Sign up for IQ Index
The latest industry news to your inbox.
The new 4,350-cap. venue, adjacent to Mercedes-Benz Arena, welcomed the former White Stripes frontman as its maiden performer on Friday night
By IQ on 15 Oct 2018
Verti Music Hall hosted its first show on Friday (12 October), with a capacity crowd packing out AEG’s new Berlin venue to mark Jack White’s return to Germany.
The 4,350-capacity Music Hall is located at Mercedes Platz, a new mixed-use entertainment district neighbouring the Mercedes-Benz Arena (17,000-cap.) in Berlin. Insurance company Verti secured a naming-rights deal for the venue last December, leading to the rebranding the former Berlin Music Hall.
According to operator AEG, Verti Music Hall “offer[s] the atmosphere of an intimate venue, paired with the capabilities of a multi-functional arena”.
“We have spent a lot of time and resource during the planning and construction phase to ensure perfect sightlines and optimal sound, as well as the greatest possible flexibility for capacity, seating and different types of events,” says Michael Hapka, vice-president and managing director of AEG Operations GmbH.
“Verti Music Hall will enrich the Berlin venue landscape”
“The interior of the Music Hall is intimate and high-end in appearance, while the outer concourses have a more urban, industrial style. Verti Music Hall will enrich the Berlin venue landscape for concertgoers, as well as for promoters and performing artists.”
Pictured at the launch are, from left to right, Steve Schwenkglenks (GM, Barclaycard Arena Hamburg), John Langford (VP and GM, the O2, London), Marie Lindqvist (VP and GM, Stockholm Live), Christian D’Acuna (head of programming, the O2, London), Emma Bownes (programme director, the O2, London), Darren Murphy (GM, Eventim Apollo, London), Sarah Myring (front-of-house manager, Eventim Apollo, London), John Drury (VP and GM, SSE Arena Wembley), Kara James (WME), and Paul Cheetham (director of booking, Verti Music Hall).
The Mercedes Platz development mirrors similar AEG-led ‘entertainment districts’, which combine an indoor arena with other shopping and entertainment amenities, such as Brisbane Live in Australia, The O2 in London, LA Live in Los Angeles, Nashville Yards in Tennessee and, most recently, Bangkok Arena and EM Live in Thailand.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.