Shibani Kashyap: Doing virtual gigs during pandemic was stressful, boring, but there were nothing happening for months

More often than playback singing in films, Shibani Kashyap can be seen performing live all over the country. So, naturally the period of lull for concerts halted by the pandemic was hard on the singer-composer.

Calling it an “absolute difficult time”, the Sajna Aa Bhi Aaja singer explains, “What happens is [when] we get a show, we, in turn, hire sound engineers, a whole hair and makeup team, stylist, so everyone gets affected. If it’s difficult for one person and he/she doesn’t get work, the whole chain gets affected. It has been a very tough time for artistes.”

Recently in the Capital for an event, she adds, “The entire month of January 2022, and before that April 2021 to September 2021, were months of complete silence. There were absolutely no shows.”

And while many resorted to virtual gigs, she wasn’t much of a fan of that format. “I had just been singing in front of a camera, doing virtual gigs for so long. It becomes a little stressful at times, and boring too,” she admits.

So the return of big music festivals in the country is a happy occasion for artistes like Kashyap for many reasons. “A very big music festival is happening in Soma Valley, it’s two-day long, I will close the festival. Things are happening slowly. In fact, 10 days ago I performed in Arunachal Pradesh to celebrate their 50 golden years of statehood. 10000 people attended it, it was spread across 10 days, and I performed on the opening day. After two years, I saw so many people there, it was like a dream,” the singer gushes.