The last open-air concert I attended, what with my bevy of friends intact and spirits high, involved a crowded event with the typical mobs of over-enthused youth and a rockstar who continually broke out with the tireless slogan “Mazaa aa raha hai?”. Of course, this is minus the track record of Rafi Peer concerts ever since those are sort of mandatory on the Lahori list every year. My point is, it`s been a long, long time since my last open-air, boisterous concert. 

A few years ago, concerts were a rite of passage for your average Pakistani teenager. What with the culture of social events severely lacking, the populist concert erected a charm of its own. Especially for the young, it meant a slightly wilder side of living what with loose spirits, good music and other essentials flowing about freely - depending on the kind of concert you were at.

The whole idea back then was breaking the curfew, being out with friends one`s parents perhaps did not particularly approve of, and witnessing acts one`s parents would definitely not approve of - all in the backdrop of the hottest live acts in town.

There is a different kind of high in witnessing your favorite band in the flesh, receiving your first personalised autograph from a favorite guitarist and mouthing the words perfectly to a song burned into the back of you mind.

But one barely gets to hear about good concerts anymore. Either the venue is wrong or the crowd and band is. But forget that, concerts barely happen anymore.

What with the security situation of the country and the permanently grim mood of the nation - the decline of concerts is imminent. One can barely argue against the reasons anymore fact is, public assembly has become dangerous and good days have become rare commodity for the national mood. It`s a sad fact, but it makes more sense not to have concerts then to have them.

In the face of this decline, alternatives have popped up. Concerts are being pushed indoors, into more cramped and crowded events. Invites are now more exclusive, the venues more obscure and the crowds thinner.

Also, focus has been shifted from concerts being the modulus operandi of social gathering, to underground parties, pre-parties and after-parties. Mind you, social events have also expanded in the much-appreciated form of highbrow events book launches, film screenings, standup comedy, prose recitals, plays, pro bono meetings etc. In recent years the social spectrum has widely expanded in many ways.

It`s just that this social spectrum is limiting itself to a smaller and smaller audience.

Yet concerts diminish from the spectrum. Smaller events mean a more elite crowd, a more underground event, and perhaps even more debauchery then is every one`s cup. Concerts should be about mixing with a wide variety of like-minded minds with somewhat familiar tastes under a canopy of good music.

They should not be about attending a high-society event or gracing a society glossy. We are no longer in a cultural drought - it`s just that culture is becoming more and more of a luxury good.

The youth of today are being denied one of the few morsels of quality live entertainment that the country actually has the resources to provide. We have the talent, we have the venues, and by gosh, we even have the smog machines! There`s just that small problem of, well, staying alive. 

What with bigger and bolder terrorist attacks hurting even the most sensitive parts of our country, the recent days have shown us that security can no longer be ensured. What alternative does this leave for the creativity-starved young? Is it fair on them to be deprived of cultural events this way?

Of course, this is in no way a call to undermine the seriousness of the situation our country is in today. But note must be taken that it is choking us in more ways then one.

It`s unfortunate that the young - one of the most vulnerable victims of the situation of our country today - have fewer and fewer healthy outlets for their frustrations.