Rockstation: Major concert in Safari Park moved to DHA

Noori, Karavan, EP concert postponed due to security.

KARACHI:

The first major concert in at least a decade in the vicinity of Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Gulistan-e-Jauhar has been postponed and moved to a DHA venue over security concerns.

“Rockstation”, which includes performances by EP (Entity Paradigm), Noori and Karavan, was supposed to take place today, Saturday, at Safari Park but has now been moved up two weeks. Apart from the delay, the venue of the concert has also been changed to Carlton Hotel which has a much smaller capacity than the park. The hotel can take a maximum of 800 people but the open-air park would have had an unlimited capacity.

“The whole point of doing a big concert at Safari Park was to bring back concerts and other cultural activities to this corner of the city, which was once the hub of mass entertainment,” said Quratulain, the public relations manager for Rockstation. “But after discussions with our security officials we have decided to shift the venue to Carlton hotel instead.”

But what exactly was the nature of the security threat? Naushad, one of the organisers, said, “We know nothing bad has happened recently but on May 15 there is a rally by the Pakistan Peoples Party and then Imran Khan has called for a dharna on May 21. It was because of this that security officials didn’t find the venue or the date suitable for an event of such level.”

The venue change means that the concert is unlikely to get the same response as it would have had it been held in Safari Park.

The artists were taken into confidence and the Carlton was mutually agreed upon as the next best and most spacious venue.

“An event of such magnitude was happening in the vicinity of Gulshan and Gulistan-e-Johar for the first time in eight to 10 years and we wanted to break that streak,” said Naushad. “The last big concert that took place in Karachi was organized at IVSAA (Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture) and I guess the next one would also take place on the other side of the bridge.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2011.