When it comes to heavy metal, the louder it gets the better it is. This 'wall of sound' is what gives character to a gig within the venue. And outside the venue, it makes random passers-by stop over and ask around, with unbounded curiosity, 'which band is playing here?' This Wednesday evening, the venue was Gurgaon's Leisure Valley Park, and the band was the famed nu-metal act, Korn, performing for the first time in the country.
This was the first big metal gig here after last year's grand fiasco featuring Metallica. The show had to be cancelled, after which madness ensued. The crowd was so huge that the front barricades broke, leading to what the organizers called a 'security situation.' The event was called off and the rampaging mob went to town, vandalizing anything in its sight.
The heavy police presence at the venue before the Korn concert on Wednesday showed tha
t the authorities hadn't forgotten that October night. "We have some 500 police personnel in and around the venue. We have police on all the four sides of the park, on all the entry gates, and in all the sections inside," said a cop standing at the entry gates. The organizers had also hired private security to tackle the crowd - expected number, some said, was somewhere between 6,000 to 9,000.Although the final turnout appeared to be thin. For a metal gig, there was just too much of breathing space throughout, except for the front area, which became packed half way through the show. Apart from the fancy 'platinum' seating area where each ticket cost Rs 16,000, the crowd was segregated into 'premium' and 'general' sections. And minutes after Korn took to the stage, people in the general section were seen vaulting the barricades, and even dismantling a metal slab or two, to get through to the front.
Sometime later, almost everyone from the general section was down at the front, as the security people, having tried in vain to stop the crowd, finally relinquished. The side partitions were removed letting everyone from the general section to the front area. "We tried stopping them, but most of them hopped over the barricades, and one of the barricades on the left side was even pushed down. People ran right through to the premier area," said Dinesh Pandey, a security guard with Tops Security, who was posted inside the venue. At the end of it, the entire general section was empty, while the premier section was only half filled.
Fans of the two-time Grammy winning band arrived mostly from Delhi, with few locals around. Senti Jamir, a student from north Delhi, said that he was expecting a bigger audience. "I thought there would be more people here. But still, I think it is good. It is a great experience nonetheless."
After Gurgaon, Korn plays next in Bangalore on September 9. A third gig was scheduled in Mumbai for September 7, but the organizers of the show, Mooz Entertainment, say that it has now been cancelled. "We regretfully announce that the Mumbai concert of Korn has been called off. The decision was made due to unavoidable circumstances that have largely been driven by incessant rains over the last few days in Mumbai," according to an official statement. The company will be reimbursing those who have already bought the tickets.
As for the Gurgaon event, things went smoothly. "It was a very good show. The crowd was nice and they were having a great time. The overall response was very positive. I think the turnout was also fine," said a representative of Mooz Entertainment. The company couldn't provide the exact number of attendees by Wednesday night.
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