The Indian stall just had posters urging visitors to visit India. Nothing else. :(

There were tables along the sides for families to relax and grab a bite and the main road was left free for kids to express their creativity on the road with chalk and paints.

Marriott's Bakery, Swiss Inn, Sultana Ice Cream had tables on the road and were serving food there. The Swiss Inn even had a buffet set up on the road. But the more exciting stuff to eat were the street stalls which were selling things like cotton candy,the hummus drink and beans.

I attended in the morning half and left by 1:30pm, before the crowds really started to pour in. This meant I missed out on the musical performances (by Wust el Balad among others) and the puppet show, but what I managed to catch was great anyway.

My friends tell me, there was a short parade later in the noon with flower covered floats and giant coke bottles. More of advertising than Spring flowers was a comment I heard.

What I got to see, kind of reminded me a bit of the Kala Ghoda festival in Bombay, but just a little bit. The concept is similar, but there is so much further that the Korba festival can go. Its a good start though, just to have an open air event in a residential area of Cairo.

I would definitely try to catch it again next year.

Mysore Dussehra: Thank God, it's over

GV Krishnan — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:47:46 EDT

Local administration must breathed a sigh of relief, rather than a sense of fulfillment at the end the 10-day Dussehra festivities (held on 21st October). I don't know if Mysore's deputy commissioner and Dussehra special officer, does any de-briefing of event organizers, if only as a learning experience. After all, Dussehra would be with us again in 2008; and it wouldn't be a good idea if we repeat the mistakes of 2007. Did I hear a cynic saying, we would have a turnover of district officials by next October, and fresh mistakes would then be waiting to be made?

Take the vintage cars that came to the city, many from Bangalore, to participate in the Dussehra procession on Sunday. Car owners sore at Mysore police, says The Hindu. Karnataka Vintage and Car Club spokesman reckoned many of its members wouldn't be enthusiastic about participating in future. Their grouse is that those who drove their cherished jalopy all the way from Bangalore were made to wait nearly two hours on the highway, at the toll-gate on city outskirts, for police clearance to enter the city. No reception committee; no garlands-sindoor welcome for these men/women in their 'magnificent machines'.

And, when the vintage cars eventually made it to the city, they were not allowed inside the Mysore Palace, where the cars used to be on show for visiting tourists. Instead, the prized vehicles were unceremoniously flagged away to the Town Hall, to cool their engines and, to stew in their tempers, till it was time to join the Dussehra procession.

Customary showcasing of vintage vehicles on the Mysore Palace grounds was "canceled without rhyme or reason", according to Ms. Gazala Khan who was there with her 1965 Mercedes. Among other vintage notables were the 1909 Wolseley that had carried the royalty at Cooch Bihar; Delage - D8 that once belonged to the Holkars of Indore. There were some 45 odd Vintage numbers, including some two-wheelers such as a 1934 Harley Davidson.

For a cop on Dussehra bandobast duty they may be glorified junk that manage to move on wheels. A couple of years back, they say, one of these old age vehicles conked out right in the middle of the rally. But then the vintage car show has been a salient feature of Dussehra festivities for some years now.

Canceling the vintage car exhibition on the Palace grounds so unceremoniously, at such short notice, for whatever reason; and done without so much as a say-so to the participants doesn't speak highly of Dusshera organisers' event management skills. The Dussehra Vintage car event is said to be corporate-sponsored. And the company that picked up the tab may want an explanation; a note of regret from the district administration, explaining the circumstances for the bungle and would be a goodwill gesture to ensure sponsorship next year.

Yuva Dussehra, another sponsored segment that left much to be desired on the management front. I know this to be the case with the Sonu Nigam concert on the Maharaja College grounds. My young niece and a Nigam fan had an invitation for two. She was turned away from the gate, on the plea that the seats on the open college grounds had already been taken. First, the police didn't let her in with her handbag; so she rushed to leave her bag with a friend on nearby Dewan's Rd, and on her return to the concert venue my niece was turned away.

I can understand the security concerns of the police. But a responsive police force and invitee-friendly organizers would have, I thought, arranged for spot-search (I was told the police were there in sufficient strength) of the invitees who might have missed the press statement on the handbag ban. I won't question, as 'civil rights' activists might, the police to impose such summary ban because of their inability to spot check handbags. I prefer to appeal to the good sense of organizers not to disappoint fans in such dismissive manner.

One other thing, could anyone, other than the police, perhaps, imagine our ladies stepping out of house without their handbags. The point here is, my niece was denied admission even after compliance with the handbag ban.

That a proper invitation issued by the sponsors (a nationalized bank) of the Sonu Nigam concert was so dishonored cannot speak much for event management. What's worse, such a mess-up with invitees wouldn't go well with the event sponsors who sought to please their staff and valued clients with the concert invitations. Isn't this like a bank dishonoring its own IOU?

Mysore Utsav: Initiative to Counter Sarkari Dasara?

GV Krishnan — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 04:38:03 EDT

We're a free country where anyone is free to organize a utsav. So is, I suppose, anyone free to oppose it. Which, in a democracy, is the prerogative of opposition netas. Here we have a bunch of political has-beens who protest the upcoming Mysore Utsav (July 26-29)? I only wish their objections were reasonable.

The opponents of proposed utsav say 1) it is an attempt to dim the glory of Mysore Dasara; and 2) that it is not proper to hold the utsav at a time when farmers are being driven to suicide due to financial hardship. Protestors make it sound analogous to the Nero-playing-fiddle-as-Rome-burns situation. Even those who sympathise with the farmers' plight would find the anti- utsav call bit of a stretch. The utsav opponents have threatened to wave black flags at the festival inaugural at the Maharaja College grounds. Whether or not the threat of black flags impacts the utsav proceedings the flag-wavers can count on some TV coverage for themselves.

The justification utsav organizers trot out for holding the four-day festival is no less amusing. The utsav, they say, seeks "to foster a great tradition, culture and heritage of the royal city". And to uphold this heritage they have lined up, among other events, free screening of Rajkumar films, a fashion show to promote Mysore silk, a kite-flying event and filmy music by Shaan and Udit Narayan. Sure, they would be fun. But do we require assistance from Bollywood playbacks to "foster a great tradition and culture" of our city? As for Mysore's brand image as a royal city I am not sure if such a brand image is conducive to making Mysore a happening place. This city, I reckon, needs to reinvent itself, to be able to project itself as a place on the go. We need to convey to tourists that there is more to Mysore than its palace and Dasara ritual.

Mysore Utsav, they say, is a purely private affair that is being backed by the minister in charge of Mysore district, Mr. G.T. Deve Gowda. Presumably, there is no contradiction or clash of interests here; and presumably,there is nothing in the ministerial code of conduct precluding Mr Gowde from active participation in a privately sponsored mega mela. Considering that the utsav is likely to cost at least Rs. 2.5 crores it makes business sense to involve a minister with official clout, to attract sponsors.

If one goes by the schedule of programmes published in the local media, Mysooru Utsava promises to be people-focused; and, hence, refreshingly different from the sarkari Dasara fare. The utsav, billed as 'four days of non-stop celebrations', offers an interesting entertainment mix, organised at very public venues - Udaya Raaga at Kukkarahalli Kere, Chitre Santhe at People's Park; live concerts at Maharaja College grounds, senior citizen's walkathon from Chamundi Hills, and children's fancy dress procession from K R Road to Rotary High School.

The Hindu reports that the mega event is being opposed by many political parties because they reckon it would "affect the prospects of Dasara". I have a theory on the prospects of Dasara 2007. Prevailing uncertainty over Janata Dal (Secular) intentions regarding its commitment to hand over the government to BJP this October is bound to impact plans for the state-sponsored Dasara . For the city corporation and some departments such as public works, tourism, horticulture Dasara is all about milking grants from the state government. Last year these departments had put in demands for nearly Rs. 25 crores. They have reason to be concerned about allocations this year. Low grants would mean not much of Dasara this year.

Kalyanji Anandji - Relevant Legends

Sanket Vyas — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 00:51:31 EDT

Bollywood of yesteryear was much easier to classify in regards to its music than it is today. The male singers short list consisted of Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh & Kishore Kumar - if you needed a female voice you called Lata Mangheshkar or her sister/rival Asha Bhonsle.

Similarly the music composers carried more weight than the film directors, as hit songs could all but guarantee a strong opening for the movie. Those composers are mostly gone now but far from forgotten and their names still invoke fond memories for many a Bollywood fan - S.D. Burman, his son R.D. Burman, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Shankar Jaikishen, Naushad, O.P. Nayyar and Kalyanji Anandji.

Kalyanji Shah & his brother Anandji Shah moved from Kutch (in Gujarat) to Bombay in the early 1950s to start a family business. A local businessman who owed their father money gave them their first musical lessons in lieu of paying his bill and the rest as they say is history.

They worked with most of the musical greats of that era and were responsible for many memorable film scores (Don, Qurbani, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar & Lawaaris). It was a different time back then as evidenced by a story recalled by the surviving brother (Anandji) from the late 1970s...

"Lataji was a regular at our place for Kutchi home-cooked food, while Ashaji would frequently come over as well. Once we had a major concert lined up with Kishore Kumar in Mumbai but he suddenly took ill. Ashaji and R D Burmansaab called us up at that critical hour and without accepting any money, performed at our show all evening.
"Burmansaab even belted out our hits like 'Khaike Paan' from Don. Shortly after they had called, we also had got a call from Lataji offering to come sing at the same show."

R.D. Burman singing 'Khaike Paan'? Live in Bombay? Where's a time machine when you need one? Below is a picture of Lata Mangeshkar flanked by the two brothers Shah.

It was a different era back then but lest someone think that these legendary musicians are no longer relevant, one needs look no further than the resurgence that their music is enjoying today.

Everyone from the hottest DJ's (who have the hipsters wearing their cool t-shirts) to the Black Eyed Peas (who credited Kalyanji/Anandji on their Grammy award winning album last year) are exposing their 1970s songs to a worldwide audience paying homage to the maestros' tracks that featured funk breakbeats, wah-wah guitars and Motown-style orchestrations.

Kalyanji passed away five years ago but his brother is still doing concerts in front of packed crowds - if you live in the Atlanta area don't miss this once in a lifetime chance to see a true Bollywood legend.

Misrallaneous: Flamenca - A Marriage of Spanish and Oriental Music

Kim — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 00:03:34 EDT

For the last few months, the only "local" music I've listened to or heard were of the Lebanese Music Video variety, which at its best is comparable to an "Item Number" and at its worst is worse than those Punjabi videos on ETC.

Fortunately this entire imagery associated with local music has been completely replaced by an infinitely superior quality and variety of music. Flamenca Cairo, a group of nine instrumentalists and a vocalist perfomed to a full house at the El Sawy Cultural Center last Friday.

The group was founded by Wael Khedr (who is also the Lead Guitar/Guitar Soloist) in 2003 with traditional Flamenco music and some Latin themes. It was slowly developed to have more oriental flavor with the addition of some oriental instruments. Now, Flamenca has several unique pieces of music where this marriage between flamenco and oriental music is clearly evident.

Amr Darwish plays a mean Electric Violin. The jugalbandis between him and Wael were outstanding.

Raaft Farahat plays an instrument called the Kawla which is an Arabic Flute.

Yamen Abdallah plays the Qanon which sounds like a Santoor - reminiscent of water trickling down a slow waterfall.

Omar El Toudy on Keyboards looked so much like those Senior Masterjis who play the keyboards in desi orchestras. Sameh Ismael and Sherif Kamal are the percussionists, who play a wide variety of instruments some familiar, some not so familiar and some completely tangential like the stool that Sherif was sitting on. Saief Eldawla on the Drums and Moustafa Geuida on Base Guitar completed the instrumental part of the ensemble.

Ahmed Samir intermittently provided vocals to the instrumental pieces. What a voice! Powerful and controlled. Although I could barely understand a word of what he was singing, I could feel the strong emotions and sentiments behind them.

The whole ensemble just blended together so beautifully. It has been a long time since any music has actually touched me. Flamenca's music was moving, it actually spoke to every member of the audience. So the repeated requests for an encore and the standing ovation that followed at the end was no suprise at all.

You can dowload and listen to some of their music on their site. http://www.flamencacairo.com/

Image Sources:These pictures have been taken from the Flamenca website http://www.flamencacairo.com/ and through Google Image Searchhttp://images.google.com/

[Editor's Note: This is the first article in Kim's new column about life in Egypt, Misrallaneous.]

Shada Hassoun is an Iraqi Idol

Amrita Rajan — Thu, 5 Apr 2007 01:33:37 EDT

A few days ago, astonished by the size and scale of the cottage industry that has sprung up around Sanjaya Malakar's stubborn presence on American Idol, I was moved to remind people that this is still just a TV show. Nothing of national importance has come to pass. In the unlikely (gulp) event that he does become this year's Idol, life will still go on. As Taylor Hicks will attest, nobody can force you to buy his album even if he wins. No big deal.

Alas for my hubris. It did not live to see even a fraction of the time Sanjaya has spent on Idol. For I have just seen footage of a lovely young lady whose time spent on TV seems to have mattered a great deal to her nation.

Her name is Shada Houssan (also spelt Shatha or Shaza Hasun) and she is the Arab world's latest Idol. Star Academy is a show that debuted in 2003 to a level of criticism that would make the barbs directed at Idol look positively kind (produced by the same company that makes Big Brother, it's sort of Real World meets Idol in a school setting - enough said?) but it is still one of the most popular shows on Arab TV and draws contestants from all over the Middle East. And last week, Shada, an Iraqi affectionately dubbed the "Daughter of Mesopotamia" won by a landslide.

This is no mean feat for an Iraqi. Unlike the other contestants, Shada's fan base was often unable to watch her perform, thanks to frequent power cuts across Iraq. And yet, by most counts, she still got seven million Iraqis to vote for her.

"Her triumph will show the world that Iraqis will still sing despite their wounds," Israa Tariq, a homemaker from Baghdad's al-Ghadeer neighborhood, said before Friday's final episode.

And that seems to be the general sentiment across the Middle East and especially in Iraq: in Shada's victory lies a seed of hope for Iraqis in general. For a country that has seen increasing amounts of sectarian violence, Shada's presence on the show, which is held in Beirut, Lebanon, became an oddly unifying factor. Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds - as long as Shada was on that stage, they were all 'Iraqis'.

Exaggeration? Perhaps, perhaps not.

I am not an Arab, much less an Iraqi, so I have not watched the show in its entirety. I've no idea whether her competition was more talented and the votes slid her way solely because of her nationality. Such pan-Arab solidarity is becoming increasingly popular but would it extend to TV shows?

Or maybe it extends particularly to TV shows. Events such as Star Academy (or American Idol for that matter) are geared towards the manipulation of viewer sensibilities. If you can't make the public connect at some level with the contestants (pity, sympathy, commonality, admiration, etc) then your show has no hope of survival. Part of the pull is, of course, the vote system - it is fairly impossible to not care about a person when you feel like you've had a direct hand in their success or failure.

By this count, Shada is rightfully a raging success - she is young, personable, sings songs in the Celine Dion mould (hey, she could well be the Shakira of Arabic, how would I know? She looks like she took Dion lessons), dresses well and has a very nice tone to her voice. She's also an Iraqi at a time when life for an Iraqi is about as far removed from dressing up in pretty clothes and floating in a cloud of smoke in front of an adoring crowd as life can get.

However, it is also true that Shada, like so many Iraqis, grew up outside of Saddam Hussein's vicious rule in her mother's country of Morocco, which she still calls home. While a number of people have seen fit to raise an eyebrow at that piece of information, I personally doubt whether it matters so much to the Iraqis (well, clearly...). Any number of Iraqis went into exile during the years of Hussein's dictatorship and more people continue to flee the violence that has failed to stem four years after the cessation of major hostilities.

In any case, Shada identifies herself as an Iraqi and as per her interview to CNN (below) says that she always wished to represent her country in some way. She displayed her loyalties loud and clear by wrapping herself in the Iraqi flag immediately upon winning the competition before jumping around like an excited child (a reaction much more endearing than the dropped-jaw Oh-My-God-I-Won-The-Beauty-Pageant pose adopted by so many young women).

Now, while it's nice to see that we are not the only ones overtaken by Idol mania, all of this begs the question, can a TV show actually do what all these people think it can accomplish? Well, let's see:

Will Shada's win stop the violence? No. Will it make all the political factions sit down and hammer things out in a renewed spirit of unity? No. Will it make the United States and its allies withdraw their troops? No. Will it stop the kidnappings, torture and murder? No. Will it make it safe for little children to come out and play? No. Will it halt the rise of religious extremism in Iraq? No. Will it stop the steady exodus of refugees fleeing the country? No. Will it ensure a full restoration of civic amenities like electricity and water supply? No.

But psychologically, watching Shada win is bound to provide a measure of relief to millions of Iraqis. For the best part of a century, all that the Iraqis, especially those of Shada's age who couldn't make it out of Iraq, have seen is violence and deprivation. Now, here's a beautiful, poised young woman, wrapping herself in their flag on a show that gets covered by the international media and there's absolutely nothing ugly about it.

If you were in their position, wouldn't you be happy, at least for a moment? I belong to her generation and I can't imagine what my reaction would have been if she was the first visual I ever saw of my country in which violence and misery didn't play a role. Such is the power of TV.

Shada Hassoun Interview:

Shada's Performance:

American Idol: The Survival of Sanjaya

Aditi Nadkarni — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 00:33:42 EDT

Sometime last year I found myself reluctantly getting hooked onto American Idol. Conversations around me were largely dominated by 'last night's elimination' and I couldn't help feeling left out. I caved in and finally sat down one night to see what the hoopla was about.

I wasn't rooting for the best, I argued, making up excuses for this seemingly juvenile indulgence; I was just vehemently rallying against the Barbie dolls who couldn't carry a tune. Thankfully I didn't catch the McPheever but did have a bad bout of Hick-ups that season. So yes, I do kind of identify with the Idol mania that sweeps the country every season.

This year's underdog is Sanjaya Malakar. Each week Ryan Seacrest announces to a stunned crowd that Sanjaya is 'safe'. We keep hoping he will do better and somehow prove the haters wrong. We know he has the voice. He just seems to lack the star persona and the 'vocal-gymnastics' that some of the other experienced artists have mastered.

Sanjaya can carry a tune, he just doesn't do anything with his skill and this makes him, as Simon Cowell would cruelly describe, 'forgettable'. Then why is it that his goofy smile makes its way into every new episode of American Idol week after week?

I have made peace with this strange phenomenon of the invincible Sanjaya by finding my own philosophical conclusion. Try as I might, I find it very hard to dislike the guy. I think his disarming humility and lack of glamorous celeb quality is actually working to his advantage. People relate to him.

In the US, the social environment in schools sets teenagers up for being picked on. The catty cheerleaders, the mean girls and the buff athletes make up the popular crowd. Teenagers see the awkward kid in themselves when they watch Sanjaya perform and want to see him make it. Who doesn't want vindication?

When I watch Sanjaya, I see a complete lack of arrogance. I am reminded of the time when he broke into tears when his sister was eliminated from the show. He always has a big smile in place. And when Simon's cutting yet candid remarks wipe away that grin, I feel my own very pragmatic heart go out to him despite the truth in the criticism he's being dealt out.

Not all of us are Kelly Clarksons and Katherine McPhees. In fact the majority of us are not celebrity-material; we make up the under-Dawg-Pound (as Randy would call it) and so quite naturally we feel the need to vote for a guy who represents our kind.

In one of his little pre-performance videos, Sanjaya shrugged and quite simply stated, "I know I am not the best singer in this competition, but I bring my own thing to the show". It takes courage to make that admission on national television especially when everybody around you is claiming that it is a 'singing competition'. My question is, if it is a singing competition why do they call it American Idol and why are we the judges? After all, we are not the experts when it comes to the singing and an idol has to be a lot more than just a singer.

Remembering 26th March, 1971

Diganta — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 01:39:05 EDT

A few days back, when I wrote about plebiscite in Kashmir, I tried to point out the pain of redrawing the border. Ironically, within a few days, I am writing up the next one, exactly on the conditions before redrawing a border. March 26th is known to be the Independence day of Bangladesh. But, the day before marks the beginning of the biggest genocide in the post world-war era.

The reason I am writing this article is to educate Indians and Pakistanis about these incidents. I found it to be shocking that most Indians still remember 1971 as the year when India defeated Pakistan in a brisk war. A lot of Pakistanis also think that it was a "fall of Dhaka" due to the betrayal of East Pakistan. While both India and Pakistan continue to protest a few thousand murders in Iraq, they should also look a few years back to see their neighbors and ex-countrymen killed en-masse.

I can start with the build-up to this incident. After the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951, political power began to be concentrated in the President of Pakistan, and eventually, the military. The nominal elected chief executive, the Prime Minister, was frequently sacked by the establishment, acting through the President.

The military dictatorships of Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan, both West Pakistanis, only heightened feelings of deprivation in the East. Finally, when Sheikh Mujib's Awami League won a clear majority in the elections of 1970, the West Pakistan establishment refused to allow Mujib to form a government. The party won 167 of the 169 seats allotted to East Pakistan, and thus a majority of the 300 seats in the National Assembly.

On 3rd March 1971, the two leaders (Bhutto was the other) of the two wings along with the President General Yahya Khan met in Dhaka to decide the fate of the country. Talks failed. General Tikka Khan was flown in to Dhaka to become Governor of East Bengal. A unit of East Pakistan Rifles refused to obey commands to fire on Bengali demonstrators, beginning a mutiny of Bengali soldiers.

Then came the March 25th, 1971. The Army started what was named as 'Operation Searchlight'. The commandos easily captured Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the beginning of the crackdown. Army forces assaulted the Dhaka University area and killed unarmed students present in the halls as well as some professors, then moved on to attack the Hindu areas and the old town. Captured Bengali soldiers, EPR and Police personnel were executed or imprisoned without trial.

In an editorial, The Daily Star, a leading Bangladeshi newspaper, reproduced some accounts of the day. I quote a few incidents of atrocities from the same source :

- "At Jagannath and Iqbal Halls, students were mown down mercilessly. Other students were forced to dig a large grave and once that was done, they too were shot. All the bodies were dumped into the grave, which was then bulldozed by the army."

- "Soldiers burst into the quarters of the philosopher Gobinda Chandra Dev and murdered him. They also killed the mathematics teacher Rafiqul Islam. And they left Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta, a senior teacher in the English Department of Dhaka University, seriously wounded."

- "Outside the campus, the soldiers razed the Kali Mandir, a Hindu temple inside the Race Course compound, to the ground. In similar fashion, they blew up the Central Shaheed Minar before the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. On the streets, common citizens were murdered at random. Rickshaw pullers died even as they slept on their three-wheelers."

- "The military also set fire to the Ittefaq and Sangbad newspapers, leaving those inside dead or wounded."

There are many more accounts of the incidents of 25th March by journalists. The famous ones were from Simon Dring (British journo who captured the incidents first) and Arnold Zeitlin (Associated Press). Rediff and Globalwebpost sites also reported the same incidents successfully. Among eyewitness accounts, one from Rafiqul Islam is available in English on the net. A private site has also depicted the dateline of 25th March.

What was the reaction in India? There was not much of reaction among the people of India other than in West Bengal. The political leadership was busy chalking out a strategy for separation of East Pakistan. The common people were hardly aware of what was going on.

The aftermath is known to all - India-Pakistan war of 1971 and the Liberation of Bangladesh. The world was also kept in dark. More frustratingly, people who exemplify genocide with Iraq and Afghanistan, take out processions and rallies in solidarity with them, simply forget Bangladesh.

I feel Pakistan did absolutely nothing to accept the war-crimes committed by the Military. The atrocities were established in the Hamoodor Rahman Commission report. But, the accused were never prosecuted. The Govt of India released all PoWs, including those accused of genocide. Remembering the incident, I hope that people of Pakistan would soon understand the atrocities committed by their Army and pressurize their govt to issue an acknowledgment of the war-crimes.

Bangladesh

Concert Review: Iron Maiden Rocks Bangalore

Sunayana — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 06:08:10 EDT

Roger Waters, The Scorpions, Deep Purple, and lots of other small and big bands and now Iron Maiden - Bangalore has been lucky to witness so many powerhouse performances by the Gods of rock and metal. Bangalore has been chosen time and again by most of the music bands from the west, largely because they have a huge audience here and a huge fan following right from the time these bands were formed.

When DNA Networks, the organizers announced the first ever visit of Iron Maiden to the subcontinent, it was no surprise the chosen destination was Bengaluru. Enthusiasm started building up among Maiden fans from across the nation more than two months before the concert. People started reserving tickets (managed by ticket-pro) priced at Rs. 900 and Rs. 1500 well in advance to watch their favourite band playing. I had to pick 20 tickets for the concert - for my friends, friends of friends, cousins and their friends - Phew! These people were coming all the way to Bangalore from places like Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Mysore etc just to catch their Number One band perform live.

Earlier, Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson commented,

"To say we're all really looking forward to going to Bangalore is something of an understatement. It's very special to us to be able play to new fans in countries we've never been to before, and we hear the Indian fans are very loud and into their metal. The whole trip will be an exciting time for us and we intend to enjoy every moment there. The fans should know that we are bringing the whole stage show we used in Europe and America and that Eddie will definitely be joining us! We are crafting a special set to include both songs from A Matter of Life and Death and a load of other favorites. It promises to be an absolutely amazing atmosphere playing outdoors in front of the palace."

The event, which happened on March 17, was titled EDD-FEST, Edd after Eddie the mascot of the band and Fest because there were three other bands performing the same evening. Fans started gathering at the Palace Grounds from as early as 6 AM for the concert, which wasn't to start until 6 PM! People were ready to wait in the scorching sun for hours together just so that they could be right up in the front,up close to their "Gods" screaming their lungs out and headbanging. By 6 P.M., the place was jam packed- my guess is there were around 25000 people (Not sure what the official actual figures are). Man! I've never seen such a huge crowd live except in the Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium.
The crowd was rich in variety- Sexagenarians who've been following the band from the time it was formed, Teenagers who've just started listening to rock music and were there because it was "cool" to be there, youngsters who worshipped the band and for whom it was a dream to see them perform and some others who were there just because it was the biggest ROCK concert till date in the country.

The show started off with the winners of the Campus Rock Idol contest - FTN, who were booed off the stage by the huge crowd. They weren't too bad really, but who wanted to watch them when we were there to watch the Metal Gods perform?!

Parikrama performed next - This was the first time I saw them play only their original compositions and I must say they were really really good. Nitin Malik's superb vocals and Imran's amazing show with violin caught many by surprise. The band was in for a surprise too- when the crowd was familiar with quite a few numbers of theirs and sang along. New songs that they performed live for the first time, were very well received by the crowd. For those of you who haven't heard about Parikrama.

Next came Lauren Harris with her band. She is the daughter of the bassist of Iron Maiden - Steve Harris (Trust me that's the only reason- absolutely the only reason-the one and only reason she is allowed to perform anywhere -- her performance is really not worthy of mention!) There was a break after her performance and by now there were people fainting out of dehydration or breathlessness in the jam packed crowd or just tired of waiting! Also there were mini-stampedes of sorts when people coming in late tried to get up into the front and also when people tried to break/jump over the barricade separating the Rs. 900 tickets gallery and the Rs. 1500 side. There was a shortage of water/soft drinks in the stalls and the thirsty souls who made their way out of the crowd to grab a sip of water were understandably irritated and cursed the organizers.

But soon everything was forgotten when at around 8 pm, Iron Maiden finally took the stage! They had air freighted in almost 20 tons of backline equipment and their huge stage production for this one show. The stage set was spectacular with the new album cover and Eddie the Mascot being the most prominent.
The moment we had all been waiting for had arrived. They started off with songs from their new album A Matter of Life and Death, which they were here to promote. (It had hit number 2 on Indian charts - highest chart position ever achieved by a rock band.) They played Different World followed by These colors don't run and Brighter than a Thousand Suns. The crowd wasn't too familiar with the new numbers. But Bruce Dickinson's energy running all around the stage was enough to get them headbanging and screaming for more.

'Scream for me Bangalore' he said and scream they did. Eddie made a special appearance during the show atop a battle tanker that was raised onto the stage.

Then came all the classics the crowd was waiting for. Bruce Dickinson dedicated "Wrathchild" to Leon Ireland, the vocalist of the Indian band Moksha who passed away earlier this year. It was a great gesture for somebody as big as Maiden to recognise Leon's contribution to the rock scene. Trooper followed and the crowd knew this was what they were waiting for. Trooper saw Dickinson swaying the Union Jack and this was probably the first time since independence the Indians cheered the British flag!(considering we were forced to before that.) Fear of the Dark- one of the biggest hits of the band saw lighters (which were smuggled in of course) and cell phone lights go up in the air and every single person in the crowd sang along.

For the greater good of God (from the new album), Hallowed be thy name, Two minutes to midnight were the other songs they played.

Dickinson's antics climbing up the sound/light tower by the stage, jumping like a kid on the stage , running all over the place- got the crowd which was already in high spirits to a greater high. Nicko McBrain on the drums and Steve Harris on the bass guitar were incredible. India had definitely not seen such tremendous amounts of energy on the stage.

Dickinson said it was a very special night for them and that they were overwhelmed by the response. He also said

"Some of you have been waiting for this for seventeen years. I assure you, you won't have to wait for even seventeen months for our next performance here".

The statement was met by a thunderous applause.

A friend of mine SMS'ed me later that night, saying "My neck hurts, my knees hurt, my voice is gone, I can't walk and I can't sleep... But it was all worth it! It was a DREAM COME TRUE"

American Idol: I'm Not Voting for Sanjaya

Amrita Rajan — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 09:47:54 EST

If you're one of the millions of American Idol addicts around the globe, then you already know that Sanjaya Malakar is a talented young man with a very nice voice who's bringing the fetus to television in ways I could have sworn only TR Knight of Grey's Anatomy fame could bring. If you know any Indian or are one yourself, however, it is entirely possible that you know Sanjaya as the "Indian contestant".

I want you to turn to those people and yell, "Shut up!" as loud as you can. If it was you who called him the "Indian contestant", then I want you to find the nearest and biggest mirror you can get a hold of and yell "Fool!" to your reflection.

To back up a bit, I obviously didn't just wake up this morning and want to yell at random people; it took me days to get to this point. It all started when the Cheshire Cat sent his deputy a.k.a. Sanjaya to audition for American Idol. I want you all to pause and read that last bit again - American Idol.

He arrived to audition with his sister Shyamali, a very pretty singer, but it quickly became apparent that Sanjaya was the one oozing talent - even if he kept threatening to disappear into his own smile. This is how Shyamali introduced the siblings' connection to music:

"This is our dad," she said, pointing to a very nervous looking man. "He's from India and a musician."

They all seemed very nice and, despite AI's ham-handed attempts to create drama where there was none, I found them both charming. Not because their father was Indian, but because they looked like they were nice kids. But that's not how a lot of people I know have taken it. .

See, I understand it's a big deal for most of us to see someone from our neck of the woods, no matter how peripherally, do well. We've all been out of it for so long behind the Bharatnatyam Barrier or whatever you like to call it, that its understandably thrilling for some people to point at folks like Sanjaya and Shyamali as shining examples of Indians doing well. It's going to be some time before we got over our impulse to just claim everything in sight.

Added to this is the question almost every expatriate Indian parental unit (and some in India as well) are compelled to ask at least once - how do we keep our kids Indian? Your solution is a little easier within India where you live surrounded by Indians and have access to the odd grandparent or two to come hang out with your kid. But in firang lands, where you're in a minority and far from 'home', it becomes a bit of a challenge. Most people I know seem to depend on Bollywood to do the job for them.

A while back, my aunt, who was part of the great 60s migratory wave to the United States, was telling me about her eldest grandson. The entire family was in attendance at the wedding of a close friend/relative and it was something of a red letter day for all the kiddies because they got to dress up in little Indian outfits, learn a new dance or two, put flowers in their hair and see more Indians in one place than they'd ever seen before. My nephew walked in the door and was immediately intimidated by the scene in front of him. Eventually, however, he met another little boy.

Nephew: "Hi, where're you from?"
Little Boy: "I'm from India."
Nephew (face lighting up as he finally understood what he was doing there): "I'm from India too!"

But the fact is, these kids are American. I'm not saying it has to be one or the other - that's a very narrow minded way of looking at things. I'm saying that an essential bit of them will always be American in the same way mine will always be Indian. You can call them Americans of Indian origin or Indo-Americans but you cannot claim them as Indians.

If Sanjaya Malakar was Indian, then he'd be performing live on Indian Idol, getting sneered at by the likes of Cowell-wannabe (I understand every Idol country's got one) Palash Sen rather than getting ripped into shreds by Cowell himself. But he's not Indian, he's American. So he gets to stand in front of His Britishness and learn just how much he sucks.

To the credit of the Americans, they get it. Well, it's hard not to get it when the name of the bloody show is American Idol isn't it? If they love him, then it's because he's a baby and we've already seen last year with the agonizing success of Chicken Little (sorry, can't remember his name) that America loves its loser babies. By the same token, if they hate him it's because he practically handed us all a photo of himself to be used as the definition of "suck".

Now, I don't know the Malakars personally, and I don't know if it bothers them when people call them Indians or whether they are proud to be called Indian and frankly, I don't care. People have to deal with their own stuff all the time and figuring out who you are is an essential part of the journey into adulthood. I wish them luck and am not inclined to pry unless Shyamali turns into Britney Spears or something (dude, Shyamali, I know you're young and probably mad as hell right now but please don't, okay?).

What bothers me is that people expect me to give a crap about Sanjaya because of his ethnicity.

I've had some severe doubts about the talent on the show this year and when I look at some of the people who got into the final 24 (20 now, yay!) I still can't help but think that I'd as soon cut my throat as buy albums put out by some of these people. Well, okay that's hyperbole - if buying a sucky CD with Sundance Head yelling his head off can save my life, obviously I'll do it, but that's not the point.

The point is, I don't want to vote for Sanjaya. I think he's a sweet kid but he's completely outclassed by his peers in this competition at this point of time (seriously, they need to set the age limit a little higher - it's a massacre out there on stage every year) and I am not going to vote for him based on who his father was.

It's racist, it's condescending, and at a time when music lovers everywhere are bemoaning the industry's rapid collapse into the bottomless pit of mediocrity combined with commercialism (Paris Hilton has a single out - Paris fucking Hilton!), it's about the worst message to send record companies. I didn't buy Norah Jones' album because her father was Pt. Ravi Shankar; I bought it because she blew my mind. So I'm not going to vote for Sanjaya Malakar's boring pipes when Melinda Doolittle breaks my heart every time she lights up the stage.

And I'm not less of an Indian for saying so.