Torrington, Connecticut. Last night Anne and I went to another kirtan concert (chanting), this time given by WAH!, an excellent bass player, singer and kirtan leader. She was backed up by a harmonium, a drum set and a percussionist.

This was a very different concert from the Snatam Kaur concert we went to recently, although both involved heavy audience participation.

What was quite amazing about WAH! is that she would get a call-response chant going with the audience, then, when we were going on our own she’d drop out and improvise with her voice over us. She got these synergistic moods happening numerous times and it really did work.

The other thing about this concert that was excellent was how she watched our affect and either ramped things up or toned things down depending. She was very much like a skilled dance party DJ who uses music to create mood but she did it within the scope of a single song. Two of their songs lasted at least 20 minutes, maybe more.

This wasn’t a perfect concert but it was good and was another example of the form of kirtan which, if one can lose self-consciousness, is a very nice way to get high.