MJ…..continued…

….still can’t get enough of him

…. still mourning perhaps the biggest musical loss of my generation

…. am sad about not having heard any of his songs for last many years….until this week

….worried about mortality, pain, success and when they all get muddled up

…. loneliness

….happy to see he still had so many fans, and that they are vocal now

….surprised (and somewhat embarrassed) at my own emotions

… feeling that he might have redeemed himself with all this out pour of love

…. perhaps economically he is better off now, with the surge in his music’s demand…good for his children

….and after a whole lot of feelings, it seems to always end up with a sense of loss

Never Say Goodbye, MJ

It’s been more than a day since the world received the fateful news. I am still in shock. Have not stopped thinking or reading about it, and the sadness is still persisting.

My first introduction to western (non-Hindi) music was through “Bad” – which I borrowed from my chhote-mama over a summer vacation and played back-2-back countless times. To this day, I like it more than Thriller. The only poster that I ever put up in my room before leaving for college was his. It was a life-size poster which fully covered the wall of our studio type living arrangement – and for which I got an scolding ‘cos it was pretty expensive. I tried my best to convince my parents to let me go for the 1996 Bombay concert – even telling them that it was probably my only chance to see him. In retrospect I should have just sneaked away anyway.

I used to hope that all MTV videos have the imagery like in his videos- remember the time, heal the world, black-or-white… I always thought he had an amazing range of rhythms, tempos, moods in his song – something that I appreciate more now, when many popular artists struggle with not sounding like their previous album or their previous song.

I was looking forward to his return in London so that he can redeem himself somewhat… and secretly hoping to see a smashing performance one day. Such is life…

He was a consummate entertainer. He is irreplaceable and I don’t think I’ll see an artist like him in my lifetime. For me, it’s like a piece of my childhood is gone.

RIP Michael Jackson.

Rick Wright RIP

Like many many millions in the world, I am going to miss Rick Wright as his death means I will never get to see the full Pink Floyd band perform together. They were the greatest band ever!!

I am not particularly good at deciphering sound and which instruments they belong to but knowing that he was THE founding pianist, I can only guess his contribution to that signature sound. The sad fact is that if the remaining members do ever play together its never going to be the same. He is irreplaceable and will be missed thoroughly.

RIP – Richard Wright.

We got it right this time – David Cook!

This season’s American Idol just ended with a surprise ending – rocker David Cook is the winner instead of the teen-sensation, sweet faced David Archuletta!!

David C won by 12M votes out of a total 97M or so cast yesterday. I could not have been happier today. I have been rooting for David C since the last 12-weeks if not more. He was consistent, unpredictable, very imaginative, sincere and looked hot in his rocker, grungy look. In fact for the first time ever, I did vote for any reality show last night. I want to believe that David C had converts and ardent fans like me to win although the other one did outperform him last night.

Now I am just waiting to see how David C holds up in a live concert. Looking forward to it….

Jersey Boys – two thumbs way up!

I am not sure who said that the best things in life are free, ’cause we seem to be standing in a lot of lines lately….it was the same yesterday on our 4th year marriage anniversary. We decided to checkout this Broadway-type musical, Jersey Boys playing in Curran Theatre, San Francisco. It has been almost a year since it was introduced in the city, and it has been almost the same time since I have been trying to convince Hrishi to accompany me to it. Yesterday was my lucky day

The show has been sold-out for all the days I have looked for its tix. So we got to the theater at 5:15 pm for the 6:00 pm show. The theater releases 25 tickets for $25 each every day even if the show is sold out. In hind-sight its not surprising, there were people standing from noon for those 25 tix. We were 40th or so in the line. So the second option is to either wait for some scalpers/ unplanned cancellations outside the theater or wait for some unused VIP tix to be releases by the theater just before the show starts. We decided to wait it out and see what luck had in store for us…

We have reasonably good tix karma, so 5 minutes before the show we got two Orchestra tix released by the theater, and they were every penny worth the $200 we spent on them. It a 2 hr 40 min (yes!) short musical. After I got into the theater I realized how long it had been since I saw a real live play – like 8 years or something, never in US and never a musical. I am not counting the Vegas shows since you expect to be surprised there. This musical was surprising surprisingly!

The story is about the formation, rise and fall of The Four Seasons band in the 60′s. The theme was perfect for the musical. At times it was hard to decide if we were watching a concert or a play. Good actors, who sang even better. I am amazed at the talent of the performers as well as the musicians. They actually got standing ovations during the performance. The story is simple but very alive, you feel it as you see the biographical performances. The set-up is contemporary although it was set in the 1960s. Really high production value…the stage settings, movements, etc were really flawless. And it did not even have the old style satin curtains. Electronic giant screens were used for backdrop which added a lot of color. It was like watching two and a half hours of a Bollywood movie, only this was more gripping than most movies from Bollywood.

Hrishi thinks musicals are for girls, but even he liked this one. Today is the last show they have in SF (until they decide to return), but if you get a chance to see this in your town, just grab it and go.

DMB

A few weeks back, I had the opportunity to go for a Dave Matthews Band concert at the Shoreline Amphitheater. I like them but its not my favorite group – because their songs merge into each other after a couple of songs. 30-mins of their album, and it’ll still be hard to distinguish the songs or find out a favorite.

One can argue the an inherent flaw in my assumption that the songs need to be finite, with proper boundaries after every few minutes. But I guess I am just used to being organized about my music.

But, guess what, the long jam session and a continuity in the music sounds very very good in a live performance. We were specially impressed by the drummer – who was totally in the zone the whole time. He would rather not be doing anything else at that time. It was also one of the most racially diverse band, I had seen. For the first time I realized why their sounds is so unique. I has a lot of blue-sy musicians, with some rock. It was awesome, and I highly recommend it if they are visiting your town. You could check them out here.

Fusion – Indian Style

The Summer of 2007 just becomes more wholesome every weekend. I have yet to share many stories, but let me start with this one for now…

We were at Stern Grove yesterday. Check it out at www.sterngrove.org . Its a series of free concerts in San Francisco, every Sunday, throughout the summer. In its 70th year, this is one of those event, locales take a great pride in and would have family traditions around. People pack picnic baskets, wine, beer, food and more beer; pray for good weather and enjoy an afternoon of eclectic world music.

Yesterday’s artists, the remarkable ones anyway, were Anoushka Shankar with Karsh Kale (DJ and percussionist). The former is a stellar sitar player, who happens to be the daughter of Pt. Ravi Shankar and the half-sister of Norah Jones. As much as I love music, I have never followed Indian classical music. There was something about listening to the same sound or perhaps an entire instrumental concert or possibly not understanding the nuances of Indian classical music, that it never appealed to my musically unfurnished mind.

But yesterday was all about fusion music – sitar, guitar, flute, vocals, tabla and drums. No one artist dominated the sound. I related to it, because the composition style seemed closer to rock music, I guess . The weather was just perfect and so were our friends who saved a VIP spot for us in the over-packed arena. I was amazed to see this kind of interest for an Indian classical music concert.

I think I am most excited about finding a whole new genre of music which I would probably follow and enjoy for years, thanks to Stern Grove. The first step for me is to make one of the musical pieces as our morning alarm. So am off to finding out the alarm setting on my iPod…

Radio stations for rock

When I am tired of listening to the sales guy in the neighboring cubicle repeat his sales pitch for the N000′th time, I resort to http://www.virginradio.co.uk. Yes, this sometimes starts at 9:00 am in the morning. I recommend this station for its great selection of classic and contemporary rock. It throws in a pop song once in a while, which is quite relaxing. Needless to say, the British accent makes the listening more pleasurable even when the RJs are ranting

Another good option is Yahoo’s launch.yahoo.com online radio. Be sure to checkout my personal station at roli_iit for some cool rock music. But be careful, the rating system can be a bit addictive. I have often found myself waiting for the next song, just so that I can rate it. Not the best when you trying to meet a deadline. The catch is that the station is only supported for IE. Yes, its true and it sucks!

Do you recommend something else?

me, myself and music

I am really happy to finally tell you all why I called this blog rock’n'roli.

I love rock music. Have loved it for years, and there’s no signs of aging yet. Infact one of the reasons why I wanted to come to US was to be able to see all my favs playing live. Being in the Bay Area is terrific for such an aspiration. Being married to a hobbyist rocker makes it easier to keep the love alive..

So I got the opportunity to see Roger Waters play live this week. I feel blessed, since I never imagined I’ll get to see Pink Floyd (even if its a fraction of the band) live, ever!!! He played some old, some new stuff and all of Dark Side of the Moon. It was a great light and video show. The 3 hrs evaporated in the smoke which was everywhere. Its been three days, and I am still feel blissful about it.

There’s something about rock, when he says “comfortably numb’ I feel numb, but Vedder says “alive” you feel alive, when U2 says “still haven’t found what I am looking for”, I start doubting myself. Romeo and Juliet is my fav love song. U2′s concert felt like 3 hrs of meditation…I feel sad, sometimes, for not being able to watch Kurt Cobain or Morrison live, or not being a teenager in 1969.

No other music, no other cause, I guess, affects me the same way. I know its probably not a good thing to admit, but its the truth…for now..