Shaan Live in Concert in Houston

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Photos: Meedu’s Fotografy

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By Vanshika Vipin

HOUSTON: What happens when the melodies of the Golden Voice of India reverberates through the jam packed Arena theatre? It leaves the audience spellbound and transcends them to a state of euphoria. Shaan, the voice of Indian youth, along with his Lil champs –Gagan Gaonkar and Arunita Kanjilal and Ambili Menon enthralled the audience with a mesmerizing concert hosted by Moid Khan and Irfan Moosa from Bollywood Shows 4 U, Saturday, May 23. The three hour long concert was not only a musical delight but also a visual pleasure owing to accompanied dance performances.

After the success of their first concert, back in April this year; Generation Next featuring Ankit Tiwari, Khan and Moosa roped in the melody king Shaan for the concert in Houston. The success of their first show was reflected in the complete sold out show even this time. Precise to the minute, the concert began at sharp time 8:28 pm,  with a moment of silence for the recent killings in Pakistan.

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The captivating show began with the Lil champ, Gagan Gaonkar opening the concert with the first song ‘Re Kabira’. Gagan,13, is proficient in Hindustani Classical, sufi and gazals. He hails from Karnataka and loves writing poems and reading. After Kabira, he sang mast mast do nain, tera hero idhar hai and  jaha Teri ye nazar hai. All the songs were high on adrenaline and created the built up for the next singers.

Arunita Kanjilal from Bengal came in second. She wowed the crowd with the old classic ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ and then went on to sing the modern day dance number ‘Kamli Kamli’. Arunita is a talented 11 year old girl who plays harmonium and tanpura and learns singing from her uncle who is a singer himself. These Lil champions stole everyone’s heart with their passionate singing.

The king had the stage ready for him and the arena throbbing with anticipatory excitement. Shaan began the show with behti hawa sa tha wo from 3 idiots and got the audience singing along with him.  Mujhko pehchaan lo, bin pooche mera naam aur pata, dil kahe kya raaz hai, dil ne tum ko chun liya hai, tere naina, jabse tere naina were the songs in the playlist that followed. His legendary song woh pehli baar and hum Jo chalne lage got thousands of hands swaying in rhythm. Then followed the peppy tracks like Mein aisa kyu hu , welcome, o hum dum soniyo re and chaand sifarish before Shaan went in for a mini break.

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The romantic reverie of the audience was broken by rib tickling stand up comedian Nitin who brought back people to real world with his humour. After the break, Meena Dutt, the lovely emcee for the concert, thanked the sponsors chiefly Discount Power and Kohinoor diamonds. The organizers, Khan and Moosa and the main sponsors were invited on stage and thanked for all their hard work and dedication. Sheriff Adrain Garcia also spoke a few words about Bollywood and the concert.

Again began the musical journey with Shaan, but this time it was old world charm. The older generation and the newer, who love old Bollywood classics, were in for a delight. He continued the performance by singing some old numbers like Ey meri zohrajabi and kabhi kabhi mere dil Mein, classic romantic numbers. Then entered Ambili Menon,  the winner of Sunsilk Gang of Girls. She gave a high energy performance on the recent hit – chitiya kalaiya and brought back the audience to the current times. The evening ended with a super fast medley with all the artists and Shaan. Being a thorough professional and appreciator of musical talent, Shaan introduced each and every musician that accompanied him. The entire band performed to the utmost perfection.

The concert saw a seamless execution. The sound and lights were flawlessly done by Rodger of LD system, who had previously done sound for shows like A. R. Rehman and the recent Shahrukh Khan’s SLAM concert.

At the end of the concert, the organisers, Moid Khan and Irfan Moosa said, “We would like to thank Houston and our supporters, fans, media, for keeping the faith in us. We could not have done this on our own. We look forward to entertaining Houston more and more”. They also announced their next show featuring Atif Aslam and Ayushman Khurana in September. Houston is in for musical treat this year indeed.

For further information or for your feedback call Moid Khan at 2812354711 or Irfan Moosa at 8326183333 or log on to www.bollywoodshows4u.com.