Of course, balcony antakshari is fun. But, just like in a karaoke bar, there comes a breaking point. And for your neighbour, it may just be caused by your 12th performance of Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’.
Fortunately, this weekend, you can sit back and let the professionals take over. With Covid shutting down live concerts and performances all over the world, singers and musicians are finding innovative ways to connect with listeners and each other.
In Chennai, Carnatic musicians TM Krishna, Akkarai Subhalakshmi, B Sivaraman and N Guruprasad are now putting together the ‘Home and the World’, a digital Carnatic live concert. The concert, which will be live streamed on March 29 at 7.30 pm IST (10 am EST, 7 am PST, 2 pm GMT), aims to raise funds for artistes who have been displaced financially by the Coronavirus pandemic.
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“A lot of artistes, from different fields, have had all performances cancelled,” says Krishna, adding, “Just in the Carnatic world, it has already led to the cancellation of hundreds of concerts. Theatre productions are being cancelled, dance performances… this is affecting all performing arts.” He adds that the uncertainty around the pandemic means that alternative dates cannot be set either. “Everyone is saying, we will just wait.”
While discussing how they could help, Krishna, Subhalakshmi, Sivaraman and Guruprasad came up with the idea of this concert. “Most of the people who work in the performing arts are not economically well off. And with no performances, they will need help to tide over these days.”
The artistes are also hoping this will cheer up audiences. “Right now, most people are in isolation at home, across the world. They are pretty much looking at the Internet constantly, getting information on Corona. Audiences also need to relax,” he says, adding with a laugh, “This total uncertainty we are going through now is stressful. I sneezed this morning, and got worried!”
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While the team is still working on the format of the concert, Krishna is clear that they will follow all the current social distancing rules. “There will be no audience, and only essential people needed for the performance and audio will be present,” he says.
The main perk of watching remotely? They are taking requests. “Just put it on our social media posts a couple of days ahead.”
Tickets, priced at ₹1,500 each, for #ShutInConcert will be available on https://shaale.com/live/TheShutInCarnaticConcert . Purchase of access entitles you to watch the livestream and on-demand videos for two days.