When I saw God, in front of me. (RahmanIshq concert - Ahmedabad)

This, was the first time ever when I was going to get blessed by God. So had left no stone unturned so that I could attend this show. And finally, the day arrived. While I was discussing about which song will be opener, while standing outside stadium (Gujarat song may be) and whoa ! The stadium speakers cried Jai Jai Garvi Gujarat ! Goosebumps already. One thing I am not going to forget about Rahmanishq - is its punctuality. How perfectly they opened gates at 5 pm ! And sharp- at 7 the sparks on stage. Bang ! Boom ! And out of darkness - that was HIM ! The God of music. A R Rahman. Uncontrollable emotions. Uncontrollable shouts and crowd. Andd... the moment he shouted Dil Se Re....... even the sky turned Rahmaniac for the next 190 minutes !

Here is the list of the songs played at the concert. Major singers were - Sukhvinder Singh, Javed Ali, Neeti Mohan, Shweta Pandit, Harshdeep Kaur, Keerti Sargathia & Hriday Gattani.

Opening mix by ARR
Dil se re
O Yuva Yuva
Paathshala
O Saya
Sadda haq
Infinite Love

Then, after a few seconds of darkness, stage started to lit up with familiar beats. And the audience went wild when the knew which song came up -
Taal (Sukhvinder version)
Ramta Jogi

As a break-Jiya se jiya video filler.

Then, there was the moment. Javed Ali's piercing croon moved me. By singing my most favorite lines - he opened :
Naino ke ghaat leja, naino ki naiyyaa !
Yes? Tum Tak. With fabulous dance act based on Kathak by a couple on stage.

And, it was time to get electrified. As Keba took the center stage. Paired with Ranjit Barot they gave altogether a new prelude for Nadaan Parindey ! By Rahman and Hriday. People in stadium who couldn't stop singing along the two, stood in awe when Rahman concluded the song in totally different way !

Filler : Jai ho video. Again, people went crazy though it was just a video.

Egyptian layout on stage - and Neeti Mohan entered in a royal way ! And man - she did shakes like Shakira while singing Mayya Mayya !

Next,
Cyclist's theme

And-
God again singing Tere Bina.
Beautiful visuals in background. Accompanied by Shweta Pandit. Heavenly sargam sung by Rahman (the interlude one).

And then, the haunting - Piya milenge. Speechless experience in those thumping atmosphere.

Then the most amazing visual experience throughout the next set of songs-

How many stars
Ishq Bina (2)
Rehna Tu

That amazing concluding Continuum piece of Rehna Tu.... sigh.
And....the moment. ARR said "Some songs are special. I make many songs, sometimes you like it, sometimes you don't." (With a cheeky smile)
And boom -
The Unplugged Version of Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera !!
Mind - already blown.

Phew...
Darkness and that flawless croon - Katta roo.........
Harshdeep and her fantastic Katiya Karoon !

Then, that familiar sarangi. (Again beautiful background visuals).Banarasiya by Shweta Pandit. A glitched one this was. Flute was perfect by Navin Iyer - but Ranjit Barot did add some 'hey yeah' things at interludes and conclusion. That made this pretty noisy one. Maybe cause of over amount on bass.

Next- Roja aalaap by Shweta.
And Keba and the band did make electrifying Roja Jaanemann. (Don't know who was the male singer). Wonderful flute by Navin Iyer.

Nazar laaye na- was next. Hriday and Neeti Mohan made perfect couple dancing together singing this lovely track.

And then, Neeti took over the stadium. While interacting with audience pretty cleverly - she literally rocked Jiya Re Jiya Re. (Personally I did not liked that song much, till now. But when she was singing - couldn't help but shout by lungs out !)

Filler: Jare udd ja re - video.

Annnd - the stage was set with typical Sufi ensemble. Rahman and Javed Ali dressed up in typical attire along with chorus. Harmonium, played in totally different tune by ARR, that left people guessing if this is Khwaja, Arziyaan, Piya Haji Ali or Kun Faaya Kun. But when Javed Ali crooned - the time stopped for next 15 minutes. Divine 3 songs back to back.

Arziyaan - prelude
Kun Faaya Kun
And finally, Khwaja Mere Khwaja.

What a treat to watch Rahman, connected to the forces up above. With eyes closed.

Then the credit rolled !! Everyone was shocked, relieved only after a few minutes when they realized this was just a filler.

Then, Rahman came up saying ''This one we are going to perform for the first time on the stage. Created specially for Gujarat. Here is that one"  

Jai Jai Garvi Gujarat !
The fact is - the song is not 'that' famous even in Gujarat, due to low key publicity. So people got confused at first, slow prelude. But when the main stanza came up - Jai Jai Jai Jai Garvi Gujarat ! The excitement was unimaginable !! And ended with 'once more' shouts.

Next, Raanjhanaa. As a solo this time, Javed Ali did the best he can for such tricky interludes. Full marks !

Next, filler. Pray for me brother.

Rahman came up : "You know my wife is from Gujarat. And Gujaratis are really nice people. But I can't say that about women.(smiling) The next song is a bit cheeky one".

And the green colored stage, went jazzy with piano bgm. All were sure that this is going to be Tu bole. But surprisingly he sang Aise na dekho !

The piano treat continued with 3 ladies -
Heer by Harshdeep
Nenjukkule by Neeti Mohan
Tum Ho by Shweta
and
a lovely version of Saans - by Shweta backed by beautiful chorus.

And the evening was getting close to conclusion. So stage is set on fire by Rahman and Navin Iyer. With Tamil version of Humma Humma.
And
Frenzy was uncontrollable when Chhaiya Chhaiya came up. People were jumping on their chairs ! Literally. All credits to Sukhi !

Filler : Video of Studio visit with ARR's son !

And the final set :
Tu man shudi, which did get a bit low key response by audience.
But then - the epic
Jai Ho ! Echoed throughout the stadium as the audience sing along.
And if that is not enough -

Maa Tujhe Salaam - broke all barriers. Everyone was bowing to the superpower standing in front of them. Shouting along with him till the end. Along with the fireworks.
And when it finished - every one shouted 'once more once more'.
Adorable ARR looked straight to audience. Smiling he stood there for almost two minutes. And said 'Till we meet again next time, thank you, thanks a lot'.

Overwhelmed, blessed by God. 190 minutes of sheer brilliance, joy and excitement.
Once in a lifetime this happens. When you have God - in front of you. Fulfilling wishes, one by one. Smiling, closing eyes when conected to supernatural forces - you just loose yourself and enjoy - A R Rahman.

Thank You Rahman for #RahmanIshq