A Rare Musical Mix

On April 4^th, I went to see Anoushka Shankar at the Eisenhower Auditorium.  Shankar is a musician that mixes traditional Indian style music with Spanish flamenco music. I had never been to a musical event with such a unique musical style so I was not sure what to expect. Shankar sat in the center of the stage on top of a large platform with her sitar. When the show began there were two males seated on her right. One was playing a double sided drum that lay in his lap. The other male played a drum in the shape of a box on which he sat as he also played a foot drum. At first there was only one male on Shankar’s left who played a keyboard type instrument (not electric), but after the first song a female singer and male acoustic guitarist emerged from back stage and sat on Shankar’s left as well. The two musicians who entered after the first song were the Spanish twist to the performance. They were both dressed in Spanish style clothing while the rest of the band wore more typical Indian style attire. The female sang in Spanish throughout the performance. She had a great voice, but she would at times make this long whining outcry noise that I could not stand and I felt it took a lot away from the music.  

The two things I liked most about the performance was the lighting and the two male drummers. Throughout the performance the band used several different colors such as; blue, yellow, green, orange, and red to light up the stage. I felt that the lighting effectively set the mood for each song. I also thought the drummers were excellent at their craft. My favorite song happened to be the last one because each member of the band got to perform their own solo. I felt both drummers showed exceptional talent and coordination while performing their solos. And I was especially impressed with the drummer that not only used his hands to create these exciting beats, but he also used his foot to play another drum at the same time. Overall I did not enjoy the performance mostly because of the female’s signing style. I feel without her I would have enjoyed the performance much more but either way I do not see myself attending an event like this ever again.

Artisical/ Cultural Event 2