The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Air Supply fans weren't disappointed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 14, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Air Supply fans weren't disappointed

Rakesh Mehar

IN SYNC: Graham Russell (left) and Russell Hitchcock of Air Supply performing at the Palace Grounds in Bangalore on Saturday. — Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

BANGALORE: The international pop group Air Supply hit the Bangalore stage a day late, as the concert which was scheduled for Friday was postponed to Saturday.

A wise move as the band would surely have lost out to the deluge that night.

However, when the band finally did take stage on Saturday night they failed to turn up the heat.

From the start, signs of a lacklustre show were apparent. The crowd was sparse and failed to match the standards set by other international acts that have played in the city in the past. The stage set-up seemed too minimal and failed to create an impression of a "big show".

Moreover, a seating enclosure in the front kept fans from getting close to the stage. Without their energy to feed off, the band took a while to warm up.

Despite all the difficulties in organisation, the band pulled off an admirable job. The true Air Supply fans got all that they came for.

Lead vocalist Russell Hitchcock's mellifluous vocals, while not at their best, were powerful and controlled enough to keep the crowd enthralled. Coupled with the harmonies of keyboardist and guitarist Graham Russell, the vocals packed quite a punch. They were backed ably by Mike Zerbe on drums, Jed Moss on piano and Jonni Lightfoot on bass, all of whom played a restrained and tight set throughout.

Numbers

Almost all the expected numbers were doled out, from the classic "Making Love out of Nothing at all" to an extended, improvised version of "All Out of Love" to the more recent hit "Goodbye".

However, a good portion of the concert featured more recent songs, including a number from their latest album "The Singer and the Song", a song premiered in Delhi about an alien incapable of expressing love.

At the end of the concert, one couldn't help but feel that the concert might have been better received in a cosy club setting rather than the open-air setting of Palace Grounds.

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