KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — When a six-hour concert whizzed by without you realising, you can be sure the performances were mesmerising.
StarXpo Centre in KWC Fashion Mall, Kuala Lumpur recently played host to the Malaysian Independent Live Fusion Festival (MILFF) where Indian artistes Vijay Prakash, Sid Sriram, Agam, Aalaap Raju, Sooraj Santosh and Jatayu, as well as Malaysian rappers, Balan Kashmir, Stylomanavan and Dan Shiv took to the stage to show off their talents.
The star-studded festival was organised by Mojo Projects who is known for starting a show without any delays.
Mojo Projects made sure this year’s MILFF was bigger and greater just like they promised the fans.
The organiser gave local artistes an opportunity to showcase their talent on the same platform where the Indian stars had performed to an enthusiastic crowd.
The crowd cheered when band Jatayu started the concert with an avant-garde musical ensemble.
It accompanied Sooraj a little later when he sang a medley of Illayaraja’s hits.
The audience got even more excited when Jatayu and Sooraj delivered Raja Rajathin Raja Intha from Agni Natchathiram and Sundari Kannal Oru Seythi from Thalapathy. Some even got on their feet and started dancing.
The five-member band comprised Shylu Ravindran and Sahib Singh on electric carnatic guitars, Kashyap Jaishankar on bass, Manu Krishnan on drums and Nithin M Menon playing percussions, with Sooraj on vocals.
When they performed, Dan made a special appearance, lending a Malaysian touch to the popular number Raja Rajathin Rajan.
Sooraj was later requested by the audience to sing a few Malayalam songs such as Kanthaa from his album recorded under the banner of Masala Coffee.
When Aalap walked to the stage, the crowd was ecstatic; evidently, he was a favourite too.
When he started his award-winning Enamo Aedho from the movie Ko, composed by Harris Jayaraj, the audience gladly sang along.
It was amazing when Aalap and his band recreated background scores for blockbusters such as Punnagai Mannan, Nayagan, Aval Oru Thodarkathai and others during the show.
The band also featured female vocalist Neha Venugopal.
AR Rahman might have grown older — he turned 50 early this year — but his songs from the 1990s remain favourites of many Malaysians.
Take Chiku Buku Chiku Buku Rayile, billed the “fun-trip anthem”, for instance.
The popular “oh, oh…” catchphrase in the song had the crowd joining in, waving their mobile phones in the air.
It was the same with classical number Nila Kagirathu that had melody lovers going “ooh aah” at every variation.
Stylomannavan, who did a rap number, was on point with his costume. He had an Indian twist to his attire — a dhoti with his signature cap.
Vijay came on next and sang his award-winning Hosanna from Vinaythandi Varuvaya, followed by Om Sivoham from Naan Kadavul.
There was pin-drop silence from the audience when he sang the different sangathis (variations of pitch that brings out the melody of tune).
The concert that night was something music lovers would never have experienced before as Aalap was playing the bass guitar while Vijay sang soul-stirring Tamil numbers.
Vijay, a lead singer of Jai Ho from Oscar and Grammy-winning blockbuster Slumdog Millionaire also sang the movie’s theme song, enthralling the audience.
While Malaysians might have witnessed good bands, great bands and bands that made people go “whoa”, I must say Sid did justice to music that night.
The Indian-American music producer, playback singer, and songwriter was enthusiastic, keeping the momentum of his performance throughout the night.
Clad in a pair of jeans and a loose-fitting shirt, Sid looked very much the casual guy. He opened with Nila Kaigirathu that took on a classical carnatic twist midway.
Unlike the other bands featured in the festival, Agam opened with a Guru Stotram, a welcome and thank you note to its masters and teachers.
Not a lot of bands can claim to strike the perfect balance between Western and Indian classical music like Agam can.
Their genre-defining carnatic progressive rock act has been steadily gaining success after their debut album in 2012.
Agam comprises Harish on lead vocals and violin, Swamy on keyboards, Praveen and Jagadish on guitars, Kasyap on bass, Ganesh on drums and Shiva on percussions.
Some of the songs they performed was Thillana, a series of well-known Hindi numbers from the movie Dil Se.
Overall, it was an evening of great music. But the bands could have performed more of their own music instead of those composed by others.
