Youdhaka...

I went to my first concert today at Alliance Francaise. It was by a great chennai- based band called 'Youdhaka'. The reason I went was to lend moral support to my friend, Sukriti, who was singing for them and I ended up having a terrific time! They had a brilliant percussionist, Siva, who played just about every percussion instrument in the world! Terribly impressive; he seemed to be having more fun than anyone else on stage and it was nice to see that. It shows that he really really lovedwhat he was doing. Their guitarist Akshay is a former PSBBian and was hence already known to me...The guy is a brilliant- he can do magical things with a guitar.. Not very theatrical though.. No banging the guitar, sliding along the floor etc. And dressed very normally as well- he'd even lost the "funky" long hair I'd last seen him with. Might need a little more training to be a rock star along the lines of Steven Tyler, Axl Rose etc... The lead singer Tanvi(?) had a wonderful voice which suited the off-beat songs very well. She sang this beautiful song called "Lambi Judaii", an old song by a Pakistani singer called Reshma. My friend, Stutie translated the lyrics to me. The song really gets to you.. Especially romantic ones like me.. It's a song about two lovers who've been apart. There were lots of good songs from completely different styles- Arabic, Egyptian, Irish etc etc...
I think really good music can conjure images for you- they can tell you stories without saying a word. Everytime I listen to a good, well- sung devotional song, I can see a picture/idol of God right in front of me. I listen to a song about Rama and I imagine Thyagaraja, lost in Rama, sitting down and singing. Often, when I listen to Floyd I can see lights flashing in an otherwise black space; everytime I listen to 'Another Brick in the Wall' I can see a huge procession of students walking like zombies. (MAN I BLABBER A LOT! SOMEBODY STOP MEEEE) That's what happened tonight for certain songs. I was listening to the somewhat latino like song and I could imagine people dancing the tango under the night sky. I listened to 'Lambi Judaii' and i could imagine a somewhat sad old lady singer, in a night club, singing for her first love. Now that's amazing music(to me)! I AM NOT SAYING THESE PEOPLE ARE AS GOOD AS FLOYD OR M.S.SUBBULAKSHMI or anything but I'm sayin they were PRETTY GOOD. They played with passion, immersed in their music and that will get them places.... It should anyways.
It was a great first time concert for me! Wish I could go for more. Now however I will get back to the classics on my computer. Floyd, Led Zep on the computer are still as good as any live concert...