Coldplay fans in Bengaluru were forced to watch the concert on television, in a city that has been graced by the likes of Roger Waters, Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones and Iron Maiden. The ban on commercial activity at Palace Grounds has not only taken away our chance to be at the biggest gigs, but has also brought the local music scene to a standstill, reports Rohan Ramesh
Uber famous British band Coldplay performed in Mumbai on Saturday. Formed by lead vocalist and keyboardist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London (UCL), the band has gone on to have won 62 awards from 209 nominations throughout their career, including nine Brit Awards—winning Best British Group four times—five MTV Video Music Awards and seven Grammy Awards from 31 nominations.
Having sold more than 80 million records worldwide, Coldplay is one of the world's best-selling music artists.
Coming to the point, Bengaluru, a veritable hotspot of music and international culture, should have topped their choice of destinations in which to perform. Why didn’t this happen? Simply because the city’s biggest performance venue, which has in the past, hosted the likes of Roger Waters, The Rolling Stones, America, Aerosmith, Mark Knopfler, Sting and Iron Maiden, has been banned from commercial activities. The move took place in August, 2012.
While it would be unfair to say that Bengaluru has been starved of large-scale performances – Bharatiya City, Clarks Exotica and even Stonehill School have stepped up admirably to host the likes of the Bacardi NH7 Weekender and large-scale gigs like Dead Mau5. However, none of these venues have been able to match the capacity of Palace Grounds.
Trigam Mukherjee, director of the Prohepts said, “Partially it has made an impact on the city’s music scene! Coldplay, of course are Grammy winners and a big band. But the number of people who want to listen to soft music is also decreasing.”
“The last concert held at Palace Grounds was Metallica. There are venues outside the city but who is going to spend on a cab and travel all that way? Obviously concerts are only for the rich these days,” he opines.
Thermal and a Quarter’s lead singer Bruce Lee Mani said, “It has definitely affected the music scene. Political rallies are being held there which cause the same amount of traffic hassles. Why not allow rock concerts, too?”
Naveen Philips, a rock music aficionado said, “Why has the government banned concerts from being held at Palace Grounds? It was so much better when concerts were being held there as the access roads are approachable and there is plenty of space at the venue including car parking. I don’t have the money to travel to Mumbai to see Coldplay. I wish they had played in the city.”
With Palace Grounds banned from hosting concerts, the city’s music scene has certainly suffered. The music scene will continue to suffer unless the city finds another approachable place to hold massive concerts!
Alternative venues rise to the occasion but can’t compare
In recent years, till the ban on concerts at Palace Grounds, the city saw a multitude of big names descending to perform. From Roger Waters to Iron Maiden, every big music artist that came to India had a gig in Bengaluru with Palace Grounds being the top choice of venue.
Iron Maiden, Aerosmith, Backstreet Boys, Don Moen, David Guetta, Elton John, Deep Purple, Textures, Amon Amarth, Lamb of God, Mark Knopfler, Akon, The Black Eyed Peas, The Rolling Stones, Metallica, Michael Learns to Rock, Roger Waters, Guns N' Roses, The Prodigy, No Doubt, Sepultura, Scorpions, Enrique Iglesias, Machine Head and Cradle of Filth are big names for the music industry that have performed in Bengaluru at Palace grounds.
This sheen has been eroded in big measure of late, since the state government banned concerts at Palace Grounds. According to Adrian of Windmill Craftworks, “Big bands with huge fan following are not able to perform in the city as the best place available has now been banned from holding concerts making life very difficult for music lovers.”
Adrian added, “Even the culture of the city is such that we have to start and finish early. It would be great if Palace grounds were reopened for concerts.”
But not everyone agrees, Murali of UB city said, “There are excellent venues on the outskirts of the city like Bharatiya City and many more. A concert at Palace Grounds results in chaos on the neighbouring roads.”
