Concert Review: Sonu Nigum Live on May 25, 2014 at San Jose:
Let me confess: I am a fan of melody, and not Cacophony. Simple. It
doesn’t matter whether it’s a 60’s song or 2000+ Song: any song that is
melodious and soothes my ears, is good. Any song or music that hits my
eardrums like a jack hammer, is bad. That simple. So, I like ‘Kabhi
alvida na kehna’ sung by Kishore Kumar, as well as ‘Kabhi alvida na
kehana’ sung by Sonu Nigam (from KANK).
Given that, I had gone to Sonu Nigam Concert in San Jose, with a mindset that, it’s going to be a mixed one… more of cacophony. Contrary to my belief, it was other way round… a good portion of the entire concert was devoted to the songs from the era when melody was queen. Of course, Masti-Dhamaka had its share, however, concert was more melodious than cacophonous.
The show was kicked off by the Female singer (Jonita Gandhi). She is Canadian-born, with a flair for Asha Bhosle Songs. After a couple of songs (‘Aao huzur tumko’ and ‘raat akeli hai’) , she started the ‘Piya tu ab to aa ja’… I was almost certain that Sonu will make the stage entry by singing the lines: ‘monika … oh my darling’. But, that didn’t happen. The maestro made a big-bang entry after this song.
He kicked off his solo segment with an obscure Mukesh song ‘Taron me sajake’ from an equally obscure movie ‘Jal bina machhali Nrutya bina bijali’… not bad at all.
What followed this, was a non-stop ‘silsila’ of Mohd. Rafi songs (‘badan pe sitare’, ‘gulabi aankhe’, ‘dard-e-dil dard-e-jigar’, ‘deewana hua badal’ et all). Without comparing Sonu with the Legend, I will say that he did a commendable job here. This segment was topped off with ‘dil ke jharokhe me’. This was, indeed, a highlight of the show. It is not an easy song to perform live on stage. Especially, the orchestration: very complex and meticulous orchestration by Shankar Jaikishan. However, Sonu and his orchestra did an excellent job here.
That brings me to the orchestra. Sonu had used the real instruments (Sitar, Israj in ‘deewana hua badal’, rabab in ‘in lamhon ke daman me’ etc). Less emphasis was given to the electronic keyboard. Result: orchestration perfect to the T. Each and every song, may it be ‘raat akeli hai’ or ‘bole chhudiyan’, the orchestration was identical to the original song. Kudos to the musicians.
The show, started with the melodious mood, slowly spiraled down to cacophony… and I can’t complain for that… it’s a part of Sonu’s repertoire. With a truck-load of masti-dhamaka (‘suraj hua madham’, ‘bole chhudiyan’, ‘mujhse shadi karogi’ and so on), followed by a comic mimicry segment, the show paused a bit, for an intermission.
After intermission, the mood was a bit emotional and mellowed down. First, the female singer Jonita sang a couple of oldies. Then Sonu sang some of his melodious songs from KANK , Agnipath etc. Also, he went back in time, to sing ‘kya hua tera wada’. Then he paid tribute to Late Manna Dey by singing ‘puchho na kaise maine rain bitayee’… and showed off his classical training. Bouncing back to maza-masti, he concluded his concert on the high note.
I must mention that his energy was end-less… it’s not easy to sing continuously for hours together. He was singing back-to-back songs, with no gaps, and never forgot even one word from any songs.
Overall, it was an excellent show… enjoyed it thoroughly.
Given that, I had gone to Sonu Nigam Concert in San Jose, with a mindset that, it’s going to be a mixed one… more of cacophony. Contrary to my belief, it was other way round… a good portion of the entire concert was devoted to the songs from the era when melody was queen. Of course, Masti-Dhamaka had its share, however, concert was more melodious than cacophonous.
The show was kicked off by the Female singer (Jonita Gandhi). She is Canadian-born, with a flair for Asha Bhosle Songs. After a couple of songs (‘Aao huzur tumko’ and ‘raat akeli hai’) , she started the ‘Piya tu ab to aa ja’… I was almost certain that Sonu will make the stage entry by singing the lines: ‘monika … oh my darling’. But, that didn’t happen. The maestro made a big-bang entry after this song.
He kicked off his solo segment with an obscure Mukesh song ‘Taron me sajake’ from an equally obscure movie ‘Jal bina machhali Nrutya bina bijali’… not bad at all.
What followed this, was a non-stop ‘silsila’ of Mohd. Rafi songs (‘badan pe sitare’, ‘gulabi aankhe’, ‘dard-e-dil dard-e-jigar’, ‘deewana hua badal’ et all). Without comparing Sonu with the Legend, I will say that he did a commendable job here. This segment was topped off with ‘dil ke jharokhe me’. This was, indeed, a highlight of the show. It is not an easy song to perform live on stage. Especially, the orchestration: very complex and meticulous orchestration by Shankar Jaikishan. However, Sonu and his orchestra did an excellent job here.
That brings me to the orchestra. Sonu had used the real instruments (Sitar, Israj in ‘deewana hua badal’, rabab in ‘in lamhon ke daman me’ etc). Less emphasis was given to the electronic keyboard. Result: orchestration perfect to the T. Each and every song, may it be ‘raat akeli hai’ or ‘bole chhudiyan’, the orchestration was identical to the original song. Kudos to the musicians.
The show, started with the melodious mood, slowly spiraled down to cacophony… and I can’t complain for that… it’s a part of Sonu’s repertoire. With a truck-load of masti-dhamaka (‘suraj hua madham’, ‘bole chhudiyan’, ‘mujhse shadi karogi’ and so on), followed by a comic mimicry segment, the show paused a bit, for an intermission.
After intermission, the mood was a bit emotional and mellowed down. First, the female singer Jonita sang a couple of oldies. Then Sonu sang some of his melodious songs from KANK , Agnipath etc. Also, he went back in time, to sing ‘kya hua tera wada’. Then he paid tribute to Late Manna Dey by singing ‘puchho na kaise maine rain bitayee’… and showed off his classical training. Bouncing back to maza-masti, he concluded his concert on the high note.
I must mention that his energy was end-less… it’s not easy to sing continuously for hours together. He was singing back-to-back songs, with no gaps, and never forgot even one word from any songs.
Overall, it was an excellent show… enjoyed it thoroughly.
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