Rock With Raaja - Chennai - Mar 18, 2022 - Concert Notes

It has been close to a week since the 'Rock with Raaja' concert at Island grounds (Theevu Thidal), Chennai, on Mar 18, 2022. Lots of videos shot by enthusiastic fans are already doing the rounds on social media/Youtube. Thanks to the long day on Friday (started driving from Bangalore at 6am and went to bed at 3 am on Saturday) and the hectic next couple of days, I managed to put my thoughts and notes together only today. So here it goes...

The event was scheduled to start at 6PM. We reached the venue without much trouble (the traffic diversions were widely published) at around 4.30PM and the whiff of Cooum engulfed and welcomed us! But it was no deterrent to the thousands of fans who were already making a beeline at the ticket counters and the entry gates. After a minor hiccup, thanks to an organizer staff who misguided us, we (S Shanmuga Nathan & I) managed to secure our passes and gain entry around 5PM. Our friend Sandhiya Srinivasan and her family had held a couple of seats for us and we settled down in anticipation of the concert to begin, with the strains of the soundcheck offering some respite from the Chennai mercury levels. It is quite fascinating to see people reacting frantically to string and guitar passages played during soundcheck and even recording them.

The wait lasted for a whole hour and a half and the Raaja made his appearance around 7.30 PM and as expected the crowd went into raptures. He set the ball rolling with the customary 'Janani Janani'. This was followed by the energetic 'Ilamai Idho Idho' by - Mano & SP Charan. Charan's mic was a little problematic initially and was rectified a few minutes into the song.

The popular celebration song "Raakku Muthu Raakku' from Ejamaan was performed (by Karthik) next with repurposed and I must add cringeworthy lyrics, that went 'Raakku (Rock-u) with-u Raaja'. Thankfully, they didn't go beyond one charanam.

Raaja briefly remembered his 'Baalya Nanban' SPB and requested everyone to observe 1 minutes silence in his and Lata Mangeshkar's memory.

Charan sang 'Mandram Vantha' and Karthik followed it up with 'Megam Kottattum'. The oft-repeated A cappella 'Naan Porandhu Vandhadhu' was next in line with the chorus singers sleepwalking through it. Hightime, they replaced it with something like 'Aeriyila Elandha Maram', maybe!

Vibhavari Apte infused some life to the proceeding with a flawless 'Ennulle Ennulle', which has become another staple in every other Raaja concert in recent times. But the singing ably supported by the chorus meant there weren't too many complaints. Raaja shared an anecdote, pointing to Dhanush (who was in attendance with his sons), on how Rajnikanth (referring to him as 'unga maamanaar') expertly narrated the situation and all its nuances to him before composing which was the reason for this song coming out so well.

This was followed by a staged meandering interaction between Anitha, Devi Sri Prasad (DSP) and Raaja about how orchestration happens for a song. Raaja demonstrated 'Ae Aattha' in different tempo's with alternate arrangements with Tabla, bass, and the female chorus and then Charan launched into the song with brief support from DSP.

I, for one, looking at the promos was expecting a different setlist in this concert and there was no indication in that direction till this point.

Then came the surprise with 'Maaman Voodu' (Ellaam Inba Mayam, 1981). Mukesh & Anitha (with the dialog portions) nailed this riot of a song in Bilahari. The Nadhaswaram in the song (and the entire concert in general) was praiseworthy!

Raaja broke into 'Vaanathu Thaaragayo (Poonthottam, 1998), another interesting choice which was followed by 'Thendral Varum Vazhiyai' by Bhavatharini, Sharath Santosh. Bhavatha was her usual nervous self.

The concert and crowd truly came alive with Vibhavari's pitch-perfect rendition of 'Machaana Paatheengala', with its magical Nadhaswaram interludes. What followed was one of the highlights of the evening, when Charan and Madhu Balakrishna belted out 'Kaattu Kuyilu'. It came as a bolt from the blue, with drummer Nagi launching into that iconic prelude and following it up with the fantastic finish. The true essence of 'Rock With Raaja' came to the fore in this phase with the crowd getting involved as Raaja and his team dished out some wonderful songs back to back.

'Aasai Nooru Vagai' and 'Aasaiya Kaathula' were next on the list with Yugendran & Priya Hemesh doing the vocal honors respectively. The brass portions in the former and the chorus in the latter ensured the crowd truly went nuts.

The crowd was given a breather with Karthik Raaja and Vibhavari's rendition of 'Kadhal Oviyam'. Premgi Amaren studiously sang 'Ooru Vittu Ooru Vandhu' and to everyone's surprise Raaja invited his amazing flautist Nepoleon Selvaraj (Arunmozhi) to sing 'Masthana Masthana' (with Bhavatha). Arunmozhi is a wonderful singer and I have always wanted him to sing in a Raaja concert. I hope he gets to sing a few more songs in the concerts to come.

Anitha Karthikeyan brilliantly reprised 'Kaana Karunguyile (Sethu, 1999) and taking off from the song, Raaja invited Yuvan on stage (Variya variya). Yuvan & Shwetha Mohan sang the crowd favorite 'Per Vechalum'. It has to be said though that Yuvan, despite being a star in his own right, hardly does justice to any of Raaja's songs. I will leave it at that.

DSP with 'Raja Rajadhi Rajan' tried playing to the gallery by pointing to Raaja often. He could have put in that effort into his singing which sounded a little flat.

Aravind Srinivas (impersonating Kamal) was impressive in the rap-like dialog portions at the start of 'Vanithamani' along with an energetic Mano & Priya Hemesh. The magical 'Maanguyile' was sung by Mano and Surmukhi and had the crowd grooving to that bouncy Nadaswaram. Violinist Prabhakar and strings section stood out in the superb 'Kaalakaalamaaga' sung brilliantly by Swetha Mohan & Karthik. The tribal chorus in 'Raman Aandaalum' was replicated beautifully by the girl's chorus and Narayanan Ravishankar did adequate justice to the lead vocals. Another highlight here was Saroja's Dilruba that along with the flute produced that famous magudi-like prelude. Truly brilliant.

Raaja invited Dhanush & Yuvan to accompany Karthik Raaja & Usha Uthup on 'Nila Adhu' (I was worried if Usha ji would segue into her Durga Puja song in the same tune that was released during last year's Dusshera. Thankfully that did not happen!) and followed it up with the now-familiar anecdote (on Dhanush's prompting) about this being an alternate tune to the iconic 'Thenpaandi Cheemayile'.Dhanush spoke about a song he recently recorded for Raaja ("it is in Raaga Dhenuka" Raaja remarked) and proceeded to seek Raaja's permission to sing Nila Adhu as a lullaby with lyrics he had penned (Kanmoodidu Mai Vizhi Maane..) and eked out applause from the maestro himself. I loved the lines 'En ThoLgaL un ThooLiyum Thaane', btw.

Another song I have always wanted to hear live was 'Annathe Aduraar'. Unfortunate, that it didn't happen when SPB was alive. But Charan gave it his all. No qualms there. The very underrated 'Macchi Mannaaru' (En Uyir Thozhan, 1990) came alive in the voices of Raaja (backed by Vasu) & Priya Hemesh.

Recreating Swarnalatha's songs is a challenge in itself considering how unique her voice was but to my surprise Srinisha was top-notch when she sang 'Aattamma Therottama'. Vasu with his 'Yuyyayuyya's' and the ever-reliable Napoleon Selvaraj on his flute played perfect foil.

The gorgeous brass & string sections in 'Ada Machamulla Machan' (Mano & Surmukhi) underlined Vasu's playful 'Nadhirdhaana'.

Mukesh salvaged 'Thanni Thotti'. Somehow Usha Uthup was not in her elements. I have heard her sing this one before. Maybe an off-day! 'Vaadi en Kappa Kezhangae' was a pleasant surprise with Raaja choosing to sing it himself with Anitha and chorus.

One thing about Karthik is whatever he sings, his somehow makes it his own. That applies to his rendition of 'Singaari Sarakku' with Raaja playing around with him at the start as he sang 'Vaazhapazham Tholuricchi' :D

'Sorgam Madhuvile' (Charan) was followed by a scintillating drum solo by Nagi that pumped some much-needed energy with the clock inching towards midnight. It was 'holi' day and the much loved 'Thendral Vandhu' made its appearance in the voices of Raaja, Vibhavari, albeit a brief hiccup in the beginning. But this sounded nowhere near what we have heard in previous concerts.

At this point, it is worth mentioning that the sound balancing and camera work, throughout the concert, were far from good. With Noise & Grains featuring in the titles, one expected much better sound. I will safely say this will rank quite low in the sound department especially compared to some of the other Raaja concerts in recent times.

Another irritating aspect, especially for a concert of this magnitude, was that the LED screens erected weren't functioning well for a significant part of the concert, which lead to some chaos in-between. Even the food arrangements weren't up to the mark for a concert that went on till 12.30 am. These are absolute basics that the event organizers should keep an eye out for.

Another regular piece, 'En Jodi' followed and Mano was in Superb form with Srisha & Ayswarya Venkat pitching in very well. Anitha rocked 'Ponmeni Uruguthey'.

Gangei Amaren joined the chorus for 'Orampo' along with Raaja and came back later to sing a few lines of 'Pothuvaaga En Manasu' with Yugendran. Raaja hilariously shared a story about how this song was composed. Apparently, AVM were venturing into film production after a break with 'Murattu KaaLai' and when Panchu Arunachalam narrated the situation, Raaja remembered the hit song (Un Kann Unnai Ematrinaal) from an old AVM production (Vaazhkai) he had seen as a kid and used its humming as an inspiration to compose the 'Aadalaam Paadalaam' loop. ('Avanga Tune-a Avangalukke Vithutten..Raaja thirudittar-nnu ellarum pottukkalaam' - he added tongue in cheek :D ). Apparently, 'Aatha Aathorama' was composed as an alternate for 'Pothuvaaga'.

In between those two, Raaja & Swetha sang 'Oru Jeevan', which was followed by En Iniya Pon Nilaave' by Madhu Balakrishna and 'Ilaya Nila' by Karthik, both doing full justice to the respective tracks. Raaja ventured into experimentation asking Madhu to sing 'Ilaya Nila' (how will it sound if Yesudas sang 'Ilaya Nila') and Madhu obliged beautifully singing the Pallavi. Was one memorable moment! 'Ilaya Nila' of course, is the alternate tune composed for 'En Iniya'.

The grand orchestra and an emotional (I felt) Charan paid a glowing tribute to SPB with 'Nilave Vaa' and was followed by a sprightly rendition of 'Raaja Kaiyya Vecha' by Mano & Narayanan. The concert came to a close at half-past midnight with the entire team coming together to sing the National Anthem, a first in a Raaja concert.

The happiness and energy of the crowd were palpable from the fact that a majority of them stayed back till 12.30 AM and were hanging about beyond that as well. The line-up of songs (in spite of a few repetitions) was fantastic. The man, the Maestro, The Raaja, stood through the entire concert without a break, guiding the team through the 40+ songs they performed. How many of us can do that, I wonder?! #Respect

In general, the singing and the orchestra (including the chorus) were top-notch. Special mention to the importance given to the Nadhaswaram throughout the concert and the spotless brass section. Those sounds are still ringing in my ears almost a week after the concert. This, despite the poor sound system (that let down Napoleon, the Sitar, and guitars quite a bit, I thought). There were no unnecessary speeches and stuff either.

A thoroughly enjoyable concert, after over 2 years, that vindicated my decision to travel to Chennai on a weekday. :)