Remo rocks Kochi

KOCHI: It all started with ‘Keep on Moving’, the first song through which he forged a bond with the audience.   The music buffs who crowded JT Pac had a blast as Remo Fernandes churned out one number after other. From the first song to the end of the nearly two-hour show, he kept the audience spellbound with his enviable voice range, spontaneous guitar strikes and soothing notes on flute.After creating a pulsating mood through ‘Keep on Moving’, Remo presented his next song, exclusively for the beautiful young ladies present at the theatre. The singer played guitar and started the popular ‘Oh Meri Munni’ with Munna Chari on dholak and Mukesh Ghatwal on keyboard. Since the singer himself was the lyricist and composer of the song, Remo with stylized movements imitated the mannerisms of city girls. While rendering the lines he aped their catwalk culture and sophisticated outlook.After a while Remo took his flute and began bringing out the best tunes. It was then the singer switched to a unique segment, very similar to our ‘thaniavarthanam’, to the  thunderous applause of the listeners. The singer also presented an immortal piece composed by Beatles. What followed it was his  popular folk hit based on Daman (a Portuguese island).The much sought after ‘Humma Humma’ song from ‘Bombay’ was presented to appease the young listeners. After a short break Remo appeared in an entirely different costume - green over coat and a black gypsy pants. Then he sang his all time favourite ‘Bombay City’. The next number was exclusively for the lovers and the singer urged the couples to hold each other’s hands.Though the singer is popular as an outstanding performer of pop and rock songs, his flute rendering was equally appealing.“Up in the North East, a young shepherd sits with his flock on a hill top. Clouds float below him. Through them he can see his beloved’s hut half way down the hill slope. He knows her family is away at the temple festival. But not her; she is indoors cooking, the smoke dances out through the chimney. He picks up his flute and begins his wooing song,” he explained the song.The slow paced flute was accompanied by a special drum, very similar to our edakka. Before concluding his concert Remo repeated his ‘Oh Meri Munni’ owing to repeated requests.