Saturday, December 6, 2008

A Night with the Piper and the Princess

whoa! so ther goes a sexy start to a weekend. The rumours of Jethro Tull and Anoushka Shankar's concert bein cancelled /postponed/ stopped/ will begin etc . finally came to an end this friday at Shamukananda Hall. A big fan of this famous progressive rock band seeing them live was a privilege, wht next ? well kept my fingers crossed n wished the tickets dont go 'SOLD OUT', reached the venue 3 hrs early to get the tickets and voila ! it's here with me grinning. So there i was scouting the whole place .. taking a look at the event volunteers ... (damn the gals were hot!! ). a big boxes of Lays stax chips kept at one corner and i was thinking wudn't it b disturbing for anoushka to hear those crunching muching sounds at the auditorium, but yea they were smart enough to give it at the end of the show, people were grabbing it not minding to sacrifice the gentleman in them, but yea seems the gurls were prepared for tht.2nd floor and i was looking at the stage which is going to drown in the ambience of world renowned musicians. A 1 minute silence for all the victims of black wednesday and the stage was set for classical music. Like the horse, the rook the pawns and the queen the musicians were pegged on the stage waiting for the favourite move.The auditorium amazingly had a pin-drop-slience and each note played by Anoushka was crystal clear to the ears, thanks to the amazing sound arrangement and acoustics. The 'pep-up' jugalbandi lit up the audience and they craved for more. Next twas Ian anderson on stage introducing and even seasoning a bit of humor as the band members get to their thrones. Ian had an amazing stage presence and the oldies look was so deceptive as compared to the energy they radiated in the hall. They played their and my favs 'mother goose', 'heavy horses' and 'thick as a brick' and was in a 'bang-my-head-like-no-one-
watching' state and that did raise some eyebrows of uncles and aunties sitting besides me.My mind was already screaming out "paisa vasool" when anousha shankar reappeared on stage and twas time for the hindustani classical to fuse with the western celtic music and believe me nothing felt out of place even as the music came from the two majestically different parts of the globe. The flute triggered an imagination of the high swiss alps with the piper playing the instrument perched on the top and the earthly sounds of the sitar spewed vibrant colors on the walls of my imagination.The 'Tea with Anoushka' session finally came to an end with the classic 'Locomotive breath' rumbling with soft plucks of the string from the sitar.The ended up bein the best was all musicians getting their space for the compositions and one gobbling up the talents of the already multi-faceted individuals. The sound setup was mindblowing, from the distortions to the raw acoustics each tone was a treat to the ears.The day ended up with every1 getting lays stax 'cream and cheese' chips as the return gifts
well all i can say is
Bless are the ones who have seen the gods..