De Burgh lands Iranian concert date, opening small crack in Islamic cultural boycott

Singer Chris de Burgh will stage a concert in Tehran later this year, the first such concert in the country by a Western artist in nearly 30 years, an Iranian satellite news channel reported on Monday.

De Burgh, who has a loyal following in Iran, visited for the first time in May and said he hoped the authorities would give him permission to perform.

The Irish-born singer will perform with Iranian band Arian.

‘The concert is scheduled to be held in the last week of November at Azadi Indoor Stadium in Tehran which seats 12,000 people,’ said Majid Roqani, the head of public relations at Taraneh Sharqi Cultural and Artistic Company.

Roqani was quoted by the website of Press TV, Iran’s state-owned English-language satellite channel.

The concert will be the first time since the 1979 revolution that a Western singer has played inside the Islamic Republic.

Western pop songs with lyrics are banned by Iran’s authorities although state radio sometimes plays instrumental versions.

Iranian pop bands say their lyrics and tunes are vetted before they can be officially sold in Iran.

Pirate versions of the latest Western albums or songs by underground Iranian groups are available on the black market.

Arian and de Burgh recorded a song called A Light For Eternity. It was played at the cultural centre where De Burgh held a news conference in the Iranian capital in May.

Arian in 1999 were the first Iranian pop band after the revolution to receive a permit to perform in public. All recordings and concerts in Iran require a permit from the ministry of culture and Islamic guidance to be legal.

The former reformist government tentatively approved the distribution of a few Western performers’ albums, including de Burgh, the Gypsy Kings and Queen.

But there has been a tougher screening of culture since the conservative government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in 2005, vowing to revive Iran’s anti-Western revolutionary ideals.

Despite restrictions, there is a vibrant underground musical culture in Iran, with de Burgh seen as a big star.