The Bangladesh Cricket Board’s Celebration Concert, staged to hype up the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 2014, was held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Thursday.
However, the concert was anything but perfect as several people from the gathering crowd complained of countless sufferings before they eventually made it in time for the so-called grand event.
Not originally a part of the ICC’s plans for the forthcoming global T20 competition, the governing body of country’s cricket hastily arranged the concert and the spectators had to bear the brunt.
Although Oscar winning composer A R Rahman and Senegalese-American R&B and hip hop singer Akon were brought in to perform alongside many local artistes, the common topic of discussion was the price of tickets.
Cost of tickets ranged from Tk 2,000 to Tk 5,000 while the most expensive ticket was priced at Tk 75,000.
When all of the tickets were sold out, some had no other way but to buy them at sky-high prices from the ticket touts.
And some of them protested that it was really expensive.
‘It seemed like the people who had bought tickets had no intention to see the concert but to sell them for huge profits,’ service-holder Saiful Hasan said angrily before adding, ‘I had to buy a Tk 3,000 ticket for Tk 20,000.’
Upon hearing Saiful, another spectator, sitting a few seats below, started expressing his disapproval regarding the pricing of tickets.
‘The price is too much. One of the people I know had two tickets of the concert. I and one of my friends bought them. We bought tickets worth Tk 6,000 for Tk 30,000. We knew that a lot of famous local artistes will perform, not to mention A R Rahman and Akon, but still it’s too much for any concert,’ said Rana Islam, a student.
As the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, was scheduled to make an appearance in the concert as chief guest, security was tight in and around the stadium.
People had to stand in long queues before entering the big bowl and some of them claimed they were checked two or three times.
According to businessman Arif Rahman, he was one among many.
‘Security is all beefed up. They checked me several times. I have come with my wife and her bag was searched a few times. Isn’t it a bit too much?,’ asked an agitated Arif.
‘I complied with the security regulations as many others had to encounter it,’ he said.
With the concert out of the way, the BCB will now hope to organise the marquee T20 event smoothly, a bit better perhaps than the expensively-assembled show on Thursday.
-With New Age input
