Sydney made some noise for Rahman
17 01 2010Rain did not spoil the musical parade of Indian superstar A.R. Rahman as he thrilled tens of thousands of people in his concert extravaganza at a packed Parramatta Park. Part of the Sydney Festival, the free concert had everything from Bollywood jive, hip hop-influenced grooves and traditional Indian sounds as Rahman and his entourage of colourful dancers captivated the crowd from start to finish on Saturday night.
That finish to the two and a half hour production came in the form of crowd favourite `Jai ho’, which saw fireworks light the sky while concert-goers danced and chanted the chorus. The Slumdog Millionaire composer addressed the crowd before the finale on what he had earlier in the night called “one of the most historic concerts of my life’’.
“Thank you for being part of change,’’ he said, a reference to his wish to end the attacks against Indian students in Victoria. I want all of you guys staying here to bless the children of India with love.’’
Rahman also asked the crowd to spare a thought for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.“Life is just like that. Anything can happen,’So Jai ho, God bless you all.’’ he said.
They were words of wisdom to his adoring crowd, mostly expats from the subcontinent who came from across Sydney and interstate. The crowd stretched over 500 metres through a tree-lined corridor in the park, many families seated on picnic rugs.
Most people stayed to the end of the concert, albeit some with umbrellas. Black clouds loomed overhead and light rain fell a couple of times but few revellers left early. Former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh commented on the mammoth crowd in his welcome speech before the concert.
“I’ve never seen so many Indian people here, it reminds me when I was in Calcutta,’’ he told concert-goers.He asked Australians to embrace all people who come to their country, and called Rahman “the Sachin Tendulkar of music’’.
WATCH AR RAHMAN SYDNEY CONCERT JAI HO VIDEOS ONLY ON RAHMANIAC.COM
Part A one
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
ohhh men..amazingg..
thank u farza…:P
takecareee okya..
“Life is just like that. Anything can happen,’So Jai ho, God bless you all.’’ – i love this guy… =)
gud videos dude.. hw to download them.. can u plz tell
Hello! Before I say this, I have to tell you guys that I am a die hard fan of Rahman’s and I just love his music. And I think I am really lucky to be around during his time.
My criticism is, I don’t rate Rahman too highly as a performer. I think he is a fantastic singer. But I don’t think he is comfortable singing on stage. After his Oscars and international fame, I think “they” are trying to promote Rahman as a performer more than the composer we all love. Again, I am not saying he is a bad singer. I love it when he sings. But I wish he sings less on stage (live). I wish he is promoted more as a musician/composer than as a singer. This is the first concert that I am seeing in the Jai Ho series. But, if you notice, Rahman has never sung so much on stage. He usually limits himself to 2 songs or at most 3 maybe.
The one time I thought Rahman was brilliant on stage was during one his concerts in Delhi when he sang Tere Bina. I thought he was brilliant. Other than that, I am not sure.
All that aside, you are the best AR!
Hi sir,
i am working in toronto and saw your sydeny show, it was amazing,
a small expectation from me which was always in my mind is please sing at lease one telugu song in your next shows…
you rock…..