Hooked!

Never before did I feel left out this way, until today. 50 Cent, one of the biggest name in rap, has sent Bombay into a hustle today at the MMRDA grounds at the Bandra-Kurla Complex. And I could not be at the concert even though the tickets were quite affordable. The reasons? None of my friends here seem interested in music the way I am. And definitely not interested enough to shell out a 1000 bucks for a hip-hop concert. I did not tell my mother but I am sure she would not have bought into the idea of me being at a wild concert. Only tomorrow those of us that could not be there will learn, whether the rapper really did live up to his self-proclaimed status of 'the biggest rapper outside of Eminem'. And whether the concert managed to pull in the crowds that have been quite discerning when it comes to their music.

And that is the point of the post today.

In spite of 50 cent being a huge act, it is believed that the organisers were skeptical about the number of heads that will turn up to watch the hastily arranged show. And why not? Hip-hop is big worldwide but nobody is really sure how big it actually is here in India. We are just waking up to the new found fondness of these artistes to India. What is true across the board is that, in the days of mp3 downloads, record labels and the artistes have to rely heavily on touring. And that means having a whirlwind schedule across continents and fitting every city on the trajectory that might have people who hear and appreciate their music. This is the reason why India has seen a spurt in the number of artistes that have made a pits-stop in India. Akon, Roger Waters, Shakira, Beyonce Knowles, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden, and now 50 Cent have all been here this year. And say they wanna come back again.

Interestingly, I googled and found out that Shillong, of all the places in India(with no disrespect to Meghalaya's picturesque capital) has hosted some memorable concerts by acts like Michael Learns to Rock and Firehouse! Wish I was there to experience it!

Today's Times did touch upon some of the problems like the low turn outs for certain acts but has left out some others. Ask any person who wants to have a good time at a rock concert, and he'll tell you that the crowds in India are not yet mature enough to handle the surge of a live rock performance. It will take many more concerts before we develop a culture of sorts that listens to, appreciates and patronises the kind of music these artistes make.

To pull in the crowds certain things have to be taken care of. First up, is reducing the entertainment tax. This will push down ticket prices. A state-of-the-art sound system is a must. We all know that Bryan Adams when he first hit India had his band make do with only one switch because the technology was nearly absent. Now it is nice to see things have improved a lot. As reported correctly in The Times, only AIR plays western music on its shows on its FM services in Bombay. I know of only one other station, FM Fever that plays English music, albeit being secondary fare. If more stations do get down to playing these artistes, it will help popularise their music and they also will be recognised here. What in my opinion, will go a long way in acquainting the generally indifferent to anything other than Bollywood music Bombay crowd, is a major award ceremony being hosted in here in Bombay. Do we have the facilities to host an event like the MTV Asia Music Awards? Not at present, but we have to work on getting there. It will be great to have so many talented international artistes converging in Bombay and captivating the whole city with their music. When will I see that day?

The grapevine has it that U2 will soon be performing in India. It has been a year since that has been going around... If it is indeed true, then I must say the saints are coming! I'd like to watch Def Leppard too, with Joe Elliot crooning 'Miss You in a Heartbeat'. Now wouldn't that be great?

Rock on!

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