Pune-based trainer Vaibhav Oberoi and his friends were standing outside Leisure Valley,Gurgaon where rock band Metallica was supposed to perform on Saturday when they noticed that two hours over the scheduled time,there was no sign of the music. We started walking towards the entrance when we noticed people coming out. It was a complete hotch-potch, he said. The much-anticipated maiden Indian performance of the rock music giants was inexplicably stalled on October 28 in New Delhi and the crowds were asked to come back the next day at 4 pm. They told us it was a technical snag,but the music had never started. The cops told us that 30,000 people had been crammed into a space for 15,000. Later we heard rumours that some fans had got onto the stage and broken things, said Oberoi. The concert was later cancelled and four of the organisers arrested on charges of breach of contract and cheating. However,Metallica's Bengaluru concert today is expected to go on without any hitch. Oberoi's words reflected the sentiments of thousands of fans who were forced to go back dejected,with no proper explanation for the cancellation or any idea if the ticket money will be re-reimbursed. I have never seen as many sad faces as I did that day. I traveled unreserved in a train,sitting beside the door,all for rock. It's pathetic, said Oberoi. Many rock fans from Pune had traveled to Delhi to attend the concert. But the fiasco left everyone with a bad aftertaste as the fans experienced no music at all and some of them threw bottles and vandalised musical equipment on the stage. No one showed up,not even the opening acts. When there was no sign of the bands till 6:30 pm,the crowd went wild. Some went on a rampage on the stage. It is sad, said city-based gaming professional,Rohit Oberoi. Business analyst Kopal Thakur escaped the disappointment of being at the venue because she was informed about the cancellation half-way towards it. The band didn't even have the courtesy to come on stage and apologise. This was very disrespectful, she said. The fans arent yet sure whether the reason for the concert's failure was a security problem,as the police claim,or a technical snag. I am not sure about reimbursements either. All I can say is that it was badly organised, said college student Akshay Gill.
