BANGALORE: Dark clouds covered the afternoon sky. But towards early evening it looked bright again. All was well, Bangaloreans thought, and unsurprisingly, all roads did lead to Palace Grounds. It was six, an hour before the much-awaited A.R. Rahman concert by India Classic Arts. The skies opened up and truly, like the adage, it never rains, it pours and there was a downpour. The props on the stage gave way and the 3D gadget conked out, but the 25,000-odd crowd would not move. Every two minutes, young and old, screamed: "We want Rahman." Rahman made a two-second dramatic appearance with a huge umbrella and announced: "These showers are godsend. Give me one hour and I promise you, it will be the best performance so far." And when the performance did begin at 9 p.m., there was much ecstasy, on stage and off stage. The audience could barely sit in their chairs and the singers could not stop smiling and swaying. Rahman barely put his finger on the synthesiser and they knew what song was coming. The opening song was the energetic number from Yuva which Rahman himself performed with his 10-member chorus and elaborate live orchestra. Percussion whiz Sivamani had an elaborate rhythm apparatus. Hariharan and Sadhana Sargam sang quite a few numbers together including the evergreen "Roja Janeman" from Roja . Shankar Mahadevan, Blazee and Rahman belted out "Hamma Hamma", while Kailash Kher stole hearts with his "Mangal Mangal". "Jhanan Jhanan", a duet by Sukhwinder and Sadhana, from the yet to be released Water was outstanding. The surprise was a Kannada translation by P.B. Sreenivos of the lovely Bombay number "Kannaleye" into Kannada, "Oh Iniyane". Chitra, as usual, gave an impeccable rendition with Rahman joining her for the interludes, with his beautiful uncultivated nuances. Bangalore singer Badri Prasad rocked with "Mukkala Mukabala". They sang and sang, but the audience was left craving for more. It was a concert to remember for many years to come.