Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium postpones all concerts
Real Madrid has announced it is rescheduling all concerts at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium following noise complaints from local residents.
The Spanish football club says the decision is part of a series of measures it has been taking “to ensure strict compliance with current municipal regulations” during gigs.
The world-famous Bernabéu reopened for music bookings last year following a five-year, €900 million renovation. In 2024, it hosted the only Spanish dates of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, as well as a record-breaking four-night stint by Karol G in July and performances by Duki, Manuel Carrasco, Luis Miguel and Aitana.
However, Madrid police reported noise levels as far exceeding the permitted decibel limit, with locals alleging the shows had turned the stadium into a “torturódromo” (torture-drome).
“Despite the soundproofing conditions of the Santiago Bernabéu stadium and the reinforcement measures that have been undertaken, compliance with said regulations by the various organisers and promoters has been affected by the great challenge that it has meant for them to take into account all its precepts,” says a statement from the UEFA Champions League holders.
“Real Madrid will continue to work to ensure that the right conditions for sound production and broadcasting are met during concerts”
Affected dates include headline shows by domestic artists Dellafuente, Aitana and Lola Índigo, plus K-pop’s Music Bank World Tour.
“Real Madrid will continue to work to ensure that the right conditions for sound production and broadcasting are met during concerts to enable concerts to be held in our stadium,” adds the club.
“New dates and details will be announced soon for Dellafuente and Aitana, initially scheduled for November 15 and December 28 and 29, 2024 respectively, and for Lola Índigo, scheduled for March 22, 2025. In the case of Music Bank, which was to take place on October 12, 2024, it is definitively cancelled.”
It continues: “In addition to concerts, the Bernabéu is prepared to host a large number of events and shows, which will continue to take place as part of the stadium’s operation project.
“Real Madrid will continue to collaborate with the Community of Madrid and the Madrid City Council for sustainability and coexistence, and its objective will always be to ensure that the stadium’s activities guarantee its commitment to the city of Madrid and are beneficial to its surroundings.”
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Spanish rapper sells out Madrid stadium in presale
Spanish artist Dellafuente has sold out a one-off show at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium just in the presale.
The trap star reportedly shifted all 75,000 tickets within an hour for the 15 November date, organised by promoter and music management company MAAS to celebrate Dellafuente’s decade in the music industry.
Affordable ticket prices of €32-65 have been credited for helping make the Granada-born singer-songwriter the first domestic independent artist to sell out the recently renovated home of the UEFA Champions League holders. The concert will be Dellafuente’s only remaining concert of 2024.
Real name Pablo Enoc Bayo, the 32-year-old previously sold out three shows at Granada Sports Palace in 2022 and two nights at Madrid’s WiZink Center in 2023, where he was joined by fellow Spanish rapper Morad. He also attracted 15,000 people to a secret free gig on Granada’s Explanada del Paseo del Salón last month.
The Bernabéu will also welcome Karol G from 20-23 July, with the Latin superstar becoming the first artist to fully sell out four consecutive nights at the Spanish stadium.
“We have been working discreetly, but continuously, with Real Madrid to reach an agreement that allows us to reduce the noise”
Earlier this summer, it hosted two nights of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, as well as shows by Luis Miguel, Duki, Manuel Carrasco and Vintage Culture.
However, Público reports that all major concerts at the stadium held up to the end of May had exceeded noise limits set by municipal regulations, leaving promoters facing fines of up to €20,000 in the most serious cases.
Following protests by local residents, Real Madrid and the city council reached an agreement in June to install noise barriers and limit the number of concerts at the venue to 20 per year.
“Measures had to be taken to guarantee the residents’ rest and peace of mind,” said Madrid mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida. “The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is also important for everything it can contribute to the city of Madrid. We have been working discreetly, but continuously, with Real Madrid to reach an agreement that allows us to reduce the noise.”
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ILMC 35: The View from the Top
The stadium concert boom is showing no signs of subsiding according to the live music heavyweights who convened for ILMC’s The View from the Top panel.
Chaired by UK-based economist Will Page, yesterday’s (2 March) session at the Royal Lancaster Hotel brought together ASM Global’s John Boyle, Sophia Burn of Live Nation and Marty Diamond of Wasserman Music, alongside Jenny Hutchinson of Bristol Ashton Gate and Rocio Vallejo-Nagera of Real Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium.
US-based Diamond, agent for acts such as Coldplay and Ed Sheeran in North America, described 2022’s touring business as “amazing” and said this year was shaping up to be even better, but warned against oversaturation of the market.
“Coldplay put up stadium dates recently. We put up a very brief run in ’23 that blew out, we are looking further down the road: Ed Sheeran is on fire. Our SZA tour blew out. Our Kendrick ‘[Lamar] tour blew out,” he said. “Business is gangbusters, but there is a bit in the middle where there are going to be winners and losers. The fans can’t consume it all. It’s like we’re at the table now and everybody just keeps bringing out plates. And at some point, you’re full.”
Diamond went on to discuss his concerns around pricing the events.
“The desire for people to come together and have a shared experience is the big thing, post pandemic… And I don’t think that’s going away”
“My real fear with it is – and it’s so interesting, because I’ve worked with two massive clients that are so ticket price sensitive in Coldplay and Ed, largely because they understand… that a consumer isn’t necessarily buying two tickets, they might be buying four tickets,” he said. “That’s a commitment to a pocket. It’s a big ask for people. So we have to approach the future in a cautionary way.”
Nevertheless, Burn described demand for tickets for Live Nation’s summer stadium tours by artists including Beyonce, The Weeknd, Coldplay and Depeche Mode, as “just crazy”.
“I understand the pricing question but I think people are really keen to be together,” she countered. “Harry Styles’ crowd is just the most wonderful group of people partying together and making friends and I can understand the appeal of that after Covid where you could see maybe your three best friends if you tried.”
Boyle, ASM’s global chief content officer, suggested there was a strong correlation between the pandemic and the rising number of stadium shows.
“I think the desire for people to come together and have a shared experience is the big thing, post pandemic… And I don’t think that’s going away,” he said.
“Live Nation has 180 stadium shows in Europe this year versus 120 last year. That’s 50% growth. Is that sustainable? We’ll see… I want to be optimistic that it is”
He added that co-headline tours and curated bills such as Def Leppard & Motley Crue’s run with Poison and Joan Jett were most likely a sign of things to come.
“If you like metal, you’re going to this,” he said. “Packaging, so that you can get to a stadium level, is important. There are only so many acts that can do stadiums on their own: the Beyonces, the Coldplays, the Stones. So I think the packaging component is going to be important moving forward. And when you talk about the pieces of the pie, the middle is the hard part it really is. I’m told Live Nation has 180 stadium shows in Europe this year versus 120 last year. That’s 50% growth. Is that sustainable? We’ll see. I don’t know. I want to be optimistic that it is.
“In America, what I can tell you is we manage about a quarter of the NFL stadiums in major markets. There is not a weekend available this summer for a show. Everything is booked every single weekend.”
Bristol’s Ashton Gate Stadium hosted The Killers and two nights with Elton John in 2022 after welcoming the Spice Girls, Muse, Rod Stewart and Take That in 2019, and head of venue and events Hutchinson said the indications were that the post-Covid upswing was sustainable for the industry.
“We’re back to a new and better normal, I would say, and it will be much more exciting when we have a new stadium in Madrid”
“We thought it was just a knee jerk reaction from everything being shut down, but actually we’re seeing even more growth,” she said. “We’re seeing bigger events, big audiences and bigger spend, so the new normal for us actually looks pretty good.”
Former Live Nation Spain partnerships director Rocio Vallejo-Nágera was recently hired as head of large events and concerts at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The stadium will have both a retractable roof and pitch – enabling it to stage live music shows all-year-round – when it reopens at the end of 2023 following the completion of its extensive renovation.
Vallejo-Nágera shared her pride at the rise of Spanish language music globally, and said the country’s domestic market was also on an upward trajectory.
“Spain, especially Madrid, was quite open during the pandemic,” she said. “Everything was absolutely closed for three months, but then we did have shows – you had to be sitting down, you had to wear a mask, etc – but there was a time where Madrid was Vegas around 2021. It was the most fun city in Europe. So I think we’re 100% back to normal. We’re back to a new and better normal, I would say, and it will be much more exciting when we have a new stadium in Madrid.”
“A year ago today, Harry Styles had not played a stadium in the UK. And when I think of Harry Styles today, I think of him as a very well established stadium artist”
And Burn indicated she had few concerns about the next wave of stadium headliners coming through.
“A year ago today, Harry Styles had not played a stadium in the UK. And when I think of Harry Styles today, I think of him as a very well established stadium artist,” she said. “There are so many: Wizkid has done the first stadium he’s ever done here, The Weeknd is playing stadiums for the first time this year. There’s so much to come that I’m not really worried.
“Plus, these are still great artists. The Eagles played last year and it was amazing Bruce Springsteen’s coming this year, the shows are sold out and half of my inbox is requests from the 20-year-olds in the office that are dying to see Springsteen, so I think it’s fine.”
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