Are we logistically ready for international acts like Coldplay to perform in India?

British rock band Coldplay at the Global Citizen India concert, 2016 at BKC. The band is set to perform at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai on January 18, 2025. Due to high demand, the band will follow it up with two more shows on January 19 and 21,as part of their Music Of The Spheres World Tour. Pic/Getty Images

It's 2011, and metal fans from across the country have gathered at then Gurgaon for what should have been a landmark event - Metallica's debut performance in India. Two of Sunday mid-day's now writers, had flown over from Mumbai and waited in a sea of 25,000 other fans. But chaos was already brewing. Tension escalated between event managers and the crowd, and a stampede broke out, toppling barricades in the front row just minutes before Metallica was set to take the stage. The concert was cancelled, the organisers were arrested and what was supposed to be a historic moment in India's live music scene became one of the most infamous debacles in the country's concert history. Metallica marked its debut in India two days later, in Bengaluru, on October 30, and has not returned since.

In nearly a decade-and-a-half after the incident, India's live music scene has changed remarkably. In the last decade, we have become a tour stop for U2, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Deep Purple, Coldplay, Dua Lipa, the Backstreet Boys, Sting, and the Jonas Brothers. This surge began around 2015 and has remained consistent, with at least three major global acts performing annually in minimum two metro cities, except during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rock band Maroon 5's frontman Adam Levine at the band's India debut show at Mahalaxmi Racecourse. Pic/Anurag Ahire

However, when Maroon 5 debuted at Mahalaxmi Racecourse on Tuesday, a Sunday mid-day writer who attended the concert found the experience dampening. She reports the sound at the show was not as well-rounded as befitting a concert. "If the crowd was singing, you could barely hear Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine," she says, "And the band itself told the audience that they were ‘jet lagged and tired'."

While it can be a major bummer to hear the band mention they are too fatigued to play its best, sound quality could have salvaged the experience for the audience. And it often boils down to budget constraints, venue setup, and the technical expertise of the sound engineers involved.

Traffic jam at Bandra-Kurla Complex during the Global Citizen Festival, 2016, which saw performances from artistes such as rapper Jay-Z and rock band Coldplay, among others. Over the years, traffic snarls post concerts have caused distress to both officer-goers and music festival attendees. File pic

Reports suggest that in 2023, the live music industry generated around R400 crore in revenue - a testament to Indians increasingly prioritising experiential spending. Not just Gen Alpha and Gen Z, but millennials and Gen X also make up a significant portion of live concert audiences, especially with the arrival of bands they grew up listening to.

In the new year, punk rock legend Green Day is set to perform at Lollapalooza in March. Linkin Park is also expected, while Coldplay's return has already made headlines, albeit primarily due to issues with ticketing management. But are we ready to meet them, with infrastructure, logistics and engineering to give fans bang for their buck?

Antisocial in Lower Parel is one of the top venues for live gigs

Xerxes Antia, Co-founder, Seventy Event Media Group, a Mumbai and Delhi-based agency that handles logistics and event tech across India, explains, "When international artistes come to India, they send their technical riders in advance specifying their sound requirements and preferred brands of equipment. Today, India mostly has all the necessary systems and top-quality equipment to meet these demands. Artistes always come with their sound engineers, while on-stage monitors and other crucial equipment is flown in from abroad. Local vendors handle the rigging [setting up of the venue]."

But budget is what greases the wheels of the concert machinery. Promoters (who bring artistes to India) determine the event budget, which covers artiste fee, setting up of the venue, and other logistics. If the budget allocated for sound is insufficient, there's compromise.

Brian Tellis, Proponent, Mahindra Blues Festival

"Vendors might have to reduce the number of speakers or opt for less advanced equipment, which directly impacts sound quality," says sound engineer Jovian Soans, who has been in the field for over two decades and currently works with Kailash Kher's band, Kailasa.

Uneven speaker placement, in relation to the shape of the venue, can also affect sound quality. "No venue is perfect," Soans explains, "But for larger venues like the Mahalaxmi Racecourse, which has an irregular shape, we have to carefully plan the placement of speakers and delay stacks [additional speakers] to ensure even sound distribution. This is where the expertise and experience of the sound engineer and systems engineer comes in."

Dua Lipa performing at the MMRDA Grounds, on November 30. Pic/Instagram

Remember Katy Perry's viral video where she was trolled heavily for "lip-syncing" in a concert in France? Though it is common in pop music, experts admitted anonymously that backing vocals can also sometimes lead to sound issues. But despite everything falling in place, things may still not be perfect. Heavy metal band Bloodywood's drummer Vishesh Singh, who has played and attended live gigs worldwide, says, "Sometimes, it's just a bad day."

While the issues at Maroon 5's gig might not have a clear-cut explanation, it was undoubtedly disappointing for fans, and it's only fair for them to express it after shelling out Rs 9,000 for general entrance tickets. For those in the next zone, where the experience might have been better, tickets cost Rs 15,000 and above. Even the "hydration station" at the concert required one to pay Rs 100 to buy a glass that then could be refilled, instead of just letting fans refill their own bottles.

Over 56,000 people attended Justin Bieber's concert at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, in 2017 - one of the most hyped concerts India has seen till date. The venue will see three performances from Coldplay in January. Pic/Getty Images

However, Sunday mid-day spoke to a group of college students from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies who were thrilled just to see Adam Levine live. Anisha Gupta, a Jaipur resident pursuing BTech at the university, said, "All I care about is Adam Levine. I don't think the sound was bad. I mean, how could it be?! He hit every note perfectly while engaging with the crowd. I wish I had been the one pulled up on stage when he sang ‘She Will Be Loved'."

Top sound engineers and international musicians we spoke to explained that every venue has a "sweet spot," the technical term for the best-sounding places at a venue. Sound engineers aim to expand this sweet spot across the venue, and with the kind of equipment international artists use, they can replicate this sweet spot for the entire venue at least 90 per cent of the time.

A Maroon 5 fan's snapshot submitted to Sunday mid-day. The portable loos were cramped and pitch dark, and were captured using phone camera flash.

Live music is all about the experience - from the thrill of sharing enthusiasm for the music with other fans, and the joy of leaving on a high note. However, those who have braved the traffic to attend a concert at Bandra Kurla Complex (MMRDA Ground or Jio Garden), it might just be the last gig you would take your vehicle to in Mumbai. The traffic before and after the concerts can be downright nightmarish. Take it from this writer, who spent three hours stuck at a junction in Kurla after the Coldplay concert in 2016.

A senior Mumbai Police officer says at least traffic-related woes, post concert, will improve from now on. "We have set new conditions for promoters, such as encouraging people to use public transport and integrating this message into ticket booking apps," said the officer requesting anonymity, "We also suggest to the promoters to offer incentives such as free soft drinks for those using public transport. Other standard rules include creating dedicated pathways, booking ample parking lots based on anticipated vehicle footfall, installing sufficient signage, and deploying more personnel around the venue. These newly-placed set of rules were implemented during Dua Lipa and Maroon 5 concerts, so there were less traffic complaints. These rules will be monitored by local officers."
But ground reality was different.

Police managing crowd outside Jio Garden, BKC, before Ed Sheeran's concert in 2017, which saw around 10,000 people. File pic

The scene in Bengaluru is no better. Aishvary Singh, a metalhead who attended Avenged Sevenfold's concert at the Bandland festival in November, says, "It took me three hours to reach the venue, and four hours to return. Walking till the parking was literally 10,000 steps, I checked my health app. Now, I will only attend a concert if a major band comes to India."

Even the mid-day writer who attended the Maroon 5 quipped about the "10,000-step-trek" to the main venue. The time is seemingly not far when "10k steps" may become part of concert lingo.

Jovian Soans, Sound engineer

Long walks to and from venue to transport in Delhi's heat, Mumbai's humidity, or Bengaluru's traffic, and the struggle to find cabs, and climbing over piles of waste in the middle of the concert grounds can really impact experience. While cab companies capitalise on concerts with surge pricing both before and after the event, the issue of walking in the scorching sun and humidity hasn't gone unnoticed by event organisers - though not in the best way.

For Lollapalooza 2025, organisers have set the base price for tickets at R6,999, but for nearly the same ticket zone, a shaded spot comes with an added cost of R2,000, and goes up to Rs 12,999. The two day festival will be held at the racecourse in March. When the tickets went live, social media was flooded with rants and memes over the Rs 2,000 plus charge for something as basic (and life-saving in Mumbai) as shade.

Amrita Pratap and her group, who flew from Bengaluru to Mumbai last year to see the Jonas Brothers, recalls, "My friend and I developed blisters on our heels from walking so much at the Mahalaxmi Race Course, and another friend was dehydrated by the time we reached our ticket zone." This year, Pratap and her group have opted for tickets with the shade, hoping to alleviate some discomfort while watching Green Day live.

Reflecting on her experience at the Bryan Adams concert at Jio Gardens in BKC in 2018, Pratap shares, "At the Bryan Adams concert, I had to see half the show alone because the loo was so far away and I couldn't find my way back in a crowd of 9,000 people. Now, if we have to use the loo, we go together, so that at least the group stays together."

Six years later, sanitation at concerts is still a problem. The mid-day writer who attended the Maroon 5 concert noted, "Portable bathrooms were devoid of electricity; most people used their cell phone flashlight to ensure they didn't trip or fall."

However, a notable shift has taken place too. While most international bands initially preferred Bengaluru due to the lower entertainment tax - 30 per cent in Karnataka compared to 45 per cent in Maharashtra - Mumbai's crowd participation is now drawing an equal number of bands to both cities.

Today, Mumbai hosts several successful festivals and venues known for their seamless experiences. The Mahindra Blues Festival at Mehboob Studio and the intimate, electrifying gigs at antiSocial are prime examples.

Proponent of the Mahindra Blues Festival, Brian Tellis, tells Sunday mid-day, "Mehboob Studio is not acoustically well-treated, as is the case with most indoor concert venues in India. So, to ensure that the audience has the best experience, especially for a genre like Blues, which is a very intimate genre in itself, we have to adhere to all technical requirements. And of course, sound engineers and the equipment used play a major role." The audience is just about 3,000 people, as opposed to the large audiences of Jio Garden and Mahalaxmi Racecourse.

To ensure a positive concert experience, cleanliness and waste management are prioritised, another reason why it's famous. "The organisers implement a clear mandate regarding waste," Tellis adds, "emphasising the use of biodegradable materials and minimising wastage, but more importantly, attendees are made aware of the guidelines at every step, and strict arrangements are in place to monitor and enforce these rules."

When it comes to the dearth of proper live venues, BookMyShow Live, the live entertainment division of BookMyShow, shared with Sunday mid-day their efforts to ensure a sufficient number of venues in Mumbai. An official stated, "We are making continuous progress and investing significantly in infrastructure to establish India as a fixed destination on global tour routes of international artists. A prime example of this is our work at Mahalaxmi Racecourse, where we collaborated with authorities to transform the space by clearing tons of debris and revitalising underused areas."

But notable is the case of smaller venues like antiSocial in Mathuradas Mills, Lower Parel, which draws big names from the Indian music industry as well as international artistes from across genres with a capacity of just 500 people. As it holds a gig nearly every day, the control they have over their sound system is remarkable. The venue's chief growth officer, Divya Aggarwal, says, "Our sound systems and flexible layouts ensure each performance connects deeply with the audience."

A common factor with these successful events is the limited number of tickets sold, which helps alleviate parking issues and enhances audience experiences.

While improved garbage management, golf carts within the venues and better designed sound engineering and speaker placements may enhance the overall experience for the fans, it's the concert organisers, municipal authorities, and law enforcement that can truly elevate it. Thoughtful planning and cooperation among these key stakeholders, along with a collective sense of responsibility from attendees, may be what India needs, live.

Rs 6,999
General admission festival tickets for Lollapalooza 2025

Rs 8,999
Starting price for tickets with shaded comfort zone at Lollapalooza