Mexican rapper draws record 310k concert crowd
Rapper Natanael Cano has smashed Mexico’s attendance record after attracting more than 310,00 people to his performance at the 2024 San Luis Potosí National Fair (FENAPO).
The 23-year-old, who has almost 24 million monthly listeners on Spotify, is considered an innovator in the new wave of regional Mexican music, specifically the corridos tumbados genre, and surpassed all previous records at Foro-Teatro del Pueblo on 28 August.
Considered one of the country’s most important fairs, the three-week-long FENAPO also featured international acts such as Black Eyed Peas, Maluma, Steve Aoki and Vanilla Ice.
The attendance record was confirmed by state governor Ricardo Gallardo Cardona on social media, as well as state civil protection.
“This night will always be etched in our memory”
“310 thousand thanks,” Cardona wrote on his Facebook account. “Natanael Cano breaks a record at the best fair in Mexico, #FENAPO2024. This night will always be etched in our memory.”
Days earlier, on 23 August, Cano’s Tumbado Tour sold out the 65,000-cap GNP Seguros Stadium (formerly Foro Sol) in Mexico City, which was livestreamed on Disney+. The Mexican is represented by WME.
In June last year, Argentina’s Los Fabulosos Cadillacs set a new Mexican attendance record by drawing 300,000 fans to a free show in Mexico City. The eight-piece band performed in the Plaza de la Constitución (Constitution Square), known as the Zócalo – the world’s second largest public square after Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
Previously, Mexican band Grupo Firme drew a then record 280,000 to the square in September 2022.
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Finland’s Provinssi hails ‘best-ever’ edition
Finland’s Provinssi festival has set an all-time attendance record with its 2024 edition.
Over three days, the festival recorded its largest-ever attendance of 85,000, beating the previous record of 81,000 in 2011.
Måneskin, Turnstile, Bring Me The Horizon and Yungblud were among the international acts that performed at the 27–29 June event, in Seinäjoki, western Finland.
Local talent, meanwhile, included PMMP, Jenni Vartiainen and KUUMAA.
“A stunningly great weekend is behind us!” says festival director Ville Koivisto, who was appointed last year. “With the all-time attendance record, the smoothness of the entire event and the great gigs, this has been the best Provinssi ever!”
“This has been the best Provinssi ever”
Provinssi (Province) is one of the oldest festivals in Finland and one of the largest in Northern Europe. The event has been held on the island of Törnävänsaari in Seinäjoki every June since 1979.
Its previous headliners include Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rammstein, System Of A Down, Rage Against The Machine, Linkin Park, David Bowie, Muse, The Killers, Ellie Goulding, The Ramones, Blur Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Patti Smith, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Massive Attack, The Cure and Queens Of The Stone Age.
Provinssi is organised and promoted by Seinäjoki Festivals Oy, which is owned by Selmu ry and Fullsteam Agency Oy (part of FKP Scorpio group).
Fullsteam Agency recently announced that one of its other Finnish festivals, Sideways, will not take place in its current form after 2024.
In a statement, organisers said that “making a festival that is ambitious in terms of content and service offering and larger in size is rewarding but challenging”.
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George Strait smashes US attendance record for ticketed gig
Country music legend George Strait has set an all-time attendance record for a ticketed concert in the United States.
The Texas native drew 110,905 fans to Texas A&M’s Kyle Field in College Station on Saturday 15 June, according to Billboard.
The record was previously held by the Grateful Dead, who had 107,019 fans in attendance at their 1977 show at Raceway Park in New Jersey.
Strait’s Saturday show also set a new record for Texas A&M Kyle Field for a single event (previously recorded on 11 October 2014, at 110,633, for a Texas A&M game against Ole Miss).
The event, dubbed George Strait: The King at Kyle Field, featured special guests, fellow Lone Star natives and MCA labelmates, Parker McCollum and Catie Offerman.
“George has always said he has the best fans, and there’s nothing like a Texas crowd,” said longtime promoter and Messina Touring Group founder, Louis Messina.
“George has always said he has the best fans, and there’s nothing like a Texas crowd”
“We knew the show at Kyle Field would be exciting as it’s the first-ever one of its size to be held in the stadium, but even I didn’t expect we’d sell over 100,000 tickets in just a few days.”
Strait is no stranger to setting records. According to his website, he holds more than 20 attendance records at music venues across the US.
The 72-year-old singer also had the most No. 1 singles of any artist in any genre and is the only artist to boast a Top 10 hit every year for three decades, Billboard reported.
Strait, whose new album Cowboys and Dreamers drops in September, will continue his 10-stop stadium outing alongside Chris Stapleton, supported by Little Big Town.
The country stalwarts are due to perform in Salt Lake City later this month, followed by concerts in Detroit and Chicago in July, and a show in Las Vegas in December.
“We’ve spent the last few years playing speciality one-off shows in markets he’ll likely never play again,” added Messina. “I’m excited about this summer of special shows with Chris Stapleton – it’s always been such a great experience for the fans. Bringing these magical nights from the King of Country music to fans has been one of the greatest honours of my life.”
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All Things Live promotes Norway’s biggest-ever gig
All Things Live has smashed the attendance record for a concert on Norwegian soil, hosting 60,000 fans at a Rammstein show.
The event took place on Sunday 24 June at Bjerke Travbane in Oslo and was the first-ever concert held at the horse racing track.
The previous attendance record was set by All Things Live subsidiary Atomic Soul with Eminem’s 2018 performance at Oslo Sommertid festival.
The rapper drew around 55,000 fans to the capital’s Voldsløkka sports stadium after tickets sold out in just six minutes.
Commenting on the Rammstein show, All Things Live Norway promoter Mark Vaughan says: “Bjerke Travbane was a fantastic venue to present this massive show. It doesn’t come any bigger than Rammstein and both band and crew were extremely happy after the show.”
All Things Live Norway has secured an exclusive agreement with Bjerke Travbane going forward, which will be the largest capacity arena in Norway.
“We have worked and invested a lot to make this venue compatible for the biggest artists in the world, now we have proved it works and we are looking forward to bringing stadium artists to Norway going forwards!” says Peer Osmundsvaag, All Things Live Norway.
“We are looking forward to bringing stadium artists to Norway going forwards”
News of the record-breaking concert comes as All Things Live announces yet another acquisition.
The private-equity-backed live entertainment group has sealed the deal with Stageway, a leading Norwegian live entertainment group that deals in artist management, booking and promoting.
The Bergen-based group’s activities are conducted via three companies: Stageway Talent, Komon Stageway and Stageway Teater.
Stageway Talent provides booking and promotion services across genres for a roster of more than 30 artists; Komon-Stageway delivers turnkey event solutions for large corporate customers and Stageway Teater produces comedy shows and acts as a management service provider for renowned Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis, among others.
Arne Svare, co-founder and CEO of Stageway, says: “We are so pleased to announce that we are joining forces with All Things Live to accelerate our joint business in Norway, the Nordics and beyond in the coming years. We have been part of the bustling live entertainment industry for four decades and known and respected the team behind All Things Live for years. Together, we will strengthen our offering to artists and customers while delivering even greater experiences for the audience.”
Knut Meiner, chairman and senior consultant of Komon-Stageway, adds: “Everyone in our companies have worked hard to build a strong reputation in the Norwegian market. We are absolutely thrilled to become part of a partnership, which is well-respected and shares our aspiration to grow the business based on deep understanding of the local market and a clear focus on bringing great live entertainment and fantastic corporate events to more people.”
“Stageway is a great business with fantastic talent, strong growth prospects and a perfect fit with our existing operations”
The management team and organisation of Stageway will remain unchanged, and existing contracts and customer relationships will not be affected by All Things Live’s acquisition of Stageway Talent, Komon-Stageway and Stageway Teater. In connection with the transaction, the current owners of the three companies become partners and co-owners of All Things Live.
“Stageway is a great business with fantastic talent, strong growth prospects and a perfect fit with our existing operations in All Things Live Norway. We are very pleased to welcome the great people behind Stageway who will contribute greatly to the development of our partnership in Norway and internationally,” says Kim Worsøe, member of the executive board of All Things Live Group.
Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval by the Norwegian Competition Authority. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
All Things Live has been on an acquisition spree in the past fortnight, this week enhancing its presence in Belgium with the addition of management company Musickness.
Last week, All Things Live signalled its expansion into the Italian market with the acquisition of promoter and agency Radar Concerti and also recently announced the signing of international management firm Then We Take The World.
All Things Live was established in 2018 as “the new independent market leader in Nordic live entertainment” following Waterland Private Equity’s acquisition of six leading Scandinavian promoters and agencies.
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Major festivals enjoy record sell-outs for 2022
Austria’s Nova Rock is the latest festival to report a record sell-out, as the sector embarks on its first full season since 2019.
The event’s promoter, Nova Music Entertainment, says a total of 225,000 visitors are expected to attend the four-day festival in Nickelsdorf this June, which marks a new attendance record.
“We are so happy and proud,” says Nova Music Entertainment, which is part of CTS Eventim’s Barracuda Music.
After two consecutive cancellations, the annual hard rock event will return to Pannonia Fields between 9–12 June with acts including Muse, Placebo, Volbeat and Five Finger Death Punch.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Rock am Ring recently announced that a record 90,000 weekend tickets had sold for its 2022 edition, while twin festival Rock im Park shifted more than 70,000 tickets.
Both of the eventimpresents/DreamHaus’s events took place last weekend with acts including Green Day, Muse, Volbeat, Placebo, Måneskin.
Elsewhere, events such as Rock Werchter and Rock in Rio have sold out their typical allocation of tickets, but in record time.
“Event-goers are now spending up to three times more on their event trips than even pre-Covid levels”
Around 1 million people registered for the chance to buy tickets to Rock in Rio’s Brazil event, which runs over two weekends from 2–4 and 8–11 September and hosts 100,000 fans per day at the Cidade do Rock.
The 4 September date, starring Justin Bieber, was the fastest sell out at a record 12 minutes, followed by days headlined by Coldplay (27 minutes), Post Malone (59 minutes), Dua Lipa (64 minutes), Green Day (104 minutes) and Guns N’ Roses (285 minutes). The remaining 2 September date, topped by Iron Maiden, has also now sold out.
Rock Werchter, meanwhile, sold out months ahead of when it typically would, with 67,000 combi-tickets and four lots of 21,000 one-day tickets flying off the shelf by the beginning of February.
Elsewhere in LN Belgium’s stable of events, Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel was expanded from 50,000 capacity to 52,000 after most tickets sold out in early November.
Top promoters and ticketing firms including DEAG, Dice, Event Genius and The Ticket Factory have all confirmed the pent-up demand for events, saying that current ticket sales are even higher than pre-pandemic levels.
“Such is the demand for events and experiences – both domestically and abroad – event-goers are now spending up to three times more on their domestic and international event trips than even pre-Covid levels,” Event Genius’s CEO Benjamin Leaver told IQ.
Further evidencing a bumper festival season to come, an unprecedented number of new festivals are launching this year.
Promoters including FKP Scorpio, Goodlive, AEG, Goldenvoice and Live Nation have all added to their stable of festivals, as most prepare for their busiest festival season on record.
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Maluma breaks WiZink’s attendance record
Colombian singer Maluma last night (5 April) broke the attendance record for Madrid’s WiZink Center, with an audience of 17,412.
The Latin superstar, who is undertaking his Papi Juancho Europe Tour 2022, opted for a 360º format which meant the venue’s maximum capacity of 17,453 could be used.
The record was previously held by American heavy metal legends Metallica, who also used the 360º format and drew 17,267 fans to their 2018 concert.
The record was previously held by American heavy metal legends Metallica, who also used the 360º format and drew 17,267 fans
The WiZink Center says it deployed its maximum organisational capacity, including 704 workers, to make the Maluma concert possible.
This included 226 technical professionals, lighting, sound, assemblers, loading and unloading operators, 252 people in the security device, health services, fire prevention technicians, ushers and access controllers; and another 172 in restaurant services, bars, and kitchens; in addition to another 54 professionals in other different tasks.
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Juan Luis Guerra celebrates Miami success
Grammy- and Latin Grammy-winning artist Juan Luis Guerra broke his own attendance record on Saturday 5 October at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.
Part of Guerra’s national Literal tour, the show played to a sold-out of arena of more than 13,000 fans, and included special appearances from contemporary Latin stars Juanes and Monsieur Periné.
Remaining stops on the Literal tour include Los Angeles (20 October), Washington DC (25 Oct) and Orlando, Florida (27 Oct).
Dominican Republic-born Juan Luis Guerra has won two Grammy Awards and 21 Latin Grammys, and sold more than 70 million records worldwide.
The Literal tour is promoted by Loud and Live, which launched a JV with leading Latin American promoter Move Concerts earlier this week.
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