UAE: Despite Coldplay wave, is rock music a dying art?

After more than an hour of spellbinding performance, Bryan Adams, the ageless Canadian wonder, was still going strong. But the 65-year-old paused momentarily, then turned around and glanced at his band members as the euphoric crowd waited eagerly.

The lead guitarist ended that fleeting moment of on-stage lull with a touch of class, strumming his guitar strings to bring the earworm melody of a sitar, the famed Indian classical instrument.

That magical improvisation paved the way for Adams to belt out his timeless classic: “I got my first real six-string…bought it at the five-and-dime….played it 'til my fingers bled…was the summer of '69…”

Under the bright spotlights at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, Adams had the audience in the palm of his hand. The energy of his singing was such that a middle-aged man got up from his seat and broke into a dance, singing along to every line of that iconic number with his teenage son, who was looking rather embarrassed, recording that moment of ecstasy.

As hordes of millennials walked out of the arena after the end of the show with smiles on their faces, a group of teenagers giggled and flashed the peace sign while posing next to a photograph of K-pop band BTS.

Dancing fathers in the live show of a yesteryear’s rockstar and visibly reluctant Gen Z-ers who found solace in the photograph of a popular K-pop band could not have reflected the changing landscape of music and people’s taste for melody and rhythms more profoundly.

Coldplay craze

As Abu Dhabi witnessed the first wave of euphoria over Coldplay on Thursday with shuttle buses from Dubai carrying thousands of die-hard fans to the Zayed Sports City Stadium where fan zones have been set up, creating a Fifa World Cup-like carnival, the question that boggles the mind is how have the British rock band managed to build such a large fanbase globally at a time when the young generation is obsessed with K-Pop and hip-hop?

Nilotpal Bora, an Indian musician who has composed songs for web series Yeh Meri Family (Netflix), Aspirants (YouTube) and Taaza Khabar (Hotstar), is also an unabashed Coldplay fan who even bought tickets to attend their concert in Singapore last year.

“That was a great experience, watching Coldplay in Singapore, especially because I am also a musician. I have been truly inspired by what Coldplay has achieved. They are the kings of rock-pop genre and that’s why they are also so popular even among the young generation,” said Bora who had also performed in Dubai at a spring festival in 2022.

Abbie Franchette, a 36-year-old Filipina expat, is so passionate about music that she formed a band, A Times 2, with Abigail Spencer, a Jamaican national, who she met at a church in Dubai.

Spencer, 24, is Gen Z and draws inspiration from funk music and reggae.

Her band partner, Franchette, is a Millennial who fell in love with rock music when she first learned to play the guitar.

While both of them failed in their countless attempts to buy Coldplay tickets online, Franchette says she could not stop admiring the Chris Martin-led band’s quest to reinvent their style of music.

“The music they made, especially at the early stage of their career, you could hear a lot of instruments in their songs,” she said.

“I think Coldplay, just like any good band, have evolved with time. They have changed their style significantly. And they have learned to adapt to the demands of the music market.”

Market demands

But the irony is not lost on musicians that even a band as successful as Coldplay have to change their style to meet the market demands.

Gary Tierney, the guitarist and lead vocalist of The Boxtones, a Dubai-based Scottish-Canadian rock band, explained why not many rock bands have emerged globally after Coldplay which was formed in 1997.

“Gen Z-ers haven’t had the same level of exposure to creative people, mostly bands, working together to make something original, new and exciting in the same way that Millennials and Gen X’ers have,” the Scottish musician said.

“Also most labels, both major and indie, are unwilling to invest the same level of time and money to develop independent artists' careers, so music lovers are all left with a few dozen ’superstars’ who dominate the music scene while other equally talented artists are circling the rings of obscurity.”

Tierney’s band, which has shared the stage with legends like Def Leppard, The Who, Liam Gallagher, and Bryan Adams, feels technology has also played a part in new rock bands’ struggle to gain a foothold.

“Gone are the days when you would get together with friends to practice songs in your bedroom or garage, working as a team to craft a song or a riff,” he said.

“We are also now seeing Artificial intelligence (AI) getting involved with the creation, which as a tool is interesting, but there is a real danger of losing the soul of music only people can create.”

Where are the rockstars?

The dwindling numbers of rock bands made such an emotional impact on Lachlan Kitchen, a 41-year-old Australian RJ who works for a popular radio station in Dubai, that he decided to do his thesis at university on his favourite genre of music.

“It was called ‘Where have all the rockstars gone?’ I wrote 12,000 words and it was on the changing landscape of the music industry,” said Kitchen who has attended several live concerts by Bruce Springsteen, Rolling Stones and U2.

But, as Spencer said, those iconic musicians will continue to inspire new singers despite the explosion of technology and AI tools.