Declared "Genius"

Declared "Genius"
by Shorts
10-Sep-2008
 

Namjoo's long anticipated show in San Francisco was nothing short of mesmerizing.  He came on the stage, and unlike his reputation as being cocky and un-engaging, every thing about him was unpretentious and fresh.

In his razor sharp humor, he portrayed our pain and suffering, the confusion and apathy, and the ensuing result of complex mixed emotions.  Namjoo's lyrics, music, and avant garde performance was engulfing, the least to say.  The range of his voice from beautiful and softly melodic to a high pitched roar of frustration to a deep throaty whisper is nothing seen before in the Iranian music, the only one that comes to mind close is maybe Tom Waits of the U.S.  In his solo performance playing with and changing through four guitars & Setars, he amazed his audience with the mastery his fingers moved and the sounds produced.  An American, who happens to be an avid Jazz affectionado, and a serious fan of Keith Jarrett, while totally unaware of the potential effect of his deeply penetrating lyrics, was quite moved by Namjoo's music and declared him as simply "genius".

After the show, during the VIP party, once again, Namjoo was all humble and engaging.  He stood and later on sat patiently and signed CD after CD, and exchanged hugs with his fans.  Words of due advice, do not miss his appearances if you are any where near his remaining performances.

Every one on the team of the Beyond Persia organizers had worked very hard and tirelessly to bring this great show into a reality on Saturday night.  A very warm thank you to the entire team is extended.

Nasrin Sasanpour

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Long Live Namjoo & His Brilliance

by Zumba is it! (not verified) on

May we be fortunate to have him around for years to come, blossoming ever more with his brilliance helping us keep awake & alert. . . .


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Souri

by Anonymous Observer (not verified) on

I hear you...at least Namjoo is a musician and we can listen to his music and connect with him. What about this Ross Mirkarimi character who was running for San Francisco City Counil? Do you remember how many articles, pictorials and ads were plastered on this site about him? I am not from San Francisco (not even California) but I know more about that guy than the senator from my state. And how important is Mr. Mirkarimi in the grand scheme of things? Well, he is a PART of the council that determines were bike paths should go in San Francisco!!!


Ali P.

My Solution...

by Ali P. on

There was a time, that the space on a medium was limited. People on different sides of political or social thought, argued on what needs to be printed, or announced, what is a priority and what is not. Placing one subject on the list, was to the detriment of another subject.

 Today, thanks to the internet, we don't have that problem. Millions and millions of words are added to the internet everyday, most of them useless and uninteresting to me( incidentally, quite a few of those useless or unintereting words end up on Iranian.com, in a form of a "blog" or "comment"!). But there are some that I find interesting and useful. There is enough space for all of us.

 I do not know Mr Namjoo, and have not seen him perform, yet. If I see him, and like him, I would probably participate in discussions about him. If I don't like him, I may express my negative feelings on him there.

  And, finally, if I am busy with other things in life, I just skip to the next discussion.

Everyone do this, and I'm sure we all get what we want at the end of the day.

Live and let live.

:-)

Ali P.


Souri

Khar

by Souri on

I believe if it wasn't for me, you would never be interested to
Namjoo. They have talked about him almost for a week, you never pronounced yourself, unless after I said my opinion. You come to every
post just to object me. do you think I really care about what you think
about me ?

"you come across as a very vindictive, narrow minded and pretentious person"

In the past you told me that : I was Khaaleh zanak.... and you said as a KHAR you may kick me with your legs, and I told you that you need to jump on a tall stair to do that. Remember ?

It never change, I still say same thing to you. I know you are upset
with me, but as I said, I really, but really don't care about you.

Your critic to me is based on a personal problem with me and that's why I
usually ignore you. So, before taking yourself too serious and coming as a
"direct and frank person" with me, first go get real and honest with yourself
and check your real motivation for saying the stupidities to me.


Khar

Namjoo Simply the Best!

by Khar on

There is no such thing as too much of a good thing, new thing, fresh thing! MallyJack Jaan I don't who you are and never read your posts yet, damet garm aziz and thanks for your thoughts!  

PS. Souri, someone needs to be direct and be frank with you, and here it is aziz, you come across as a very vindictive, narrow minded and pretentious person. But you know what I think there is still hope for you to change.  


Souri

MallyJack

by Souri on

First of all, let me tell you that from what I have read previously from you, I have little sympathy for you. I am sorry to announce you this, it is not my usual way, but to you especially I have to mention it , because you addressed me now.

I have already posted 3 comments in 2 different blogs and said all I think was necessary for me to clear this point. All your questions or remark are already answered. I won't repeat them for you.

Just one: What make you think that I did not listen to Namjoo's works?

Do you really think I am so superficial that I overpass something so important for my friends? I even said he is a great singer. But we have much more greater singer than him in my opinion. That doesn't make me think that we have to post 4 blogs a day about them.

As I said before, I just said my opinion. Too much is too much...and: a concert is a concert. A great singer is still a singer, he is not Golsorkhi, Please do respect our martyrs. Just say he is Dariush of the new time, if you want to compare.


MallyJack_Secrets

Souri Jan, you relax

by MallyJack_Secrets on

Once again, the joy of Iranians, or the rght to express joy and enthusiasm for a singer that actually inpsires free thought and free speech, is killed by an Iranain who simply can't stand to see people actually happy. Souri jan, I have read your comments on this site and for the most part you are a huge asset to the zehn of this site. However when it comes to Namjoo, you need to actually listen to him, because my dear, he is not "just a singer", it is not just a concert". You are naively (becasue you haven't listened) inadvertently silencing the "Golesorkhi" of our generation.

To hear brilliant angry social commentary like Namjoo, or to merely wring our hands over yet another earthquake that this government refuses to prepare for? I'm sure we should do both.Possibly after hearing namjoo, we can do a better job of responding to the natural (and planned) disasters that seem to continually plague us.

Leave us to celebrate Namjoo please, we have so little to celebrate.


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souri damet garm!

by cotton (not verified) on

Yawn.....People are getting so emotional with Namjoo, it looks sort of cheesy. Get ever it, some like him, some don't, and unlike what Party Girl says, I have complete apathy towards his "art". I've rejected him based on technical reasons.


Souri

I don't think you got my point

by Souri on

My main purpose of this comment was to bring to your attention that, too much of a good thing is still too much, dear.

It is not that I want to write or read about the Earthquake only. I could
read it in today's newspapers or watching TV news. I wish I could bring
some suggestion for raising up the quality of this site's contents.

I try to pass my message to all our fellow friends, that they are arguing too much, too long, about a very little subject, a concert!

Now, if this is the majority's wills and the mainstream in this site, then let it be. I, too as a reader, posted my overall opinion about the subject that I
found too little important (for my taste) for being discussed so many
times and so long.

PS: " Censorship of others barazandeh neest " or "tohmat zadan ham haddi daareh"...and so on....

I wish I had editorial power for censorship, but I don't. Don't worry, Just relax.


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Souri

by Anonymous77 (not verified) on

err , right/ the connection between a concert and an earthquake IS?


Party Girl

Dear Shorts and Souri

by Party Girl on

Dear Shorts:

Thank you for sharing your observations and feelings about Namjoo's concert.  The thing about this guy is that nobody is indifferent to him.  People either seriously like or seriously dislike his music.  He won't let you be indifferent, because that is precisely the message he is trying to get across, his one-man crusade against indifference and apathy.  That's why his music and his lyrics are so angry.  I love him.  Thanks for sharing.

Dear Souri:

Thanks for sharing your feelings, albeit on an unrelated blog.  The person who wrote this blog has strong feelings and opinions about Mr. Namjoo.  Shorts felt compelled to write something about someone whose music and whose concert has had an impact on him/her.  Afarin be Shorts for expressing his/her opinion.

You have the same choice, too, only not on other people's blogs.  Blog your opinion about whatever is near and dear to you my friend.  You have been around long enough to know that when you enter someone's blog with a comment like this, you are derailing that dialogue, which is not about earthquakes or floods or politics, or even "too many blogs about Namjoo."  Either join this dialogue or start your own, but don't derail it.  If you are tired of people discussing a subject, just ignore them and their blogs on the subject.  I hope you accept my criticism in the same friendly way I meant it.

I can't wait to read your blog about the earthquake in Iran. 


mrlayl

Souri Khanoom - Shoma narahat nasheen

by mrlayl on

As they say, Its a free country. If you dont like to read a blog all you have to do is to Click away.

Censorship of others barazandeh neest.


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Souri jaan

by Agreed (not verified) on

Beside the earthquake, there are deadly floods that left destruction and casualties in 3 or 4 provinces.


Souri

Would you stop it please ?

by Souri on

Would you guys stop writing about Namjoo's concert please ?
Since Namjoo's concert event in San Francisco, we have read at leas 6 or more articles and blogs about that topic.

I believe we have already heard everything we needed to know. The rest
is really too much. Please don't be offended by my comment. It happened
that it happens to your post, it could be the next friend's blog about
Namjoo, nothing personal. Just want to say that, honestly, this subject
is not the main concern of all Iranian here in the North America. You
gave it too much time and energy especially in this site. would you all
stop talking about this for now ? Please.

I believe we have so much more important thing to talk about. Why nobody talk about the Earthquake of last night in South of Iran ? Why just a single concert of a great singer should take all our time for so long ?

I'm vey happy for those of you who enjoyed his performance and sorry for those who felt deceived. Next time don't go to his concert. What's so special
with him ? What difference between him or another great Iranian singer,
another concert ?
No big deal ! Really not a beg deal. Relax!! It's just a concert.