Photos: The Branch.
Let's be clear on one point, even if it hurts: In Bogotá, musical events have become elitist. Seeing a large-scale professional concert, aside from festivals organized in collaboration with the city government, is a matter for those with deep pockets. Any ticket to a concert by an international artist costs hundreds of thousands of pesos. Attending the most heavily promoted show of the year, Estéreo Picnic, This meant paying a cost higher than the monthly minimum wage of Colombians, And that price didn't even include transportation, food, drinks, or any souvenirs. No wonder the event hashtag was #a different world.
The problem doesn't end there. It gets worse.
The public that enjoys live shows has a limited budget, and there is such an oversaturation of performances by imported artists that on social media you can see lists of all the scheduled dates and the amount to spend to attend them all, but… Nobody includes local events, those showcasing the country's talent, in those records.
Look, nobody's falling for the xenophobic proposal to close borders and become North Korean-style isolated, with the same old sounds coming from just around the corner. But that does lead one to think the same thing an economist might think when observing the implementation of free trade agreements. in a country that has not yet developed the infrastructure to withstand the onslaught of what comes from outside. If a country's shoe industry, for example, is still developing and hasn't yet established its market position, it's unlikely to survive the influx of imports. We've seen this in all aspects of our countries' economies., Why wouldn't it happen with music?
I don't have the figures, but I'm certain that attendance at local concerts has declined over the last five years. And to that I add something that further darkens the picture: Perhaps due to the growth in access to networks there are more media outlets and many more people claiming to be music journalists. Blogs have proliferated, and we see this new army of commentators making their presence felt at the most publicized festivals, armed with their cameras and iPads. But few of them write about what's happening around them. Their journalistic work is guided solely by their desire to be accredited at the most promoted events. They behave more like promoters than analysts and prefer not to write any kind of review for fear of being expelled from this musical paradise. This type of journalism is limited to somewhat disguising their fanatical devotion to a few American bands and to repeat what magazines and media from first-world metropolises are already saying. That, frankly, only benefits the promoters of the biggest concerts. No one else.
Let's continue closing the vicious circle: What happens then to the new bands from Bogotá? Lacking many venues and few opportunities to develop their careers, they have two paths. One is to resignedly accept the rules of the game established in the market, They spend money they don't have and try to sound like the bands that are being booked, hoping for a chance to be included as opening acts for the bigger shows. Of course, this path doesn't guarantee success, not by a long shot. If they do well, they might just get a taste of the festival's confetti and maybe even appear in the pages of the aforementioned journalists. Perhaps their group is one of the very few that overcome the disappointment of the route.
The other option is for the group to forge its own path, insisting on working according to the parameters it believes in. Given the current market conditions—excuse me for saying so—, The chances of falling into ostracism are quite high. It has a good chance of failing, my friend. But, with that cheap philosophy I sometimes employ, a phrase from my favorite superhero, Silver Surfer, comes to mind, when he says, before facing the mighty Galactus, «"If we shy away from battle because the hope of victory is slim, where then is the courage? It will always be the ideal that moves us, not the possibilities."».
And that's where I must express my admiration for the stubbornness of the organizers of the Colombia Hardcore festival (who, fortunately, are friends of mine). In order to sustain a music scene that is struggling to survive, they organize a free event for the city, with an added sense of solidarity, asking attendees to donate, without obligation, a non-perishable food item for the most vulnerable population. Behind their work there is no immediate economic interest, but rather the desire to showcase what's happening in the national hardcore scene. They are trying to capture an audience in a different way, away from the glitz and glamour and entertainment sections of private news programs.
What they propose is not within the schemes of the businessmen best connected to celebrities, and perhaps that is why their proposal travels through the most tortuous paths, but their work, like that of so many others relegated by the media, is to recover the old sense of the Bogota rock scene. A more inclusive scene that builds a better, less selfish society. It sounds romantic, "pretentious," and, for the more extreme, even dangerous, but their work deserves support. If you're in Bogotá this Saturday, May 9th, I invite you to check out the La Media Torta Open-Air Theatre from early on (everything starts at 10 am) and enjoy an important part of what is happening in music outside the commercial spotlight. I assure you that the experience will be worth it.
