Adams breaks down barriers in aid of earthquake victims

Published on Tuesday 31 January 2006 01:32

BRYAN Adams, the Canadian rocker, has become the first high-profile western performer to play live in Pakistan since the 11 September, 2001 terror attacks, headlining a benefit concert for victims of last year's devastating earthquake.

Famous for a string of hits, including Summer of '69 and Everything I Do, I Do It For You, the rock star played a historic concert on Sunday night that authorities believe might signify a "healthy cultural change" in the port city of Karachi, where there has frequently been official concern raised about western influence on a predominantly Muslim population.

"I am here because this city has a special love for music," the singer said, as he greeted fans onstage at the Arabian Sea Club on the outskirts of the city, while hundreds of police guarded roads and checked vehicles leading to the venue.

"The whole idea of coming to Pakistan is very exciting on many levels," Adams said later. "It's exciting because I know we are the first western artists to play a big concert here.

"We are going to raise a lot of money, hopefully to help rebuild some schools in the areas that have been devastated."

More than 20,000 tickets were sold for 3,500 rupees (33) to 5,000 rupees (46) by the organiser, the Zindagi Trust of Pakistan, which hopes to raise 20 million rupees (188,000) for school-building projects. About 17,000 of the more than 73,000 people killed in the quake last year were children who died in schools that collapsed.

More than three million people were left homeless after the 7.7-magnitude quake struck south of the Hindu Kush mountain range on 8 October, with most destruction occurring in the country's North-west Frontier province.

Adams, who was dining with Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, and the prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, in the capital Islamabad yesterday, said he had no worries about performing in Pakistan, although the US State Department last week issued travel advice for the country, citing terrorism concerns.

A prominent campaigner for peace issues and cancer relief, Adams said: "These are very, very difficult times and there's obviously a great groundswell - sort of underground - to try and change things and a lot of it is based on religious beliefs. It's difficult. My feeling is that it's unfortunate that it has to lead to violence because I'm a big advocate of non-violence.

"Violence does beget violence. But, that just seems to be the way of the world at the moment."

Pakistan's information minister, Sheikh Rashid, praised the singer's decision to take part in the concert. "Adams' arrival and performance in Karachi is definitely a healthy cultural change and it signifies that moderate people are coming up in our society day by day," he said.

Pakistan has strict laws governing popular-culture broadcasts and performances, with many concerning overt displays of a sexual nature.

The country's burgeoning film industry, known as Lollywood as it is based in Lahore, produces thousands of films every year. Its most famous popular artist is perhaps Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who has performed with the group Massive Attack, among other western artists.