Unlock 1.0: Back again, on stage!
As avenues slowly start to reopen due to lockdown restrictions being relaxed in several areas, live gigs are also slowly coming back in business. Singers Guru Randhawa, Akhil Sachdeva and Dilbagh Singh are all set to perform in the Capital in the first week of July at private events.
“Dukan khul gayi hai,” says Randhawa with a laugh. On Wednesday, he had confirmed on Twitter that he’d be doing his first ever live show post the lockdown. “So many people depended on me and my live shows to earn their bread. Mera ghar bhi live shows se chalta hai,” says Guru who will be performing on June 30.
Akhil Sachdeva, too, confirms his gig and adds, “I’ll be performing in an unplugged set up, for 40-50 people, and I’m excited to be performing live.
“Our nature of work is such that social distancing is difficult but now that I’m doing a show for 50 people, we can see how situations can be adapted to,” says Dilbagh Singh.
Nitin Arora, who is getting these acts to the private events says that there was a lot of back and forth before getting the artistes got on board. “Clients didn’t want any artiste to come from any other city. So, we gave them a list of artistes who are here in Delhi and they chose from that. Selfies and going on stage will be a strict no-no for the audience, and everyone except singers will be wearing a mask and gloves,” he says.
While the Capital will soon start witnessing more such private performances, other parts of the country are also gearing up to live gigs post the lockdown. A Mumbai based booking agent Bhaskar Arora confirms that he has started receiving requests from clients asking for musicians. “Due to the lockdown, people had a lot of time to plan their upcoming events and over time, we’ve seen an increase in inquiries,” he tells us adding that artistes are ready to perform and have lowered their fees by 25 to 30%.
Arjun Shah, a Mumbaibased artist manager says, “We’ve received inquiries for our artistes from across the country with promoters even sending advances.”
Bengaluru, which has a lot of corporate gigs, is also getting back to normal. The band Peepal Tree will perform at a corporate event, in July, in the city.