Don't blame music for mishaps at the musical concerts and rock shows, but the bad habits and practices that people indulge in, says popular DJ and VJ Nikhil Chinapa, curator of the ongoing Vh1 Supersonic fest in Goa.
Chinapa, who feels that the popularity of such concerts has surged over the past few years, said one should not blame music for what is a "social evil".
"It's sad that music has to take a bashing for what is a social problem, that needs care and attention to be dealt with. I've often said this, take the music away - and those that drink excessively or do drugs, won't change their lifestyle.
"We need to confront social evils, not blame music and feel like it's not our collective responsibility to deal with our society's problems," Chinapa told IANS in an email interview.
Nevertheless, he pointed out at a need to concentrate on the health and safety of visitors at music fests that are expected to draw huge crowds, Chinapa said.
"Health and safety are the most important planning parameters of this festival (Supersonic)...than the artistes or selling tickets," he added.
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Talking about Vh1 Supersonic, an ongoing three-day festival that began on Sunday, the 42-year-old shared that they have maintained security by working "closely with local authorities, plain clothes police and the anti-narcotics department to ensure that the festival grounds are free of drugs".
"We also make repeated public service announcements from all our stages warning people about the dangers of consuming illegal substances and also warn festival-goers about the dangers of dehydration during the festival hours. We ask fans to look out for their friends and each other," said the Bengaluru-born music aficionado.
This, Chinapa said when asked to comment on an incident when a young fashion designer died while dancing at a crowded concert of American artiste Skrillex earlier this year.
Besides that, Chinapa is happy that the government has introduced a single window clearance to streamline tedious and time-consuming processes, where one has to submit regulatory documents at a single location and/or single entity, for live events.
Chinapa said: "It's one of the best things to happen in the live events space.
"The Goa government had enacted this a while ago and it's fantastic to see more governments following this process."
(Durga Chakravarty can be contacted at durga.c@ians.in)