Guest column: If we can have political rallies, why not a concert?

The ban on Palace Grounds has dealt a big blow to the music industry here in Bengaluru. It is the perfect venue, centrally-located venue with the capacity and space to hold international concerts on a grand scale. Most of the venues holding concerts these days are outside the city. People need to travel for two to three hours just to get to a concert which is unfair. Besides, these venues are not big enough, unlike Palace Grounds.

We Bengalureans had the opportunity to see a lot of top artists perform at Palace Grounds. Sadly that is not the case anymore. Say Eminem came to India in the future, where would he perform?

There is no venue in Bengaluru besides Palace Grounds that can hold a concert of such magnitude. All the other places are way out of the city. I really don’t understand why Palace grounds can’t continue as a venue for concerts. After all, political rallies are held there which cause the same amount of traffic snarls!

It has now been reduced to holding political rallies and weddings. Big artists coming to the city will be offered venues like Phoenix Mall, which is nowhere close to being big enough.

Another thing that I want to add is that music culture is nearly non-existent in Bengaluru. Most of the young and upcoming artists choose to base themselves out of Chennai or Mumbai. The music scene is stagnant in the city.

Reopening Palace Grounds to big international concerts can go a long way in reviving Bengaluru’s music culture!
The writer is a Bengaluru-based rapper