YOUNG IRANIANS GET CRAZY AT IRANIAN ROCK STAR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 000014 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AJ IR PGOV PHUM PINR SUBJECT: YOUNG IRANIANS GET CRAZY AT IRANIAN ROCK STAR CONCERT Young Iranians Rock Out in Baku -------------- ¶1. On December 14 Swedish-based Iranian pop star Arash Labaf (originally from Iranian Azerbaijan) gave a concert at the Heydar Aliyev Sports complex in Baku. Although similar concerts have occurred in Dubai, this was the first-ever performance in Azerbaijan of an internationally known Iranian rock (actually reggae/rap/pop) star. Despite ticket costs ranging from $60-$150 each) the 7,000 seat complex was packed with Iranian and Azerbaijani gilded youth and their friends. While unable to secure a ticket, Iran watcher has talked separately to five Iranian audience members, and viewed more than fifty photos and a video excerpt taken by participants in the event. Iranian Flags and Facepaint -------------- ¶2. Attendees described the crowd as good natured, noisy, and boisterous. Interlocutors estimated that young Iranians made up about half of the capacity crowd (one estimated sixty percent). Photographs and the video excerpt show large numbers of youth coming out of their seats to the open area in front of the stage where some can be seen dancing in circles (males and females together),or moving to the music with their arms held high above their heads. Several photographs show youth carrying Iranian flags, and attendees related seeing male and female faces painted with the Iranian flag's colors (two of the photos seen showed individuals with such markings. Consistent with interlocutor tales of the lifestyle of many Iranian students here, men in the photos are beardless or sport "arty" goatees. Several photos show women in tight leather pants or hip boots (no women with head coverings are visible). Belly Dancing and Fireworks -------------- ¶3. Photos and video indicate that the concert was a typical pop extravaganza, with a pseudo-oriental back-up touches in the form of scantily clad belly dancers (some in spangled bikinis),fireworks shooting from the stage, fire eaters, and suggestive dancing. Given that none of this is remotely legal in Iran (where even audience members could be subjected to heavy fines or whipping) one attendee commented that though boisterous the crowd was surprisingly well-behaved. An Iranian-American University professor currently teaching in Baku who attended the event asserted that the concert touched on a "deep-seated desire" of Iranian youth to participate in international/U.S. youth and pop culture. He urged that the USG and others do more to speak to "their yearning for modernization and reality." He opined that such collective events also build interest awareness and interest in the possibilities of civil society, and expressed the hope that Baku would soon host more such "liberating" popular events with Iranian appeal. Fans Travel From Iran -------------- ¶4. In addition to Baku-based Iranians, two Iranian student interviewed reported talking to young Iranians who had traveled to Baku from the Iranian Azerbaijan cities of Tabriz and Erbil. One such allegedly described himself as a student and "amateur DJ" from Tabriz who claimed to have been obsessed with American rap music since the age of ten. One Baku-based Iranian student related that many of the Iranian students studying with her had stayed in Baku through the holidays rather than return to Iran in order to attend the concert. The student, an active feminist who did not attend the concert, characterized the widespread Iranian youth attendance as reflecting a self-indulgent, relatively free and pampered social life which she claimed exists even inside Iran among the children of the well-to-do and regime elite, "though always behind closed doors." In this context, she said the concert attendance and dress/behavior of many Iranians as no surprise and characteristic of a widespread lifestyle that she described as "wannabee European." Claiming that many Iranian students in Baku come from families with indirect regime ties, she cautioned against reading too great a political message in the gilded youth's behavior, adding that "most of us (Iranians) are forced to be BAKU 00000014 002 OF 002 two-faced, and neither of them is real." Baku - A "Liberating" Cultural Magnet for Iranians? -------------- -------------- ¶5. A prominent Azerbaijani journalist with connections to the travel industry told Iran watcher that some Iranians had come from Iran in chartered vehicles to the event. He opined that this first ever Iranian-oriented pop concert in Baku amounted to a kind of milestone in Azerbaijan's gradual emergence as a cultural tourism center for Iranians, especially Azeri-speaking natives of Iranian Azerbaijan, and claimed that Azerbaijan now ranks next to (more expensive) Dubai as the most favorite foreign destination for middle class Iranians seeking to let loose. In the case of Iranian youth, he noted that the attraction includes escaping the bans on public dancing, music, and male/female mixing. Waiting for Googoosh -------------- ¶6. A wealthy Baku-based Iranian businessman with ties to the concert organizers called the concert a great success, and said that promoters are now considering the possibility of putting on future concerts with (banned in Iran) Iranian balladeer Daryoush Eghbali "and even (U.S.-based mega-Iranian pop star) Googoosh." While enthusiastically endorsing these possibilities, the businessman speculated that the Iranian government may consider concerts with such stars as an "unfriendly act" and attempt to pressure the Government of Azerbaijan to withhold permission. Note and comment: Neither the businessman nor any other interlocutor was aware of any government of Iran reaction before or after the Arash concert, this may be a reflection of lack of information on this "first-time" Baku event. End Note and Comment. LU