International artists who once overlooked city now find discerning audience: Chennai joins the big band

International artists who once overlooked the city now find a discerning audience here, making it a rocking concert destination.

At Ed Sheeran’s debut concert at Chennai’s YMCA grounds last month, the singer barely hummed a line without the entire audience joining in, through the two and a half hours. The same was the case with Shreya Ghoshal’s solo concert held here last week, so much so that the pleasantly surprised playback singer declared on stage, “I didn’t expect this!” It was like Chennaiites were waiting all these years to watch their idols live on stage. Bollywood hitmaker Arijit Singh is all set for his solo concert in Chennai in April, and the pit-side tickets at ₹40,000 per head have been sold out.

Sheeran was the first mainstream international idol to perform here but more national and international musicians are eyeing Chennai, a city which used to be routinely skipped by big names in their India tours, often branded Carnatic-Tamil music-centric.

A change is in the offing in the concert scene here, and the prominent factor which democratised the scene and marked the departure from only Tamil, say those in the field, is social media.

“Earlier, the average music enthusiast would say, ‘yaaru intha Hindi pattu yellam keppa?’ (Who listens to these Hindi songs?). But through Instagram, the south is getting to know Bollywood music and vice versa,” says Ashwin Subramanian, DJ and music producer. “When it comes to entertain ment, everyone forgets about the language. Everyone vibes to the same kind of music now – including global music and we can expect more cross-cultural concerts here.”
Social media has also made it easier for people to know the details of these concerts way ahead, with clear options for online booking, while these details used to be limited to niche communities earlier.

And the event and media companies have been taking note. The companies collect data points from social media, Spotify and artists’ social media pages for new markets for concerts, and in the past few years, Chennai has been found to be a promising one, says V G Jairam, founder of Hyperlink, that worked on the Coldplay concerts in India, as well as the upcoming Arijit concert.

It’s not just about Chennai, there’s an overall boom in live entertainment in India postCovid, he says. Consequently, Indian artists have bettered their show content and presentation when on tours and provide shows of international standards. “They want to explore new territories, not just Chennai, but Kochi, Kolkata and smaller cities,” says Jairam.
As for international artists, although the ticket prices here might not match those in the west, more venues make it worthwhile, than, for example, a city like Dubai which offers just one venue. If nurtured properly, India can be the next Europe as far as music concerts are concerned, in Jairam’s view.

Also, youngsters everywhere are looking for experiences, and so are Chennaiites. “They want to do something more than visit beaches and eateries. Sometimes it’s not so much about the artist as the experience of being in a space where so many people are singing together — goosebump moments,” says Troy Netto, a loop artist from Chennai who travels to Mumbai, Delhi or Bengaluru whenever international artists make a stopover.

Next to him at the recent Ed Sheeran concert in Chennai, he recalls, was a group of youngsters who seemed to be making fun of their friend for not knowing some of the songs. “The friend replied, ‘I just came for the vibes and for Instagram, da’.”

The tickets for these concerts start at ₹5,000 per head, but the younger generation is willing to spend on experiences. “For the previous generation, it was unheard of for a parent to sponsor such expensive tickets for their children but now they want them to experience what they missed out on,” says Troy.

In Jairam’s view, Chennai has always been musically ahead of other cities, with a thriving live music and rock culture, and the only deterrent was the lack of proper venues and the ban on one-day liquor permits here.

There is a lack of entertainment infrastructure in India as a whole, which the govt should take note of, he says. “We have excellent infrastructure for sports events, but they don’t give permission for entertainment concerts at those venues.” Chennai also does not have venues made for large concerts in the city like a Madison Square Garden in New York or an O2 in London. “All you get here is an open ground. You have to set up everything from scratch — the stage, toilets, acoustics – so the infrastructure cost is high,” says Jairam.

The YMCA ground is the only available venue in Chennai now, but it wasn’t built for concerts. Ashwin recalls getting to the Shreya Ghoshal concert was tedious, as they had to walk a long distance from the parking area. “Then you had to walk all the way back after standing for three hours at the concert.” All other venues are on ECR. An A R Rahman concert owing to poor infrastructure. Sports stadiums are not considered ideal for music concerts either.

The Tamil Nadu govt still does not permit a license to serve alcohol at such concerts, except for international summits or sporting events. An event coordinator says that the VIP culture in Chennai is also a massive deterrent for all big events. “VIPs ask for free tickets in “return’’ for permissions, much more than in other cities. Tickets to the tune of lakhs off rupees had to be given free for ministers and other VIPs at events. There are instances of them demanding front row seats, leaving organisers in a tight spot.”

But then, there is something about Indian cities which the global icons don’t get elsewhere – the warmth and hospitality, says Jairam. “The organisers take them sightseeing and shopping, and they receive a lot of love from the public, while in the west, they might not. They love all that and keep wanting to come back again. It was no different with Ed Sheeran.”
Chennai is now part of the concert map of India, and it’s here to stay.