Queues in the Music Academy

[vijay.siddharth]

(Note: this is more as an inexperienced ticket buyer asking this question).

I am interested in hearing many concerts at the Academy this season (including some big names) but am worried that I will not even get a stage seat. So I have a few questions:

(1) for which artistes do people start lining up at 4:00am/5:00am;
(2) what percentage of concert goers line up at those times;
(3) how many stage passes are sold;
(4) do ticket prices fluctuate based on demand.

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,

Siddharth

[sankark]

To my knowledge

#1 - only RaGa, ArunaSairam, BJ. Sanjay may be to some extent. And Visaka Hari, but that is kathA kAlakshEpam, not CM performance.
#4 - No

In general for 90% of the ticketed programmes, you would be able to get balcony tickets on any given day even @ 4 pm. Sometimes they also stream the main hall proceedings in a big screen in the mini hall so you can attend the programme from the mini hall.

[hnbhagavan]

RaGa sisters- People are crazy.Their concert quality also depends on the accompaniments.This is probably true in case of any artist.But whatever it may be Crowd will be maximum.Perhaps sudha raghunathan.Bombay Jayasree,sanjay Subramanyam did get such crowd,but has slightly diminished.
Music academy is very strict.Better whichever day you want to attend,better buy tickets in the morning.Music academy is the least expensive and best Auditorium.Krishna Gana sabha sells the last row seats for Rs 300/or so.

[rajeshnat]

Crowd Pulling wise Abhishek,Raga,sanjay sure are in ascending . These artist you better have to make it early in morning otherwise almost no chance.

Aruna , Sudha is on slight decline, but with solomon pappiah pattimanram sudha may not dip that much this year or go slightly up. Aruna gumbal is getting drifted to sanjay and/or rAga sisters.

Visaka Hari may be steady - no idea there. BJ my gut feel is it may have dipped a bit you can get it.

Unfortuntely the pairing slot for each of the above mentioned names (evening I and II), you will not get tickets despite not getting full as academy has single ticket for both evening slots. If you want to go with second highest price above the lowest price (200) you will get it say 30 minutes before the concert for most excepting the big crowd puller.

I suggest u also go to other sabhas especially which starts at 06 15 Mudhra or MFAC , which gives minimum 15 minutes or 30 minutes more time than Academy, SKGS is also a good choice but very limited with count of artists as they also share most of their time slots with dance performances . Vanimahal is also great While SKGS, Mudhra ,vanimahal and MFAC have near or not that near audio experience to academy, i suggest yuu give try to sabhas other than academy. NGS evening is at times only 2 hours and 15 mins which to me is irritating . If all else does not work go back to Ragasudha.

[ram1999]

Lining up from 4 am for a ticket. People should be really really crazy. These guys perform in at least 20 venues. Why flock to one hall all at a time. Perhaps the canteen is the best in MA

[Nick H]

Now Harimau is back, he might comment on the sociological aspects

There are many really good artists in the 4pm slot, which is paired on one ticket with the later slot. It can be quite sad: I have seen the hall packed for one concert, and then almost empty for the following Hindustani concert, which was wonderful. Even as a BOGOF, people did not want to see it.

Be at the MA for the 9am concerts! And they're free!

[Sundara Rajan]

Nick is right. Almost every year I was in India, I did not miss MA morning concerts by senior artists. They also happen to be free and much less crowded.

[Nick H]

You can see three concerts a day at the Music Academy for no more than you spend in the canteen. Many of the sabhas give free entry to all but their evening concerts. Some, such as Ragasudha Hall, are free all and every day, but, however eminent, you don't get to see the 1-lakh-rupee crowd pullers there, at least not in the season... Sanjay and TMK have performed there this year; Ramakrishna Murthy caused a crush just a few days ago. Sanjay sang "all are welcome" to a crowd of >500 people at Hamsadvani just a few days ago.

It is not (well, ok, it is for some ) just a matter of being penny-pinching. Some people really want to see, as in see these artists from a seat near the front. I feel that this is actually an intimate music, and don't like to sit in the back of a huge auditorium. For venues like the Music Academy, this now costs thousands rather than hundreds. If you want to see these big-name-big-price artists at those rare a;;-are-welcome events, then the price you pay is turning up an hour or three early. I'm told (it is not one of my regular venues) that, to get a seat for many of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan evening concerts, you have to be early for the preceding concert.

Study the schedules. You might be surprised how many of your favourite artists you can see for free, even in December!

A tangential note, if you are not used to the strange ways of the Music Academy, whose institutional ego is large enough to employ security guards and all that stuff. They don't care about phones, but, as of last year, you will not be allowed to take a real camera, however small, inside. Stupid? Yes... but just try telling a boss of security that his rules are stupid. Better... don't bother!

[sureshvv]

Lining up from 4 am for a ticket. People should be really really crazy. These guys perform in at least 20 venues. Why flock to one hall all at a time.

Most other halls also sell out, like BGS today. Actually it warms my heart that there is sufficient demand.

[kvchellappa]

It is a pertinent comment. CM means that there must be empty seats. But, there is pregnant hope that in not-too-distant future, all concerts will be a sell-out with rasikas thronging from nook and corner.

[Nick H]

Lining up from 4 am for a ticket. People should be really really crazy. These guys perform in at least 20 venues. Why flock to one hall all at a

Most other halls also sell out, like BGS today. Actually it warms my heart that there is sufficient demand.

very true. In fifty years people will be talking nostalgically about how people flocked to concerts back then.

In another full house right this minute for an excellent Sandeep Narayanan concert!