Put my fans up front, Ali Zafar urges in open letter to concert organisers

He is pissed off at the organisers for all the right reasons

KARACHI ': Last Friday was meant to be a night to remember for students at a private university in Karachi. Pakistani singing icons Ali Zafar and Atif Aslam had been invited to perform but things didn't turn out as the attendees had imagined.

Both stars ended up performing for the few VIPs sitting upfront as their real fans, the students, were restricted to the back of the venue. This prompted Ali Zafar to get vocal about the growing VIP culture at concerts and he let it out in an open letter addressed to concert organisers, schools, institutions and promoters.

 



“There is a recurring culture of special or VIP seating areas at concerts, placed right in front of the stage and assigned only to 'special guests', faculty members, head of departments, principals and owners of institutions,” Ali wrote on Facebook. “Therefore, the students or, indeed, actual fans are almost always made to stand and watch and participate at a considerable distance, well behind the VIPs. This creates distance between the artist, and the audience, who have paid to be there. Please appreciate that as a performer, I cannot help but feel this defeats the very purpose of having us perform, denied any direct interaction.”

[fbpost link="https://www.facebook.com/aly.zafar/posts/10155764886994119"]

He continued, “Speaking specifically about school concerts and without meaning to moralise, I must mention it is my belief that education is to teach equality to children. I myself have been raised by two career educationalists and speak from what I have been taught by example and with the utmost respect for educational institutions and academics. Having this physical divide at concerts goes against equality. Concerts are arranged mostly for students to be able to enjoy a form of healthy entertainment and by having them stand at huge distances from the stage to allow for other more 'special' guests, I feel is setting a very wrong precedent.”

Ali concluded the post by requesting event organisers to “not have this VIP seating area in front of the stage and allow the real audience, students and fans, to be front and center.”

We hope the organisers are listening!

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