Gigs on air

In March this year,David Guetta played to nearly 20,000 fans over three cities Bengaluru,Delhi and Pune.

In March this year,David Guetta played to nearly 20,000 fans over three cities Bengaluru,Delhi and Pune. An incredibly large number for a series of concerts,no doubt,but by no means representative of the DJs massive fan base in the country. Although,like every other musician on his first tour of a country he promised this would not be his last,it may well be years before he comes back.

So how do scores of his fans who could not make it to the concerts experience his music? Snatches of performances recorded on cellphones and uploaded on various websites will always be one option. However,in recent times,concert and festival documentaries which are finding their way to television have emerged as better choices.

In May,UTV Bindass aired a 40-minute documentary on the Eristoff Invasion Festival,featuring Guetta. Earlier in February,the same channel aired a documentary on Bacardi NH7 Weekender,produced by Babble Fish Productions. These arent,however,the only live music events to have made it to television. Most recently,Live from the Console (LFTC),one of Mumbais favourite live music events,announced a show by the same name on the newly launched music channel,9XO. Before that,on March 30,a show called The Great Gig in the Sky (TGGITS) premiered on Big CBS Spark,documenting yet another live music event thats held over the weekend at a different location in Maharashtra each time. It involves camping outdoors and informal jam sessions with musicians.

The impetus for live events turning into exciting TV content is the same everywhere: to reach out to more people. We agreed to make TGGITS a television show so that we could reach out to a larger audience and give the indie musicians a chance to showcase their talent on a national platform, explains Akul Tripathi of Jumpstart India,the start-up behind TGGITS. Jayesh Veralkar,Label Head,Day 1,Sony Music,the organisers of LFTC,echoes the sentiment. The idea is to create awareness among people who are not a part of the live scene, he says.

The story of how they made it to TV,however,differs. With Weekender and the Invasion Festival,the decision to air the documentaries on UTV Bindass was a very natural transition,says Samira Kanwar,founder of Babble Fish Productions. UTV Bindass was involved with Weekender on the ground anyway, she adds. In case of LFTC and TGGITS,it was a question of the channels believing in the content being produced.

While theres no doubt that such TV content is being received well,it wouldnt be unfair to question whether these shows are able to communicate the essence of live events. In case of TGGITS,the TV programme cant relive the joys of camping and jamming informally. Tripathi agrees. Of course,you cant even compare being at TGGITS to watching it on television. But this is the next best thing for people who cant attend it, he says. Kanwar,however,says that both documentaries have tried to stay as true to the content as possible.

LFTC,however,is not being produced in a documentary format. When it goes on air the tentative date is June 21 what viewers will see are the music videos shot during the event,preceded by short interviews of the artistes featuring in it. This way,it wont become dated content, says Veralkar. While the current deal is for a year,Veralkar says the channel will continue to show the content as and when it is generated with each new edition of the event.

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Gigs on air

In March this year,David Guetta played to nearly 20,000 fans over three cities  Bengaluru,Delhi and Pune.

In March this year,David Guetta played to nearly 20,000 fans over three cities Bengaluru,Delhi and Pune.