When the notes stood still

Joint Official Statement fromLive Earth Founder Kevin Wall, The Office of the Honorable Al Gore andDr. R.K. Pachauri, Chairman IPCCRegardingLive Earth IndiaFriday, November 28, 2008Everyone involved with Live Earth India, from our U.S.- and India-based staff, artists and crew to our India-based broadcast, production, non-profit and marketing communications partners, is stunned and saddened by the tragic events of the past few days in our host city Mumbai. We always felt very welcomed and safe as we spent more time on the ground in Mumbai to finalize plans for Live Earth India, scheduled for December 7. Due to circumstances far beyond our control, we are saddened to announce that Live Earth India has been cancelled. We will continue to work for solutions to the climate crisis for the good of the people of India and around the world. But for now, our thoughts and our prayers are with the victims of this terrible attack, with the bereaved, with the people of Mumbai and with everyone in India. For updated information, please visit www.LiveEarth.org
A series of high-profile performances scheduled in Bombay over the next fortnight have been cancelled or postponed, and one put in serious doubt. A report by Himanshu Bhandari and Lakshmi Govindrajan for The Asian Age:

Against the backdrop of the terror attacks, the last thing security forces would want are large gatherings of people in heavily populated areas and including foreign nationals — both artistes and audiences.
The highly-anticipated Live Earth concert, the first in Mumbai, is scheduled to feature international acts like Bon Jovi and Roger Waters, as well as a host of Bollywood celebrities, at Bandra’s MMRDA grounds on December 7. But doubt had been cast on the show’s go-ahead in light of the current situation.
At the time of going to press, Anuja Choudhary, PR and corporate communications head of show organisers Wizcraft said a final call had yet to be taken. Asked of the possibility of an international act refusing to perform, she said, “It’s a collective decision. There has been no statement from the Live Earth organisation yet. Right now their prime concern is the safety of their staff. We’ll have to wait and watch.”
The Mumbai leg of Jethro Tull and Anoushka Shankar’s series of nationwide joint performances has definitely been cancelled. On Thursday, E18 chief executive officer Farhad Wadia had said the show was still on, while band leader and flautist Ian Anderson said, “If there’s ever a good time it’s now, people must be looking forward to happy things.”
But a day later Wadia revealed the decision to cancel after learning the police couldn’t assure maximum security. “The band even offered to perform for free, with the show’s proceeds going to victims of the attacks. But we can’t go ahead with it. We are now looking at rescheduling the show to December 4.” However the venue, he revealed, could shift from the original Shanmukhananda Hall.
The 2008 Jazz Utsav, a three-day festival scheduled to open on Friday at the Bandra Amphitheatre, has been postponed. First held in 1975 as Jazz India and latterly as the Jazz Yatra festival, the event is one of Mumbai’s longest-running and most identifiable music festivals. This year’s edition, organised by Blue Frog and Capital Jazz, did not open as scheduled on Friday.
Blue Frog communications head Tina Kapur said, “There were two things — one’s obviously the security aspect. Plus, it’s a decision out of respect. We’re looking to reschedule but since there are so many parties involved — bands, sponsors and organisers — there will be changes, including line-ups.” Asked if a rescheduling will push the event into the new year, she said, “We’re looking to have it before that, in December.”
For the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), the terrorists’ choice of location could not have been worse. The cultural centre is a stone’s throw away from the Oberoi-Trident, and the inaugural performance in its Arties India series of biannual chamber music festivals did not go ahead as planned on Thursday evening. Two subsequent performances on Saturday and Sunday featuring renowned French ensemble the Arties have had to be cancelled too, NCPA chairman Khushroo Suntook said.
“The police is not allowing us to go ahead with the performance, although we will make for all security arrangements. We have top people, our own staff, who will sweep and sanitise the entire area. For the moment, the Arties performances have been cancelled for this weekend. But the artistes will definitely be back for their next scheduled mini-festival in March,” said Suntook. Mumbai’s status as India’s financial capital is much touted, but few would argue its position as a cultural hub too. Its fabric and collective consciousness shaken, perhaps a dose of the eclectic is exactly what Mumbai needs right now. As Suntook observed of the NCPA’s cancelled performances, “This is music played defiantly in Moscow even as the Nazis were at the border. Music is a great medium to show resolve against brutality, and a way of calming people too.”