The Shreya Ghoshal concert took place in Lowell on September 22nd. This is the second year in a row that Shreya has performed in the Greater New England area. More than two thousand people of all different age groups attended the event. There was a mix of young kids, families, college students, and adults. Shreya did a great job catering to such a diverse demographic. As a college student, I really enjoyed attending the event with friends. It was a welcome reprieve from work and classes.

Shreya’s band dominated the stage as the elaborately dressed Shreya performed numbers from bollywood films both old and new. The live band was amazing at adapting to the audience. Towards the end of the show, after she had sang a myriad of Hindi songs, a large number of audience members requested she sing something in Bengali, her native language. She immediately took on the challenge. Following that, she was met with more language requests, a few of which she entertained. It was amazing to see how she and her live band were able to adapt and improvise to each last-minute request.

Shreya was accompanied by Hrishikesh Ranade, the winner of the televised singing competition Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Maharashtracha Ajacha Awaaj. He performed a few solos and joined Shreya for many duets. Many of the upbeat numbers were accompanied by a set of dancers, who performed a variety of styles.

The audience was very engaged throughout the whole concert. People in the upper balcony area took advantage of their location and stood up and danced throughout the show. It was actually quite hard for audience members sitting up front to resist the urge to stand up dance. During the second half of the show, hundreds of audience members started dancing at the back of the seating area. As the music picked up, they flooded the aisles of the auditorium and all the way to the front of the stage. Shreya had to request everyone to take their seat so that she could continue the show.

Overall, the concert was enjoyable for all groups of people that attended. One attendee said that the concert was “the best Boston has seen in 20 years.” Her song selection varied from some of her smash hits to her favorite oldies, and she kept everyone singing and dancing with her. Let’s hope she loved Boston enough to return for a third year in a row!

The event was coordinated by Arsh and Anil Mehrotra of Aap Ka Manoranjan.

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