ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE MIAMI MEDIA BLOG
The biggest struggle of the music industry has been the lack of resources available for developing safe and secure music venues in the country. Over the last two decades, we have witnessed the demise of large scale live performances. Every concert venue and amphitheatre has been tested by gate crashing, overselling of tickets and mismanagement issues that have resulted in tighter restrictions by governing bodies and authorities. It has become near to impossible to host regular concerts and musical events in all major cities of Pakistan.
Even though we have numerous premium hotel chains across the country such as the Serena, Marriott, Pearl Continental, Movenpick, Dreamworld Resort, Ramada, Nishat and many many more that could be ideal for musical gatherings are too expensive for local artists to independently hire. The alternative becomes having to build temporary concert stages and marquees that lack security and medical care in case of emergency. Before we examine the social and political timeline that deeply affected the live music industry let’s celebrate the successful music projects, festivals and venues of Pakistan currently engaged in rebuilding the community.
FACE Music Mela: Founder, Zeejah Fazli started the three-day festival in 2014 has showcased over 1000 artists using PNCA’s venue space. The festival even travelled to Hunza performing live acts in front of the mighty background of snow-peaked mountains. He has produced numerous cultural programs that include Womart.pk, Indus Blues & Heritage Live & Rock Musicarium.
Salt Arts: Salt Arts is committed to music, art and entertainment launching regular concerts, gigs and live sessions across the country. They established a unique creative production of live music & art events that showcase the upcoming talents of Pakistan. Salt Arts have activated various venue spaces by carefully curating each event according to their audiences and music lineup.
Lahore Music Meet: The Lahore Music Meet (LMM) is a two-day event dedicated to the celebration and critique of music in Pakistan. Founded by Natasha Noorani & Zahra Paracha, who have been bringing together the entire music community since 2015. The event programming includes Panel Discussions, Storytelling Sessions, A Music Mela, Workshops & Performances held in Al Hamra Arts Council in Lahore.
Koblumpi: Origami & Mekaal Hasan have created the Koblumpi Music Festival that travels to all major cities showcasing a wide range of musicians, bands and artists. Mehreen Rana is the festival director who focuses on the overall ticket and event management while Mekaal Hasan is the show director managing the technical sound and performance management. Imran Mirza is the audio partner, Danish Qureshi as lead designer and Ali Khan as creative director.
But these music festivals have had to stop their trailblazing events because of the pandemic leaving us completely deprived of live music performances. This is a serious and alarming situation for musicians who are unable to earn their regular income by performing for large crowds. Schools and universities are planning to remain remote learning or hybrid making it difficult to revive large scale music festivals and events. The need of the hour has become manageable smaller venues with strict SOP protocol. We first went into lockdown in March 2020 and since then have slowly started to rejoin society by accepting dinner invitations, going out to restaurants and shopping at our favourite malls. Perhaps we can return to 50 to 100 people concerts and events.
Venues with such a format include Strictly Social which is Lahore's first Karaoke Bar & Cafe hosting regular Live Music & Standup Comedy shows.
Another upcoming and passionate space is called That Treehouse in Lahore which is a collaborative and recreational space designed for artists, musicians and writers to gather and learn from each other. They have a spacious Rooftop that is ideal for small to medium-sized events. There is a game room to relax with your friends and order from the in-house cafe. The Quiet Room can be rented offering workspace for students and young professionals. A place where you could host a screening and rent out for band practice for a per hour rate. For the success of such small venues, the strict monitoring of immunization certificates will be essential for its survival.
The latest addition to the venue spaces in Islamabad is The Hill Joint with a gorgeous rooftop amphitheatre ideal for following Covid Sops. It is located inside the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage - Lok Virsa that has been actively hosting cultural events in the open for large groups of visitors.
The return of live music depends on the following Covid SOPs that require audiences to take on the responsibility to reduce the spread of infection by wearing masks and getting vaccinated. Another crucial factor to remember in organising and executing events in Pakistan is the dubious nature of requesting a NOC: No Objection Certificate that is an official legal certificate issued by the concerned agency, organization, and institute or individuals who are directly affected by the social happening taking place. The legality around these NOC’s is shaky as rules, regulations and conditions are open to change and alterations making it very difficult for organisers to conduct their business professionally causing delays, confusion and mismanagement. The general attitude towards music concerts is negative, as they are seen as disruptive and hard to control. The ratio of women compared to men in attendance of such large scale music concerts is dismally low making it harder to keep women safe from public harassment. We do not see the local authorities support music events which leave the entire responsibility on privately hired security firms that are yet again expensive and hard to acquire.
The struggle to celebrate our musical heritage openly is becoming commonplace, films and applications are banned by the government, religious agencies deem music, dance and art as unIslamic making it increasingly difficult to come together as a community. The need for exclusive and smaller venue spaces has become imperative to our industries survival. A return to the original cultural baithak and artistic mehfil with an invite-only gathering will help keep the arts alive and safe again in Pakistan.
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