Rock Concert in Gachsaran - 2003-10-24

Rock Concert in Gachsaran - 2003-10-24. These days, holding large and small concerts by young people from Tehran and other major cities in Iran has become almost normal, but the performance of a rock concert in one of the deprived and remote counties of this country, with all its social and welfare problems, seems strange. This Thursday and Friday, the rock band 'Zaryab' will hold a concert in Gachsaran County, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province (Western Iran), for the benefit of exceptional children at the Mehrgan Cinema in this city. According to the Iran newspaper, the group is led by Shahin Lahouti Nejad, who also plays the bass guitar. Pouyan Sharifi plays keyboards, Daniel Jahanbakhshi plays drums, Maziar Norouzkhani plays keyboards and bass, and Arzhang Baluch plays the tombak. The group is fronted by Ali Barazjani. The members of Zaryab first came together in 1379 (2000) and that year they managed to hold the first music concert in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, also in the rock style. Shahin Lahouti Nejad, the group's leader, tells the Iran newspaper reporter: 'We face many problems in organizing these concerts. Although it is a charity event and people welcome it well, the lack of suitable halls, shortage of sound equipment, etc., have created many obstacles in our way.' Regarding the venue, he says: 'Apart from the oil company hall, which is really suitable for sound work, there is no other hall. Even if there was a cinema hall in this city, we could easily perform our programs there. Unfortunately, the Gachsaran cinema hall is practically closed.' The leader of the Zaryab group further comments on the people's reaction to rock music in Gachsaran: 'Due to the unfamiliarity of the people with this style of music, initially, there wasn't much enthusiasm, but gradually this style is finding its place among the people. Of course, to attract more people, we have tried to increase the number of pop pieces compared to rock.' Lahouti Nejad then responds to the question of whether all this running around to gather people and set up the concert is exhausting: 'The pleasure is in this running around and its fatigue. Coordinating the band, doing promotional work, and searching for a hall is very tiring, but when we are working for a charitable purpose, we are committed until the end.' The reporter of the Iran newspaper concludes: 'They hold concerts for thalassemia and exceptional children in the county despite all the difficulties. In a city where the marks of addiction are increasingly visible on the faces of its youth, a point of hope has emerged...'