After the opening Varnam passed, the next song went like 'Virulavu o kedha'. It took me a while to get used to Abishek. The way he was swaying between the violinst and mridangist, who by the way where atleast 5 ft apart, like he was possessed, with his convulsions and contortions, I really thought he was in serious trouble and needed a bunch of keys right away. The audience was also finding it very difficult, as half the time it looked like he was speaking to the Violinist or the Mridangist. The audio guy for his part didn't know what volume to give him. At the end of the second song, it was figured out that he needed more than one microphone and he was given the same!
The crowd was so much that the sabha guys had put additional chairs all over the place and moving out of one's seat to the rest room or the canteen was a real ordeal. Wish they had done something upfront to confine Abishek within a "comfortable" zone!
However once you get used to his idiosyncrasies, you realize that this guy is a real genius.The crowd just loved him. The third song he chose was the popular "Nee Vaadane gaana" which was dealt with in detail. The main song chosen was set in Pantuvarali and the Swara improvisations and the way they were presented, at really fast pace at places, was simply mind boggling. The Tani was worth hearing and the accompanying artists (Akkarai Subbulakshmi on the Violin, the other 2 names skip my mind) did their part well.
Abishek is really a genius, a great entertainer and a musician to watch out for in the future.
However till he stops swaying, which hopefully he will do with age and maturity, Abishek is best listened to on CD or in an auditorium that has several microphones placed before him much like those bowls arranged in front a Jalatarangam artist :-)
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