When buddy rubaiyath forwarded the idea for going to ampfusion, i rang up all the names and faces that were to appear there and said NO! but then he revealed to me that he heard that LRB and Black will be singing each other's songs! wow! that got me to change my mind in a jiffy, and soon enough i packed up and got ready for it.
Well, firstly, there was a past winner of B & H's Star Search talent hunts. She was ok, not my type of music.
Second in line was Habib, whose studio work didn't do anything for me. But his live performance that night was really something else... he did much more with the songs, he did much more for the songs. He should really think of including these elements in his studio recordings. Otherwise it makes really mediocre music, and that is not acceptable for someone with a study on music from the west. Apart from his good performance he also brought someone else on stage who was really good!!! A singer whose voice was sooooo goooooood that we all forgave him for his ridiculous head gear.
Then there was Kaniz Suborna, who was famous for what.. i did not understand. Anyway she came on with her happy schoolgirl romance music. The first one had a raggae vibe, which made it enjoyable even though I didn't get much of the lyrics. The crowd seemed to be divided into fans and 'not a fan's. Anyway, at the end of the second or third song the crowd, the same one that was dancing with all the joy in the world suddenly started shouting "bhua.. bhua.." (which seems to be a caual mantra these days at any concert and seems to not mean the original, which translates to "sucks"!!!). This sudden outburst really hurt the performer's feelings and she could be seen wiping tears off! she went on with her set still, putting a smile on her face! hmmm... quite the professional. Even Ayub Bacchu joined her onstage for one song.
Then there was Shahjahan Munshi. He was a blind man, wearing black shades, with the aura of a ray charles of the baul world. he tuned his do-tara (two-strings), bogie (from Renaissance) tuned his bass. Amidst the tuning they suddenly started their set! They even had a trumpet player named Gary. I felt sorry for Gary, they brought him on stage, but the band didn't leave any space for him to play along or for a little solo! how cruel! One could see Gary's awkwardness of the moment on stage! But Mr. Munshi... he was impressive nonetheless. the bass seemes off at times... but still the crowds here are suckers for traditional baul songs. The set included "Shohoj Manush", "Jaat Gelo", "Deho Ghori". He sang one of his too, and that was a hit too with the chorus' lines striking everyone's hearts... "ei ki premer protidan?" :)
After this was Black's turn. And yes, Bacchu came on with them. But what pursued was noisy and incomprehensible. They played together on the song "Rhode and Blues", and it was just badly mixed... the rampant guitar solos were not decipherable and the bass was too much.. it was not good. The other songs Black played by themselves, and really, it was like watching them for the first time. Black is a really talented and innovative band, and they have the creativity to keep their live shows attractive, but only if they stop signing up for 2 3 shows in a day!!! They should take their time and concentrate on quality.
After their set was over... Tahsan stayed on. This was to be the transition from Black to LRB. He started his rendition of LRB's Cholo Bodley Jai, with a grand piano sound... that sounded really gooood. Bacchu joined in later and put in a solo with a tone heavy on delay... nice. then slowly the whole band came on and after the song Tahsan left. LRB stayed on to play theirs. It went well... usual LRB stuff.
What can i say! i am tired of typing at the moment.
Posted on Monday, February 28, 2005
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