Priyanka Sharma offers a sneak peek into the stress-ridden and complex world of concert management.
After months of anticipation, having booked tickets for the concert well in advance, Nishtha Kanal flew into the capital from Mumbai to catch Metallica’s live concert at Gurgaon’s Leisure Valley on October 28. What she didn’t expect was a three-hour wait outside the venue: in vain as it turned out because the concert was eventually cancelled after the crowd, angry at the inexplicable delay, broke down a “poorly manned” security barricade, pelted bottles at the stage and vandalised equipment worth a crore. Digusted, Kanal left the scene. “I am never attending a gig in Delhi,” she swears.
Four persons, including the general manager of DNA Networks, which had organised the legendary American heavy metal band’s maiden concert in India, have been arrested on charges of cheating and breach of trust.
For a country with a large following of Western pop music genres — most youngsters in the cities listen to Bryan Adams, Deep Purple, Lady Gaga — India, and especially Delhi, seems unable to put up a good show. Earlier this year, the Bryan Adams concert in Delhi had to be cancelled owing to security concerns.
* * *
Shivajee Das, creative director at Wizcraft International Entertainment, calls the entire enterprise of organising live concerts a “booming business” with big money involved at every step. Getting hold of an international artist is a Herculean task in itself. International live entertainment companies such as CAA Touring and Live Nation look at three distinct markets before charting an artist’s tour plan, going by fan-base and revenue to be earned. Primary importance here is given to North America and Europe followed by South America. While Singapore and Japan are also target markets for the last leg of a tour, India is still “under consideration” even for the tertiary slot, informs Das.
Preparation for a concert in a city begins at least eight months in advance. Finding a suitable venue in India is not easy. “Unlike London’s Wembley stadium or New York’s Bowery Ballroom, India lacks a venue with the infrastructure for a large-scale concert,” laments Das. Then comes getting the title sponsor (it was Vodka brand Vladivar for the Metallica concert) and fixing a budget keeping in mind the artist’s fee and operational costs. Nearly 30 per cent is set aside for marketing; the months leading up to a concert are a whirlwind of promotional activities across media and social networking websites.
Big bands like ACDC and artists like Jon Bon Jovi travel with their equipment and an entourage of around 30 in chartered flights, the safety of which is the event manager’s job. His responsilibities also include pandering to artistic whims — be it a specific brand of mineral water or a 24/7 personal chef — catering to the entourage of agents, technicians, stylists and bodyguards and importing equipment, if required, from Singapore.
The title sponsor pays for their stay (always at a luxury hotel) and styling, with smaller sponsors brought in to share the costs. A concert by Bryan Adams — who charges around $250,000 for a performance — could easily cost up to Rs 6 crore, inclusive of travel and accommodation. Tickets remain the main source of revenue, since sponsorships aren’t found easily. The presence in recent times of e-ticketing partners such as Kyazoonga and BookMyShow has helped in reaching out to target audiences more efficiently but these sites set aside a certain number of tickets as complimentary “passes” for “benefactors”.
* * *
“By law, an organiser needs to secure at least 50 permissions and clearances, give or take a few, depending on the city,” says Himanshu Anand, accounts director at Encompass Events. This includes a performer’s license from the Indian Performing Right Society, a no-objection certificate from the police giving fire, traffic, electrical clearances and permissions from local municipal bodies. For a ticketed concert, organisers pay an entertainment tax of 25 per cent as well as a sales tax to the state government. “It is imperative to secure all permissions a month before the event to avoid last minute disasters,” says Anand. For the Metallica concert in Delhi, DNA Networks had not been able to secure a police NOC even a day prior to the show.
Mumbai and Bangalore have emerged as the favoured destination of international touring artists, and Delhi is bypassed because of the cumbersome process of securing permissions and because “everyone wants a slice of the pie”.
Crowd management has always been a problem in India, believes Anand. Ten years ago, the police had to use tear gas to control the unmanageable crowds at a Jasbir Jassi concert (then at his peak) at Abohar, Punjab. In the case of Metallica, which Das believes was “shoddily organised”, there was gross miscalculation of the expected crowd. Twenty-five thousand people had turned up in Delhi for the Metallica concert. “Instead of only one, there should have been multiple barricades, reinforced by steel, to protect the band as well as their equipment,” stresses Das. DNA Networks declined to comment. But it seems to have learnt a lesson for the Metallica concert in Bangalore two days later was better handled in this regard. Abhishek Chakravarthy, who attended that concert, reports that “the organisers had put up additional barricades and security personnel, and unlike in Delhi, the 40,000-odd fans had to pass through multiple security checks.”
But there were other hitches in the form of hour-long gaps between different acts. “We had to wait for nearly three hours before Metallica took the stage,” Chakravarthy says.
There are, of course, well organised concerts in India. Sunburn, the three-day annual electronic music festival in Goa held over the year end, is preparing for its fifth round. The organisers at Percept expect a crowd of almost 100,000 this year. While the team ensures that all permissions are secured by November, they have one golden rule. “We ensure that all sound shuts down by 9:59 pm,” says Ninad Shah, marketing head for the festival, referring to the Supreme Court ruling against loudspeakers after 10 pm. Sunburn also has a disaster management team on board with volunteers assisting the police in crowd management.