India’s Music Festival and Gig Calendar Looks Stronger Than Ever. What’s The Reason?

When American pop group Backstreet Boys announced India shows in Mumbai and New Delhi in May as part of their DNA World Tour, surely we weren’t the only ones thinking about the weather?

There’s a reason why “music festival season” is unofficially earmarked between September to February, considering that’s when Indian cities aren’t really seeing any massive rain or unbearable heat. Sure, there are still chances to get an unintentional tan when you’re early at a music festival during those months, but that’s not the point here.

What we’re seeing now is a full gig calendar and pretty much what we can only call revenge gigging, considering a couple of years lost to the pandemic. The coming weeks will see not just Backstreet Boys, but also British electronic stalwart Bonobo (March 17th in Mumbai and March 18th in Bengaluru), French/Spanish legend Manu Chao (playing acoustic sets in five cities between March 11th and 26th), Israeli electronica duo Infected Mushroom (with DJ sets in three cities from March 17th to March 19th) and the American modern metal pairing of guitarist Jason Richardson and drummer Luke Holland (in four cities between March 15th and March 19th) on stages across the country.

That’s excluding festivals such as SAUCE (March 18th in New Delhi, March 25th and 26th in Mumbai and April 8th in Bengaluru), Mahindra Percussion Festival (March 18th in Bengaluru), the Gen-Z targetting Vibin Festival (in multiple cities through March and April), Bangalore Open Air (April 1st in Bengaluru) and Road To Ultra (on April 14th and April 15th in Mumbai and Bengaluru, respectively).

This is just one portion of the scale of music events taking place in India in the coming months, not including club tours in the works by Indian and international artists. And then there are the rumors that begin churning once Indians see an artist touring in nearby territories like South East Asia or the Middle East. Case in point, rock legends Guns N’ Roses, who are long overdue for an India visit with their original lineup. With the world tour kicking off on June 1st in Abu Dhabi, one can only hope there’s an appetite for expanding into more countries.

What informs this full calendar of gigs? It’s a frenzied pace that the gig calendar has emerged hulked up than ever before. One of the simplest answers is that artists around the world and even promoters/organizers back home are finally clearing their backlog held over from the lockdown years. A lot of commitments made are now being executed, in full force. Elsewhere, the demand for events has certainly increased. For every person who may have said they would never feel safe in public spaces again due to Covid-19, there are those who want more live experiences to attend and enjoy. And if that involves your favorite boy band from a couple of decades ago, why not?

For organizers, what would have been a gamble in the past is now looked at with a little more surety thanks to this level of demand for live music. But how much longer until the average Indian music lover begins to become more cautious with their spending and perhaps selective in the tickets they buy?

After all, not everyone’s going to splash several thousands of rupees to see an intimate John Legend concert. Fans might have regretfully and reluctantly let go of this opportunity, hoping for another visit from the powerhouse American singer-composer. (It was severely under-promoted for an artist of his stature, but that’s a discussion for another day)

Will the “post-pandemic” enthusiasm of audiences also plateau somewhere down the line, once everyone’s used to this newly established events cycle? With the monsoons looming in another three months, we’ll know for sure how much India’s love for live music will sustain at its current output.