Country Profile: Bahrain
Bahrain may be small but its wealth means it punches well above its weight in cultural terms. “Touring is growing in the MENA region, and we are anticipating more markets to come into the fold,” says Lance Tobin, VP of Talent at the country’s Al Dana Amphitheatre.
“As we expand these tour routes from a few markets to many, costs will go down, logistics become easier, and it becomes more feasible for a tour to plan on visiting us.”
The 10,000-cap amphitheatre is the key venue here. It books content in-house through the buying team’s direct relationships with leading agencies. “We’ve found this is the best way to maintain the artist experience and deliver the right mix of content to the fans in Bahrain,” says Tobin.
Other important promoters include UAE-based All Things Live, Live Nation, and Sony-owned MAC Global, which counts André Rieu among its successful shows here, according to co-founder and CCO Daniel Goldberg. “There is a huge demand for classical crossover programming in the region,” he notes.
“There is a huge demand for classical crossover programming in the region”
Radio is still a popular avenue for successful artist building. “We have a great station here with listenership across various demographics,” says Tobin. But digital marketing and, of course, TikTok and Instagram, are essential for appealing to younger, savvier music fans. And these fans are increasingly willing to watch talent in club and theatre spaces – with the number of venues on the rise, they will have greater opportunities to see acts before they reach arena or stadium level. “Our focus has expanded from large-capacity venues to clubs and theatres. This is true for touring shows at every capacity,” he adds.
Issues do exist here. Rising costs are something venues are increasingly having to deal with, and inflation remains problematic for touring in general. But Tobin says these have yet to translate into either ticket price increases or a fall in demand. “We are holding steady in this period, where ticket sales have been strong,” he says.
Increasingly, big names have added shows here to their world tours – Eminem, Ed Sheeran, Maroon 5, and SZA have all either played recently or have forthcoming shows – but Bahrain has a “phenomenal local artist community,” says Tobin, with both Arabic and Western artists alike.
Arena Market: Bahrain
Considered more liberal than some of its neighbours, the Kingdom of Bahrain is a small but affluent nation, with big ambitions.
Most of the international tours coming through here stop at the stunning ASM Global-run Al Dana Amphitheatre, which opened in 2020. Featuring a 10,000-capacity bowl, plus 1,500- cap club space, acts such as Scorpions, Miami Band, and Ahmed Saad and Metro Boomin have graced its stage so far in 2024.
Being an outdoor space means it has a season, typically October to May, before the desert location becomes too hot for shows.
However, that doesn’t spell an end to live events in the country. “During the summer, we’ve started putting acts through the air-conditioned Exhibition World Bahrain [also ASM Global- run],” says Al Dana CEO, Damian Bush. “What we’re trying to do is work with all the other venues and operators across the country to make Bahrain an important stop.”
Alongside the popularity of Arabic acts, Bush – who was previously at Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld-Expo – says comedy is a strong and growing genre, as is hip-hop. “I’m interested in seeing how K-Pop does here, and we’ll be experimenting with that.
“What we’re trying to do is work with all the other venues and operators across the country to make Bahrain an important stop.”
“Within the GCC, there’s lots of entertainment now, and it’s booming. What we offer is familiarity for the Western acts because this is a liberal country with a liberal view towards entertainment. Bahrain is very accessible … with direct flights into Europe, India, Asia, the UK. Hotels are top quality and we’re right by Saudi Arabia, which means we draw audiences from there, too – they love coming here for the entertainment.
“I was watching the audience going mad to Metro Boomin. [Afterwards, the artist] said, ‘These are real fans. They really want to see me.’”
He adds: “My goal is to make Al Dana Amphitheatre a destination for residents and visitors alike, with rooftop sunset dining and more, meaning people can really make the most of their visit here.
“What we’re interested in is bringing in the right type of music, the right type of genre, and we don’t rule out anything. It’s about what we think is going to sell, what’s going to be popular, what’s going to be diverse.”