Burning issue

It started with the attempt of few people intending to encourage and promote new bands. They helped organise concerts and there was good audience turnover at the events. Few noteworthy events were held at the Russian Cultural Centre and Shishu Academy.

As sound is the most important factor for a concert, it becomes a significant ingredient in deciding the success of the programme. Among few of the most widely used venues, Russian Cultural Centre and Shishu Academy are competent in maintaining good quality sound. They are especially designed for the usage of heavy sound system but restaurant hall rooms like that of Dhaka Billiard Centre (DBC) lacks the setting of an appropriate auditorium.

These abrupt rushes of concerts are operated by two categories of organisers--those who have pure love for music, and others running for money. Recently a hype built to organise such events, specially the underground ones, gave quick cash within the duration of only eight hours.

Two such coordinators have admitted a net profit of Tk. 38,000/- after deducting the venue, sound and ticket/poster designing and printing costs. This was possible, as they did not have to make any band payments. Noted underground bands like Nemesis, Breach and Ajob are still playing for free.

The issue becomes more severe with the emergence of 15 to 20 potential organisers coming out from the corners of Dhaka. If all of them do at least one performance a month, it turns out to be 7 to 8 concerts. The highest number done so far were 3 concerts in a single week, the first one being at Gulshan, second at Russian Cultural Centre and the third at DBC. Even charity concerts based on humanitarian grounds cannot be accomplished successfully due to surplus programmes.

The negative impact is clear.

If there are a number of 2 or 3 shows a week, it is quite impossible for the university/O & A level/SSC and HSC students to spend money for the entry fee (Tk. 150/- per occasion) and join all of them.

The children, frustrated for not having high pocket money to attend all these so called musical extravaganzas, are losing interest to tag along with music anymore. The audience, on average, is getting weary of listening to the same bands with the same array of songs for such prolonged duration.

Due to inappropriate venue, inefficient sound equipment and increasing number of events per week, the prospect of music in Dhaka is getting dull day by day. A majority of listeners are conveying views of being 'exhausted', which is evident from local online music forums such as www.altermetal.com and www.amadergaan.com . Approximately a length of 6 to 7 hours is spent on one such occasion without guarantee of satisfaction for the money spent.