I truly enjoy music from other parts of the world in large part because when one doesn’t understand the lyrics a song’s musicality (rhythm, beat, tone, etc.) have to do the heavy-lifting.  Besides, as a listener, good music is just good music.  What does this have to do with the price of tea in China?  Nothing.  But if you let your finger slide down your globe in a southeasterly direction from China, you’ll find yourself (or your finger, anyhow) on the Indian subcontinent, with its billion inhabitants, and recently I was invited to attend the concert of the man widely considered to be the greatest living composer from those parts.  And it was a real treat!

You see, these enormous casino companies (that these days prefer to be known as gaming corporations) are run by very smart folks, who many moons ago realized that entertainment was one of the big selling points bringing people to this City of Entertainment.  As such their various departments of International Casino Marketing (whether Far Eastern or South American or anything in between) occasionally find a performer around whom big-hitters from wherever will travel to Las Vegas to see.  As such, I’ve enjoyed concerts by such international megastars as Googoosh (December 24, 2000) and Coco Lee (July 3, 2010); who performed sold-out shows at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and the Encore Theatre at Wynn Las Vegas, respectively.  Now, to this list, I can add the “Mozart of Madras” himself, A.R. Rahman, who created Planet Bollywood, when he brought his The Intimate Concert tour to Las Vegas, earlier this month.

Born R.S. Dileep Kuma in Madras, India and raised as an athiest; he changed his name to Allah Rakha Rahman at the age of 23, when he (along with members of his family) converted to Sufism.  He got his start as an jingle-writer; moving-on to Bollywood, with Tamil films, then Hindi films.  Soon, the U.K. beckoned, with the Andrew Lloyd Webber-produced musical, Bombay Dreams, and the film Elizabeth: The Golden Age (starring Cate Blanchett); followed in short suit by the U.S., where he composed the soundtracks and scores for films as Slumdog Millionaire (starring Dev Patel and Freida Pinto), Couples Retreat (starring Vince Vaughn), 127 Hours (starring James Franco), People Like Us (starring Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks), Million Dollar Arm (starring Jon Hamm), and The Hundred-Foot Journey (starring Helen Mirren).  In 2009 alone, Rahman won a pair of Oscars, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA – not to mention a spot on Time’s annual list of “The World’s 100 Most Influential People” (with an essay written by Padma Lakshmi, of Bravo’s Top Chef).  In his spare time, he sings and plays keyboards and drums, in a supergroup called SuperHeavy, alongside Mick Jagger, Dave Stewart, Damian Marley, and Joss Stone (check-out the video, below)!

Come back, for Part 2, when I talk about the goings-on at the concert, both on-stage and backstage, including A.R. Rahman's amazing performance, and our amusing interlude, after the concert.  TTFN!

A.R. Rahman | The Intimate Concert – 2015 North American Tour
Axis Theatre at Planet Hollywood | June 7th, 2015
Click HERE for info

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