Concerts in country decreased, artistes busy abroad
Sheikh Arif Bulbon :
During the rainy season, artistes’ engagement with concerts
naturally decreases. However, in the past few years, indoor
concerts have become more popular during this time. But this year the context seems completely different. The number of concerts has decreased significantly.
With less activity at home, artistes are turning their attention to concerts abroad. This is clearly evident when anybody looks at the works of the artistes and bands like Nagar Baul James, Ark, Miles, Aurthohin, and Pritom Hassan.
The number of concerts has decreased since the political situation changed last year.
There have also been cases where multiple concerts have been postponed due to security reasons. The number of concerts has decreased further during this rainy season. Most of the few concerts that have been held recently are government-sponsored or private events.
BAMBA (Bangladesh Musical Bands Association) President Hamin Ahmed has expressed concern over the decline in the number of concerts in the country.
He told this correspondent, “There is a lot of concern about what is happening with music in Bangladesh right now. There will be a show at the university, but the authorities don’t want it. Recently, there was supposed to be a show by Ashes band at Chittagong University, but it wasn’t allowed to happen.
There was a show called ‘Kawali’ or something like that. I have not seen such a situation in Bangladesh since independence. All kinds of activities are going on, only very few shows are being held with music. This is undesirable.”
As concerts in the country have declined, artists have focused on concerts abroad. Nagar Baul James is currently on tour in the United States. He has already performed in various cities across the country, including Los Angeles and Dallas.
He will be participating in several more concerts until August. James is scheduled to sing at the event in Virginia on August 2, where Protik Hasan and Pritom Hasan will perform on the same stage with him.
Meanwhile, Pritom Hasan toured the United States and Canada in early May. He has already performed concerts in 10 cities in the two countries. He will perform in 16 other cities including Houston, Austin, Washington. Pritom’s last concert will be held in Tampa, Florida on September 13.
However, Kumar Bishwajit will be performing in Australia next month. He will be performing in Melbourne on August 23, Sydney on August 30, and Brisbane on August 31, and Perth on September 6. Tanzir Tuhin of ‘Avash’ band will perform with Kumar Bishwajit in Melbourne.
The Ark band will be in Canada from the end of August through the entire month of September. The group will perform concerts there throughout the month, including the MixTape Music Festival 2025 on September 13 in Scarborough, Ontario.
There, the band ‘Shironamhin’ will be on the same stage alongside Ark. In addition, the band ‘Aurthohin’ announced a US tour on its Facebook page last Saturday night. Meanwhile, the band Miles recently returned home after a tour of the United States.
They performed in 10 cities across the country. The group will tour Australia in October. They are scheduled to travel to Canada for a three-month tour in April next year.
Miles is then scheduled to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his US tour in the United States. Miles went to the United States for the first time in 1996 to perform.
Therefore, Ashes band and musician Mila Islam recently returned home after a concert in Canada.
Meanwhile, Sania Sultana Liza, Ayesha Mousumi and Sagor Baul have returned from singing in five European countries. In addition, popular singer Kona visited Singapore earlier this month.