New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Wednesday that Grammy-nominated American rapper and singer Post Malone will perform in Guwahati. This marks one of the state’s first big-ticket global acts under the new initiative meant to bolster the state’s concert economy. Sarma was addressing a press meet on 21 May in Dergaon after a cabinet meeting.
“We had mentioned a policy on concert tourism in this year’s budget. The cabinet approved this today,” said Sarma.
He also announced Dibrugarh and Jorhat as the two other cities where the infrastructure for holding national and international concerts would be developed.
Post Malone’s first-ever India concert was in 2022, a part of Zomato’s Feeding India initiative at Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi Race Course. The artist first made it to the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2018 with his single, Rockstar. The same year, his song, Sunflower, was released with the animated film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and became his most popular song to date.
Also read: Why are Australians going on and on about Raj Kachori? ‘Work of art, seamlessly chaotic’
Competing with Meghalaya
Citing newspaper reports that Gujarat earned over Rs 600 crore from a recent Coldplay concert, Sarma stressed the potential for high-revenue cultural tourism in Assam.
“Earlier performers would opt for Shillong, but now we have managed to get Post Malone to perform at Guwahati on 8 December. We will also expand the concert economy to Jorhat and Dibrugarh,” Sarma said, adding that it would also initiate a healthy competition with Meghalaya.
The neighbouring state has had the biggest influx of international artists, with Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams performing at Shillong on 10 December 2024. Norwegian DJ and music producer Alan Walker made pit stops in both Guwahati and Shillong in September 2024 for his Walker World India Tour, which covered 13 cities. Bacardi NH7 Weekender will complete 10 years of its advent in Meghalaya this year.
Diljit Dosanjh performed in Guwahati in December 2024 during his Dil-Luminati India Tour. Held at Helipad ground at Sarusajai Sports Complex, this was Guwahati’s last biggest concert.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)