No Bryan Adams, no Metallica! Facing the music

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I am a disappointed music lover, rather a disappointed Delhiite. Yes, that's what I am. It was in the beginning of this year, when I had made full efforts to reach out and get myself a ticket to the Bryan Adams concert that was supposed to happen in the 'national capital' as we call it.

The excitement level was at its peak. I was on 'Cloud number 9' and I was all dreamy about how really will it be to watch the legend Bryan Adams live in concert. My friends in Mumbai, who went for the concert there added to my excitement when they told me about how big a success the show was in the city.

My summer of 2011 will be the one I'll always remember is what I thought. But all excitement, all expectation, all dreams, all the music became silent as the concert got cancelled at the eleventh hour. The organisers had all the reasons ready from low security to ground capacity. As a crazy Bryan Adams fan, I was heartbroken, and at the same time agitated.

If Bangalore could do it, if Mumbai could do it, why not Delhi? Did the organisers not know about these issues when they announced the show and distributed tickets? All these whats, whys and hows disappointed me.

But just a few days after all this, came the announcement on the heavy metal band Metallica's website that now, they will come to India and have a concert in Delhi. The excitement again was high. I remember discussing it with my colleagues here at work as everyone went gaga - 'Metallica in Delhi! I can't believe it!', 'Metallica will be right here! I won't miss this!'

Even as we made plans for Metallica, a thought at the back of our minds said, 'Bryan Adams couldn't happen, will Metallica happen?'

But we still continued to make plans. After all, it was Metallica and 'nothing else matters' when you get to watch them live.

But just as the day came, the sceptic in me woke up, and with so many people around me telling me that they're going for the show, I thought, 'Really? So many people going for it? Will the organisers be able to manage? I wonder if i should go or not. will I even be able to watch them on stage with such a huge crowd?' And with some other plans for the day, the scepticism won, and i decided not to go. But I made sure I'll keep in touch with all my friends who are there to keep updating me about what's going on at the concert.

Eventually, they were sad, heartbroken and were facing the music. My scepticism here proved right and the concert first got delayed and then, cancelled. From the organisers to the fans, everyone now has a different story to tell on why the concert actually got cancelled.

Some fans who went there said the organising and management was extremely poor with the ticket guys taking an hour in selling one ticket. Some even said that the tickets were couriered to fans without even verifying their IDs and hence, the tickets did not even reach the fans who booked them. They said they had to argue with the organisers for hours together to tell them that they have couriered the tickets to the wrong people. A friend also said that the security arrangements were not in place. "Only those who the organisers had a doubt on, were being checked, the others were being allowed to move inside freely, without any checks," one of the fans said. According to him, the crowd only got violent when the organisers started packing up the equipment. The crowd was agitated on the concert being postponed to the next day. But the fact remains, had the crowd not turned to vandalising, there was possibility of the concert happening today.

Another friend, who almost wept as i spoke to him after the concert got cancelled said, "Even my break-up wasn't as painful as this cancellation is." He said it was disheartening to see the way fans got onto the stage and broke all the equipment, the music instruments that were placed on the stage. "The fans could have even set the stage on fire I think. Had they controlled their anger and respected those instruments that were placed on the stage, the concert could have happened today," he said.

Whoever be at fault - the cheating organisers for mismanagement or the fussy crowd for vandalising - the fact remains, the concert stands cancelled. Another flop show, another failure when it came to an international music premium performing here in Delhi.

Another big concert couldn't be a success in Delhi. My city, and the music crazy Delhiite is certainly disappointed. We are facing the music.