Nordics promoter All Things Live (ATL) is teaming up with Stockholm’s Club Nuggets to launch a new one-day Swedish-language country music event.

Country På Svenska (Country in Swedish) will take place in Mosebacketerrassen in Stockholm on 19 August.

The festival is the brainchild of concert booker Daniel Josefsson, who has promoted the genre throughout Europe since 2009 and also initiated Swedish TV show Countrylandet Sverige.

Josefsson is collaborating with Rickard Nilsson, agent at All Things Live Sweden, on the event.

“The idea is as simple as it is passionate – Swedish-language country music has earned its own festival”

“The idea is as simple as it is passionate – Swedish-language country music has earned its own festival,” reads a statement from organisers. “And not just with new stars, we will also pay tribute to those who came before. The first release handpicks four sharp names from the contemporary Swedish-language country wave, all of whom also appear in the TV series.”

Confirmed acts include H.Self, Erika Jonsson, BridgeMesa and Thanks for Everything. Tickets cost SEK440 (€40).

ATL Sweden appointed Magnus Widell as CEO last September.

A special feature exploring the rise of country music in Europe will appear in the May issue of IQ.

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AEG Presents is expanding to Norway with a new Oslo office led by Friction and Atomic Soul Booking founder Peer Osmundsvaag.

Osmundsvaag, who brings 35 years of live entertainment and event promotion experience to the company, was a founding partner of All Things Live, serving a five-year-stint with the Nordic live entertainment giant prior to returning to independence in 2024.

He will take on his new role from 1 March and will report to AEG president and CEO of Europe and Asia-Pacific Adam Wilkes.

“Having been lucky enough to work as AEG’s partner since 2006, I’ve come to see them as family—an inspirational and like-minded partner who have played a pivotal role in my career,” says Osmundsvaag, “After nearly two decades it feels both natural and exhilarating to engage on this new chapter together. I look forward to assembling the very best team of people I’ve encountered in my 25 years in promoting, blending seasoned expertise with fresh energy to create a dynamic, experienced and energetic team to take on the future together.”

“Peer brings a wealth of unparalleled experience to this new position and regional office”

Osmundsvaag began his career in 1989 as a DJ and party promoter, before switching to concert promotion and founding Atomic Soul in Norway in 2001. While at Atomic Soul, he worked with international acts as Eminem, Prince, Robbie Williams, Justin Bieber, Rammstein, Lana Del Rey, Jerry Seinfeld, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, David Guetta, Swedish House Mafia, Aviici, Sam Smith and Jamie XX, among others.

“Peer brings a wealth of unparalleled experience to this new position and regional office,” adds Wilkes. “As AEG Presents continues to focus on global expansion at such an exciting time for live music and events, this marks an important next step for our European business. Having Peer on board to further build our company presence in Scandinavia enables us to better serve artists and audiences across the region. I’m excited for what’s to come.”

In 2007, Osmundsvaag co-founded and co-booked Norway’s Hove Festival in addition to booking club Quart in the late 90s. He also founded Oslo’s inner-city festival Piknik i Parken (PiPFest) in 2014, and in 2017 was awarded Oslo’s Culture Prize by the city’s mayor for contributions in establishing Oslo as one of the world’s leading concert cities.

He oversaw the two largest ticketed live music events in Norway’s history – Eminem at Oslo’s Voldslokka, which drew 55,000 people in 2018, and Rammstein, who pulled 60,000 fans to Bjerke Travbane horse track in 2022.

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All Things Live have announced details of a new two-day festival in Finland, which will focus on Swedish artists.

Raseborg Summerfest 2025 will be headlined by Swedish singer-songwriter Miss Li, supported by a lineup including Bo Kaspers Orkester, Pandora, Linnea Henriksson and KAJ.

The event, which is being staged in collaboration with Noho Partners, will take place on 15-16 August at Stallörsparken in the bilingual town of Ekenäs, where the majority of residents are Swedish speakers.

The site has previously hosted concerts by the likes of Toto and Deep Purple, as well as a number of festivals.

“Swedish-language music has always been an important part of the cultural whole”

“We offer the adult audience a diverse range of current artists, nostalgia and local talents who get to perform on the large stage,” says organiser Zachris Sundell of All Things Live, as per V2. “Swedish-language music has always been an important part of the cultural whole, and this will continue in the future.”

Raseborg Summerfest is the latest in a spate of new festivals set to crop up in Finland next summer.

FKP Scorpio Group’s Fullsteam Agency will bring together domestic talent such as Vesta, Ursus Factory, Giant Robot, Litku Klemetti, Aavikko, for the debut of Teurastamo Festival on 14 June.

The promoter, which held the final edition of Sideways Festival in Helsinki in June, will also launch À la Park at Meripuisto Park in the Finnish capital on 1-2 August, featuring performances from José González, BEHM, Ellinoora and Samuli Putro and Rodeo.

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IQ presents the second part of our Norway market report, where we dig into their expansive festival sector and how professionals work around a lack of venues. Catch up on part one here.

Festivals
The extreme geographical disconnection between Norwegian cities is the secret behind the appeal of the country’s festivals, of which there are said to be around 400, many of them performing an important regional function.

“The festival market is huge in relation to the size of the country,” says Osmundsvaag. “There’s so many, and that goes back to the geography of Norway. You don’t just hop in your car and go to an event that is 100 or 200 miles away, because in Norway that’s eight hours with the fjords and the mountains. So, there’s a lot more regional festivals, because a lot of those regions are quite insular.”

A strong example of such a festival is the not-for-profit Parkenfestivalen in Bødo, high up on Norway’s west coast, just inside the Arctic Circle, which this year mixed Keane, Pixies, Sundfør, The Cardigans, and Detroit rapper Danny Brown with national and very local artists. As enticing as the bill sounds, festival manager Gøran Aamodt says the audience is mostly drawn from the surrounding region.

“Almost 90% [of the audience] live in Bodø, and the people travelling to the festival are often people coming back to their hometown to meet old friends and sing along to well-known songs. It ́s a tradition for most people. And to have a sold-out 10,500-capacity festival in a town with 50,000 people is quite special.”

In its own way, Bodø is typical of the industrious, self-entertaining rural Norwegian city, with the Bodø Jazz Open in February, Opptur for Gen Zs in July, the classical Nordland Musikkfestuke in August, and Parken in August – as well as several club venues and a concert house. Predictably, however, while demand for events remains strong, the financial balancing act this year has been a tough one.

“You can see the demographic of the place changing during these festivals to reflect the particular subculture”

“All cities from 10,000 and upwards have their own festival,” says Aamodt. “But Parken is a special case. We sell out the day we release our tickets – 10,500 festival passes in total. So, all in all, we had a good year in terms of selling tickets, but the costs have increased so much that even with a sold-out festival, we are depending on good weather to make it work.”

Pstereo in Trondheim is another key festival clinging hard to its local identity, which general manager Eirik Brevik summarises as local history, food, culture, art, and the constant emergence of young, local artists.

“Pstereo is one of the few remaining independent festivals of its size in Norway and is certainly feeling the market’s changes,” he says. “Faced with rising costs, currency fluctuations, and increasing competition from more commercial festivals, we’ve chosen to remain true to our identity. 2024 has been a particularly good year for us, and we see that as a validation that staying close to our roots is the right approach.”

Given the challenges of travel, Norway’s larger cities – specifically Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim – are typically the only ones that can sustain more specialist festivals, but the compact size of even these larger local markets offers an opportunity for immersive city events.

“It can make for very interesting festivals,” says Egenes. “You go to Bergen for Beyond The Gates if you are into extreme metal or Ekko if you like electronic music, and they bring talent from all over the world to quite a small city. You can see the demographic of the place changing during these festivals to reflect the particular subculture.”

Norway has for decades maintained a persistently thriving metal scene – particularly black and extreme, including Gorgoroth, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, and the notorious Mayhem.

“We always try to deliver a little bit more than people expect, but we need to do that in a smart way”

Accordingly, Tons of Rock in Oslo, first staged in 2014 and acquired by Live Nation in 2019, has consistently beefed up in recent years to assume the mantle of Norway’s biggest festival, with a heavyweight lineup to match. Metallica, Tool, Judas Priest, Greta Van Fleet, and ZZ Top this year topped a bill that spanned the rock and metal spectrum, while domestic acts on the bill included Seigmen, Abbath, Satyricon, and rising stars Nova Twins and Skynd.

“It was a new milestone this year, we sold out almost all four days, almost 35,000 each day, so that’s 140,000 tickets,” says Nielsen. “And then you always have a few more when it comes to volunteers and partner tickets and guest artist tickets, comps, so I would guess that it was close to 150,000. There’s no festival close to it in Norway and definitely a new Norwegian record.”

Sky Festivals, part of Sky Agency, remains the biggest festival owner in Norway with ten events, including Oslo’s Findings (with Live Nation), the 18,000-cap Festningen in Trondheim, 12,000-cap Utopia in Stavanger, 10,000-cap Landstreff Fredriksten in Halden, and the 15,000-cap IDYLL in Fredrikstad.

“We feel lucky, because we have the most popular festivals in each city, so we are in a good position,” says Opsahl. Nonetheless, he says the year has been one of ups and downs as costs rose and the marketplace lost a little of its ticket-buying enthusiasm.

Sky’s 2021 acquisition, Stavernfestivalen, in the southern city of Larvik has historically drawn 80,000 over three days. But the festival was a four-dayer this year, and even with Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Burna Boy, and others on board, Opsahl concedes it was a day too many in a summer that saw a downturn in demand after two booming post-Covid years

“We made the decision to add a day quite early – even before the festival in 2023,” says Opsahl. “And putting an extra day in the market is something we wouldn’t do if we did it over again.”
Like many other festival promoters, he describes a careful balancing act between quality events and likely revenues, risk, and reward, and he expects 2025 to be every bit as challenging as 2024.

“We always try to deliver a little bit more than people expect, but we need to do that in a smart way; to look at everything, from marketing to partners to budgets and production, and make sure everything we do is cost-efficient,” he says. “We need to start a little bit from the beginning in some places, in terms of what should we put on and how much should we pay for artists. But we still need to make good events that people are happy with and want to come back again next year.”

“The festival model is tailored for this expansive country”

All Things Live’s festivals include Verket, Drøbakfestivalen, Hvalstrandfestivalen, Sarpsborgfestivalen, Lillehammer Live, and Haikjeften, with the aim of creating synergies across the network of events.

“The festival model is tailored for this expansive country,” says Mølleskog. “We collaborate with a team of local stakeholders and strong regional partners in each location to establish unique, community-focused festivals. However, all booking, programming, marketing, and project management are handled by our team. These festivals stimulate local business and help build enduring regional brands across the country.” She adds that All Things Live is open to new launches and collaborations.

A personal favourite among the group’s local festivals is Haikjeften (Shark Jaw) in Narvik, far up in the fjords, Mølleskog notes. “It’s a medium-sized festival that HES has built up, and the whole city gets involved, and it sells out months ahead every year. It creates a great atmosphere in the whole city.”

OverOslo, which takes place at Grefsenkollen, looking down on Oslo from the east, has steadily grown in the past few years, and now draws 8,000 a day over four days. That makes it one of Norway’s bigger crowd-pullers in terms of unique visitors, but it maintains its appeal as a boutique festival, both deliberately and as a consequence of its location.

“We are located on a hilltop, there’s one way up and down, so we do have some issues with big productions and the logistics around that, which limits us a bit,” says co-founder Lars Petter Fosdahl. Nonetheless, the Pet Shop Boys featured in 2022, Van Morrison and Sophie Ellis-Bextor in ’23, Jungle and Melanie C this year, even as the festival maintains an 80:20 split between Scandinavian and broader international names.

“The general development of the industry in Norway is that there aren’t too many indie festivals left that haven’t been bought up by international organisers,” says Fosdahl, who adds that he has no intention of selling out. “It has really been our baby since the beginning, so I think everyone involved here feels a special connection to what we have built.”

“While Oslo may feel more urban and international, Trondheim offers a stronger local identity”

PiPfest’s most recent edition took place in June, headed by Stormzy, Massive Attack, Tom Odell, and L’Impératrice. Its 8,000 capacity will rise to 12,000 next year, with the addition of a third stage. And while there is clearly demand for the right events, Osmundsvaag says promoters need to be extremely watchful as they allocate their resources.

“You have to recalibrate yourself almost on a daily basis,” he says. “And I think you have to be dynamic and proactive and just keep turning the stones and looking underneath, going, ‘Well, was that decision wise? Do we need to rethink that?’ We just need to be very aware of the environment we’re working in and just work harder, really, to bridge that gap of cost versus income.”

Splashing on mainstream talent, he suggests, increasingly looks like a risky and unreliable route to success. “Relying just on the headliners to define you is obviously the easy way out,” he says. “I’m focusing more and more on communicating that if you come to my event, you’re going to have a really good day, taste some really good food, meet some really interesting people, see some really good bands – maybe some bands you didn’t even know existed.”

Key Norwegian industry events include by:Larm in Oslo and the Trondheim Calling showcase festival, of which Brevik was until recently the CEO. “Trondheim Calling is, in my opinion, the showcase festival in Norway that best reflects the Norwegian market,” he says.

“Trondheim is a modern, vibrant student city, which gives the city a youthful and energetic atmosphere. While Oslo may feel more urban and international, Trondheim offers a stronger local identity, closely connected to nature. The fjords, mountains, and its thriving tech scene give the city a distinct role in the broader Norwegian context.”

“We also still miss a national stadium for concerts and events, and that’s what the big acts request these days”

Venues
It is hard to find anyone who is fully satisfied with Norway’s range of larger venues, amid grumbles about the shortage of available outdoor spaces and the lack of options in Oslo between club and arena level.

Oslo’s Spektrum Arena, Norway’s major arena for visiting and domestic artists, is closing for renovations and a 14-month rebuild next summer. Shows will be shifted to the 25,000-cap Unity Arena, previously the Telenor Arena, with Broiler, Simply Red, Billie Eilish, and The Offspring all booked in for 2025, amid horse shows and handball championships.

“It’s a larger arena but not as centrally located, so it will be very interesting to see how this will impact arena touring in Norway,” says Pride at FKP.

Given the emphasis on blockbuster outdoor events, there is an ongoing demand for public spaces, which the city of Oslo is not always willing to indulge.

“There is a big issue in Oslo when it comes to concerts not getting enough focus,” says Nielsen. “We almost had to beg them to get a second night at Voldsløkka to do Bruce Springsteen last year. There are two or three promoters waiting on answers for an outdoor venue where you can hold 15 to 20,000 people, and there’s currently no options. We also still miss a national stadium for concerts and events, and that’s what the big acts request these days. So yeah, it’s a bit tough.”

Among the possibilities is Bjerke Travbane in northeastern Oslo – the harness-racing track where Rammstein played Norway’s biggest show. “The city has gone in with some money now to facilitate asphalt, power etc, trying to make that into a workable concert arena for promoters. We have to go through the costs again when everything is finalised, but so far, I see it as a venue for acts planning to sell at least 30,000 tickets or more.”

“There’s so much going on – almost too much”

Osmundsvaag prides himself on his ability to scope out untried new sites. “I’ve always enjoyed finding new parks and new areas,” he says. “I’ve just found a new one, actually, this summer [Torshovdalen, site of the Klovner I Kamp show]. It actually amazes me that people can’t be bothered to do the work; they just complain there’s nowhere to put on shows. Well, put the hours in, go and find an opportunity.”

He goes to his window and points to the city park, Sofienbergparken, across the road from his office. “I’m actually sat right next to a park now where everyone told me, ‘No, that’s never going to work,’ and that’s where we do PiPfest. You can see where I got the council to put the land power in.”

It is not only in Oslo that promoters are calling for more options for bigger shows, especially given the distinctly seasonal appeal of outdoor areas. Springsteen’s Bergen show was the first to be staged at the city’s cargo port, known fairly literally as Dokken.

“We have a great open-air arena of up to 23,000 cap at Bergenhus Fortress in the city centre – we are the licence holder,” Bergen Live managing director Frank Nes told IQ’s forthcoming Global Promoters Report. “But the need for bigger capacities, and a modern indoor arena, is definitely a major factor if we are to be able to compete with other cities.”

At club level, things are typically pretty good in larger Norwegian cities, but Oslo is particularly blessed. Auditorium AS operates three key venues – the 1,300-cap Rockefeller, the smaller 500-cap basement room John Dee, and the 1,750-cap Sentrum Scene, staging scores of Norwegian and international shows.

Formerly one of the oldest cinemas in Europe, the 117-year-old Parkteatret is now a 500-capacity music venue with a constant stream of local and international gigs. By:Larm uses venues including the 400-cap Blå, the smaller Himmel room upstairs, 150-cap dive bar Revolver, and the 950-cap Vulkan Arena.

“If you go to concerts between 100 and 500 capacity in Oslo, it’s fantastic,” says Egenes. “There’s so much going on – almost too much.”

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All Things Live has named Coen ter Wolbeek as Group Chief Operating Officer (COO), effective November 1 2024.

Wolbeek brings over 30 years of industry expertise, having co-founded Agents After All, one of the largest independent companies in the Dutch live entertainment market.

The Amsterdam-based promoter, which is involved in more than 1,500 concerts annually in the Netherlands, was acquired by All Things Live in December 2022.

Wolbeek will continue to co-manage the careers of several Dutch artists through Agents After All alongside his new role as Group COO at All Things Live.

“Exactly 20 years after founding Agents After All and growing it into the powerhouse as it is today, I am ready for the next chapter,” he says.

“Agents After All and All Things Live started their cooperation in 2022, and I’ve witnessed its rise as one of Europe’s most exciting independent live entertainment companies. The Group is well-positioned for further international expansion, and I am eager to contribute to its growth by creating more opportunities for the talented artists we represent and working alongside the ambitious team and co-owners.”

Gry Mølleskog, Group CEO of All Things Live, commented: “We are thrilled to welcome Coen ter Wolbeek to our Management team. His extensive experience and proven track record in the live entertainment industry will be invaluable as we continue to expand our business across Europe. Coen’s strategic insight and passion for industry will help drive our growth and strengthen our position as a leading independent player.”

“Coen’s strategic insight and passion for industry will help drive our growth and strengthen our position as a leading independent player”

Since All Things Live was founded by Waterland Private Equity in 2018, it has expanded to 28 companies in eight countries. The company’s portfolio ranges from musical productions to music festivals and standup events to stadium concerts, with Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, The Rolling Stones, Eminem, and Rammstein among its clients.

Elsewhere, AEG Presents subsidiary Goldenvoice has announced a slate of promotions for several talent buyers across southern California.

Becky Rosen-Checa, talent buyer for Roxy Theatre and El Rey Theatre, will segue from those venues to oversee bookings for the Fox Theater Pomona in addition to one-off LA area shows for Goldenvoice. She will also be contributing to Goldenvoice’s catalogue of shows at Los Angeles State Historic Park and Brookside at the Rose Bowl, as well as festival properties Palm Springs Surf Club and Desert Air.

Henry Huerta, Rosen-Checa’s booking partner, will continue to handle booking duties at the Roxy and El Rey, alongside newly-promoted talent buyer Montreh Nariman-Hassanabadi. Nariman-Hassanbadi was most recently a talent buyer assistant at Goldenvoice.

Chavanté Flakes, who joined AEG Presents in 2022 and segued into the role of booking manager at Goldenvoice this year, has been promoted to talent buyer at The Novo, the Downtown LA club that is a key hip-hop and R&B destination in the city. Flakes joins current Novo talent buyer Gaston Leone in this role.

In addition, Candace Mandracia has joined the company to help book shows in the San Diego area. Mandracia, who worked most recently at AEG Presents’ Las Vegas office and Live Nation San Diego before that, will now book shows at such venues as Rady Shell, Humphreys, and the venues at Pechanga Casino. She joins the booking team of John Wojas, Lea Swanson and Jenn Liebelt.

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All Things Live (ATL) Sweden has announced the appointment of Magnus Widell as CEO.

Widell boasts significant experience in the theme park, hotel and restaurant industries, including 10 years as CEO of amusement park Gröna Lundh and a separate leadership role with restaurant brand Boulebar.

“I am incredibly happy and looking forward to meeting all my new colleagues at All Things Live,” says Widell. “Music and live entertainment have always been a strong part of my previous workplaces, and it will be incredibly fun to now also get to work with some of the best in the industry.

“Building strong relationships, internally and externally, has always been one of my strongest driving forces, and I always strive to create a positive and forward-leaning culture where results and well-being go hand in hand. It therefore feels fantastic to have this opportunity and to be part of such a dynamic team, and I look forward to creating something really big together.”

“He will lead a company and a strong team of competent people – with great opportunities for continued growth in the Swedish market”

ATL has brought international superstars like Taylor Swift, Andrea Bocelli, Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes, Céline Dion, Green Day and Britney Spears to Sweden, while its music agency represents clients including Veronica Maggio, Miss Li, Thomas Stenström, Albin Lee Meldau, Helen Sjöholm, Lisa Nilsson, Tjuvjakt and Nadja Evelina.

It also organises annual song competition Melodifestivalen, as well as festivals such as A Day In The Park, Summer On and Amaze. Widell takes up his new position on 1 October.

“We are very happy to have Magnus as the new leader of All Things Live in Sweden,” says Gry Mölleskog, Group CEO for All Things Live Europe. “He will lead a company and a strong team of competent people – with great opportunities for continued growth in the Swedish market, and we are convinced that he has the qualities and insight required for that.”

Nordic powerhouse ATL was established in December 2018 following Waterland Private Equity’s acquisition of leading Nordic live entertainment companies in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The partnership has since expanded into Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and the Middle East.

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Friction and Atomic Soul Booking founder Peer Osmundsvaag has gone solo following a five-year stint with Nordic live entertainment giant All Things Live (ATL).

The Norway-based promoter’s businesses were among six Scandinavian companies united by Netherlands-based multinational investment firm Waterland Private Equity to form ATL, which launched in 2019. ATL also acquired one of Norway’s largest independent festival organisers, HES, last year.

“I’ve had a great five years with the fantastic team at All Things Live and have many fond memories, but the restless soul in me felt it was time for new adventures,” Osmundsvaag tells IQ.

Osmundsvaag has brought acts such as Eminem, Bon Jovi, Prince, Robbie Williams, Leonard Cohen, Andrea Bocelli, Justin Bieber, Michael Buble, Bruno Mars, Rammstein, Green Day, Lana Del Rey and Ellie Goulding to Norway.

In the wake of his departure from ATL, he plans to focus on his own festival, Oslo’s Piknik i Parken (Picnic in the Park) – aka PiPFest – which he founded in 2014. PipFest’s most recent edition took place last month, headed by Stormzy, Massive Attack, Tom Odell and L’Impératrice.

“I’m looking forward to getting my hands dirty, getting back in the trenches and focusing on developing the festival,” says Osmundsvaag. “It’s an inner-city event based on the total experience rather than being purely headliner-driven and we’ve seen lovely, organic growth, which took us by surprise.

“We had a 30% increase from 2023 to this year and a record turnout. It’s 8,000-cap at the moment, but we’re going to expand to a third stage for next year, which will bring it up to 12,000.”

“AURORA has been on our wish list for many years, so we’re very happy to finally got that locked in early”

PiPFest has announced Norwegian superstar AURORA as its first headliner for 2025, which will be held at Sofienbergparken from 12-14 June. Early bird three-day passes priced NOK1,560 (€136) have already sold out. Full price admission will cost NOK2,600, with day tickets available for NOK1,300.

“AURORA has been on our wish list for many years, so we’re very happy to finally got that locked in early,” says Osmundsvaag. “The only show she will be doing in eastern Norway next year will be with us. We only have eight or nine artists per day, which makes it fun but harder to programme as every act has to count.”

The veteran promoter, who was also booker and co-founder of Norway’s Hove Festival, oversaw the two largest ticketed live music events in Norway’s history – Eminem at Oslo’s Voldslokka, which drew 55,000 people in 2018, and Rammstein, who pulled 60,000 fans to Bjerke Travbane horse track in 2022. In 2017, he was awarded the culture prize by the Major of Oslo for “helping to put Oslo on the map as one of the world’s best concert cities”.

Osmundsvaag moved into clubs and ticketed events after starting out as a DJ and free party organiser in Cheltenham, UK in the 80s. Working with rave music promoter Fantazia, he sold 120,000 copies of Fantazia Club Classics as ‘DJ Peer’.

He later toured with British pop group D-Ream as their DJ in 1993/94 before moving back to his native Norway. Following spells as booker for Quart Festival and running clubs in Oslo in the late 90s, he switched to concert promotion and started Atomic Soul in 2001.

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Green Day have announced their first-ever concert in the Middle East, set to take place in Dubai next year.

The American punk-rock band will perform on 27 January 2025 at Expo City Dubai, a 30,000-capacity open-air concert venue.

The historic concert will be the first standalone large-scale concert in the Expo precinct, according to promoter All Things Live Middle East.

The trio, comprised of Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool, will be supported by fellow American punk-rock band The Offspring.

“Book your tickets early because we fully expect this show to sell out”

“Green Day need no introduction – they are without doubt one of the most requested rock bands in our region and we are thrilled to be bringing them to the UAE for their first show in the Middle East,” says Thomas Ovesen, CEO, All Things Live Middle East.

“My advice to those fans wishing to watch this historic event is to book your tickets early because we fully expect this show to sell out.”

Ticket prices for the concert range from AED 445 (€113) to AED 3,000 (€759), further details can be found here.

Green Day’s global stadium outing, The Saviors Tour, kicks off in Europe on 30 May 2024. The band are booked by CAA worldwide and managed by Crush Music.

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Young and emerging executives shared their predictions for 2024’s breaking acts, during last week’s Futures Forum.

Gurj Summan (Live Nation, UK), Kerem Turgut (All Things Live, UAE), Niklas Magedanz (Goodlive Artists, DE) and Caitlin-Finn Ballard (ATC Live, UK) swapped artist tips during the increasingly popular session, Now That’s What I Call 2024.

The panel, moderated by Midnight Mango’s Louise McGovern, shared three tracks each with the audience, as well as information on the artists’ journey, live careers and more. See a full breakdown below.

Double Back – Coco Jones
Gurj Summan, Live Nation, said: “I loved her voice. She came up through Disney and signed to Def Jam in 2022. This year she got nominated for five Grammy Awards and won Best R&B Performance over the likes of SZA and Victoria Monet, so she’s having a great year. We promoted a show for her at KOKO in Camden last year and it sold out.”

Poolside – Gia Ford
Caitlin-Finn Ballard, ATC Live, said: “I started working with Gia this year and she signed to Chrysalis a few months ago. That song is an allegorical story about a pool boy working in the Hollywood Hills and building up resentment against the people he works for… She’s taken a very cinematic direction, it’s very dark and broody. She’s an amazing live vocalist and is about to go on tour supporting Marika Hackman.”

Ainda Bern – Marisa Monte
Kerem Turgut, All Things Live, said: “In the UAE, we have over 200 nationalities and the Brazilian population is around 10,000. So we decided to book [Brazilian singer and composed] Marisa Monte. She’s going to play in Dubai at the end of November for two days because we are very confident she could sell over 2,000 tickets.”

www she hot – UCHE YARA
Niklas Magedanz, Goodlive Artists, said: “She is 20 years old, we started working with her when she was 19. She’s a talent that I have rarely seen… such an aura on stage and a unique sound. I describe her sound as Little Simz meets King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. We’re doing the Germany shows for her first headline tour, this spring all across Europe. The best is yet to come.”

N.L.S (Nach Le Soniye) – Raf Saperra
Gurj Summan, Live Nation, said: “He is UK-born, from Lewisham. British-Asian and represents the culture. He has had an enormous trajectory in the last year. We had a sold-out tour and he recently got signed to Mass Appeal which is Nas’s imprint. Releasing a new album next week. He’s a mixture of two worlds, hip hop and Bhangra. In the Asian scene, he’s one of the most exciting acts to come out of the UK, selling out shows pretty much everywhere; America, Canada and Australia.”

Candyman – Loverman
Caitlin-Finn Ballard, ATC Live, said: “This is one of my newest signings, an Anglo-Belgium artist. I got a tip from Live Nation Belgium, they told me he was selling out his first tour after releasing his debut album. He had two sold-out ABs in Brussels and they invited me along to one of them. I completely forgot I was there for work, I had hairs standing up on the back of my arms… he’s got one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen.”

The City Holds My Heart – Ghostly Kisses
Kerem Turgut, All Things Live, said: “She’s from Canada and I had a chance to work with her in 2019 before Covid in Istanbul. She sold almost 1,000 tickets in Turkey and 2,000 tickets in Egypt. In 2022, we brought her to Dubai Opera House and sold over 1,300 tickets which is an amazing number for this kind of emerging act. The following year, she visited Bahrain and Kuwait and did very well. In 2024, she’ll come back to the region again.”

Follow Don’t Follow – orbit
Niklas Magedanz, Goodlive Artists, said: “We are all very excited about him in our office. He’s a special and introverted artist who makes music with his childhood friends. All that started to develop well during the pandemic, he gained millions of streams on his first singles and did a DIY tour in people’s backyards all over Europe. We have him on 1,000-capacity level in Germany. His debut album hasn’t even been released yet. He has a very active and strong fanbase and makes electronic music for indie kids and vice verse. He currently doesn’t have an international agent in place!”

Normal – Skrapz
Gurj Summan, Live Nation, said: “Skrapz has been around for a while but he’s a solid rapper. We just announced his headline show a few weeks ago and it sold out pretty much on the day. His album is out today (Friday 1 March), it’s called Reflections. He’s signed to UTA and he’s doing really well… really excited future ahead.”

Backseat Baby – Cosmorat
Caitlin-Finn Ballard, ATC Live, said: “It’s the first single they’ve released. They’re two introverted, nerdy sound engineers who are geniuses when it comes to recording and writing. It’s been a heartening experience working with them; I’ve realised that word of mouth is still so powerful because they had no team or money behind them. Attention has picked up bit by bit to the point that we’re now doing a big festival summer. Now, they’ve got a team in place and we’ve got some fun shows lined up for their EP launch.”

Pasoori – Shae Gill, Ali Sethi
Kerem Turgut, All Things Live, said: “This video has more than 700 million views on YouTube. The artist is from Pakistan but he lives in New York. We had the chance to host him in 2023 in Dubai, which sold over 2,000 tickets. In Dubai, we have almost two million Indians, and one million Pakistanis, so the South Asian community is very strong. And then we put him on our programme and the show was great. We are going to bring him to the region again in January 2025. I think he’s a great artist and he’s very strong in our market.

Aspiration – Zaho de Sagazan
Niklas Magedanz, Goodlive Artists, said: “We booked her to Reeperbahn festival in Hamburg last fall and I have never received so many festival offers for an artist in the first year, especially in Germany. In France, it’s going even better for her. She’s playing the Zenith in Paris already. We really hope that this great potential comes over to Germany sometime soon.”

See the full playlist for Now That’s What I Call 2024 below.

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All Things Live has hired Zachris Sundell as senior promoter of its Finnish operation, effective 1 March.

Sundell’s previous roles include head promoter of Live Nation Finland and senior promoter at Warner Music Live Finland.

The appointment comes after All Things Live Finland named Jan Streng development director at the beginning of November.

Streng previously worked as executive vice president of the Finnish Comedy Theatre and in various management positions at Sony Music record label.

“I am very happy to have solid and experienced professionals in my team,” says Toni Peiju, CEO of All Things Live Finland. “The addition of Zachris and Jan will really help and gain an even larger market share in Finland.”

“The addition of Zachris and Jan will really help and gain an even larger market share in Finland”

Sundell adds: “It’s great to start as a senior promoter in a growing international company. I am eager to join in growing and strengthening All Things Live’s business.”

All Things Live Group was founded in 2019 by six Scandinavian companies, which represent more than 500 artists and produce more than 8,000 events annually.

In addition to Helsinki, the group currently has offices in Oslo, Stockholm, Malmö, Brussels, Milan, Dubai, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Copenhagen.

In addition to promoting international artists such as Katy Perry, The Rolling Stones and Rammstein, All Things Live Finland specialises in rock and metal, working with acts including Nightwish, Beast In Black, Sonata Arctica and this year’s Emma-nominated Bloodred.

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