Do you remember how things were online when a few months back Coldplay announced their India tour? The internet basically exploded. From tickets vanishing in seconds to ‘people who don’t know who Chris Martin is are also going there’ rants, those days were a wild ride on social media when scrolling through reels meant listening to ‘Cause in a sky, ’cause in a sky full of stars, I think I saw you a hundred times in a day. Seeing all the hype, a part of me somehow knew that I won’t be getting any ticket now and coincidentally the day its purchase link went live, I was experiencing my own slice of paradise somewhere in Meghalaya where network availability was nil, completely unbothered about booking a ticket. Eventually, I decided — why be part of a bandwagon when I want the experience not flex-perience(I mean, flex+experience). On the surface we might maintain an unbothered temperament, but secretly we have undoubtedly hated people like that(the trend followers). I know we don’t want to be placed on the same list as middle-aged men asking young girls to name 5 songs by Nirvana when they see them wear the band’s tee, but let’s face it, we too have surely been annoyed at one point or two and must have secretly scoffed at them whispering “Posers!” Who to blame? Who to hate? Perhaps no one, because everyone wants to maintain a certain personality, only that it starts getting obnoxious when there is no authenticity left at all.
This is mostly reflected when a concert breeze blows by. If you look around, 8 out of 10 times, you’ll end up with the “Biggest Fan”(if you know what I mean). Take a break from the world of social media and you’ll find a group of people(mostly with grey hair and wrinkled skin whose latest YouTube search is home remedies for curing back pain)sitting with their friends singing and boozing along to songs, both new and old on a Saturday night rather than beating the drum online. That’s where you find the OGs- the purists of the fan culture. How can I confirm that? Life’s experience, interaction with people, you could say. You may argue that my sample size may be small and I will accept it gladly but look at the rational side: music is not a 2025 invention, it has existed for about 40,000 years. So, millennials and boomers, in the current context, not sharing the same amount of hype online compared to a Gen-Z individual is natural.
But, you see how undeniably concerts are no longer solely about experiences, its about what we colloquially say “flex,” and over the last 2 or 3 years(maybe with the increase in sale of phones with great camera quality), the wind of change when it comes to concerts is largely seen. This, in fact, has reached such a point where social media accounts like GetYourFlex has actually capitalised on the trend and honestly, I can’t help but admire the ingenuity. The admin, when contacted, said, “I went to almost all the concerts and I noticed that all the people who were attending the concert 90% of the people didn’t even know the lyrics and were just recording videos to post on their social media , so spending more than 10k for just posting on social media!. I noticed the demand for this and made a page named GetYourFlex. Within 2 weeks of making the page it got a lot of attention on instagram.” “The best response has been for Coldplay. We had more than 1500 customers and the average ticket price was 300-350. Other than Coldplay, I had people for Diljit Dosanjh, Karan Aujla, Ed Sheeran, Cigarettes After Sex, Arijit Singh, Anuv Jain, Talwinder,” he added
Now, let’s bring our attention to the fact that concerts are not for everyone; concerts are for people who can afford it. As harsh as it may seem, they do come with lots of expenses. From overpriced food and drinks to transportation and stay, sometimes it adds up to the monthly income of a working class family, whereas someone belonging to the upper strata of the economic class, whether they are a fan or not can book the tickets with the best view and flex(with a little ego boost too). Is it fair? My egalitarian self is not supportive of it at all, but if I have to wear the shoes of an organiser, I would definitely have to think about revenue generation rather than an altruistic approach and let it continue. This is business, baby.
The recent Guns n Roses concert, as per my approximate calculation, for anyone outside Mumbai would have cost at least 30K, while the average income in India, as per the official data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation is 15K-20K. But, do you think that would stop someone from attending a concert just for the purpose of flexing? Take a few seconds and you will have the answer. The admin of GetYourFlex when asked about the response for the aforementioned concert said, ”The response of Guns n Roses was around 50 customers. Most of the people don’t know about the band, they just want to flex on their social media so that they can prove to other people that they are socially aware of the foreign artists.” Was it because their songs were trending less than Coldplay’s prior to the concert or was it because of the potential expenses one might had to bear, makes me wonder!
Yes, some experiences are meant to be embraced no matter how many adjustments you have to make, but if a concert is attended only for the purpose of social media validation, then I think it is not right because that may sometimes deprive a true fan from getting tickets and that, in my opinion, is pretty unfair.
Having said that, concerts are not only about revenue or entertainment, because they also come with risks. Take for instance, deaths in Woodstock(1969), The Who’s Cincinnati Concert(1979), Roskilde Festival(2000), Astroworld(2021), and many. But, popular culture usually focuses on the glitz and glamour associated with concerts and markets “how cool it can be if you’re there.” Honestly, they are not at fault since it’s the demands of the industry and promotions hype things up while the advertisement industry thrives on making consumers feel like they lack something which only they can solve.
Anyway, it’s the year 2025. Things evolve, things change and in the contemporary scenes, social media has taken over most of our lives and somehow we are all guilty of that. However, I think knowing how to moderate everything- what we consume, what we want to consume, what we let others consume is something we should be mindful about and that includes the entire sphere of the entertainment world too. And no doubt, music makes our lives better and concerts give us beautiful moments to cherish but sometimes it really makes me wonder- are they solely about the experience, or have they become more of a flex-perience now?
