By Parveen Chopra, IANS
New York : Music composer and singer A.R. Rahman's concert here enthralled an 11,000-strong crowd, the audience swaying and dancing to popular numbers like "Chaiyya Chaiyya".
The concert, held over the weekend at the Nassau Coliseum, had Rahman and other known singers, Hariharan, Sukhwinder Singh, Blaaze, Chitra and Sadhana Sargam, in action besides drummer Sivamani and a troupe of dancers.
The star of the show was Rahman, who has become a big draw globally.Rahman deftly mixed old and new songs composed by him, in both Hindi and Tamil. The crowd consisting of north and south Indians in equal numbers lapped it all, proving that his unique brand of music transcends language.
Other popular songs which had people in the packed stadium on their feet, included the title song from "Rang De Basnati", the "Maiya Maiya" belly dancing number from "Guru" – with sensual choreography – and "Vaaji vaaji" from the new Rajnikant blockbuster "Sivaji: The Boss".
There were songs from "Roja", "Lagaan" and "Taal".
Blaaze, wearing bermudas, sang rap numbers including "Masti Ki Pathshala" from "Rang De Basanti". He tried to get the audience to participate, even walking the aisles with video cameras trailing him. Sivamani was most ebullient during a solo with his multiple drums.
Some song clips from movies and specially commissioned videos were shown to effect on a huge LCD screen.
Rahman sang a couple of his own numbers like "Dil Se", hitting the high notes with ease. He concluded the over three-and-a-half hour musical night with "Vande Mataram".
The concert at the Long Island venue was part of Rahman's '3rd Dimensional Tour' of North America. It came after shows in San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Toronto and Vancouver and precedes shows in Washington and Atlanta.
After "Bombay Dreams", Rahman has composed for another musical "The Lord of the Rings".
Rahman's concert tour has been organised by Bharat Jotwani under his Poojanka Entertainment banner. Jotwani has to his credit Shah Rukh Khan's Temptations tour. He is now close to inking a deal to bring Bollywood's first family, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, on a North American tour next year.