Wembley Stadium introduces sustainability rider

Wembley Stadium has introduced its own sustainability rider, following in the footsteps of other London venues The O2 and the Royal Albert Hall.

The rider outlines the role sustainability plays within the stadium’s operations, alongside advice and guidance for all organisations, promoters and touring artists that host events at the venue.

It also outlines considerations and recommendations for more sustainable choices to reduce the environmental impact of live events.

The 90,000-capacity stadium already works closely with bands and promoters to implement green initiatives. Last week, Coldplay revealed all of their Wembley shows in 2025 will be 100% powered via solar, wind and kinetic energy, collected at the venue and elsewhere in the UK – a world first for a stadium show.

“Sustainability, and reducing the impact of large events, is integral to our ambition to provide a world-leading, inspirational venue,” says Wembley Stadium director, Mark Lynch.

“Sustainability, and reducing the impact of large events, is integral to our ambition”

“This new sustainability rider sets out our vision and values. It will act as a conversation starter with artists, promoters and event owners, to see how we can work together to make a positive impact on the environment and local community around us.”

The new rider, which was created through consultation with environmental professionals, forms part of the FA (Football Association’s) overall sustainability strategy.

Ruaidhri Dunn, The FA’s head of procurement and sustainability, adds: “We are very proud of our achievements in recent years to continually improve how we embed sustainability, including Wembley Stadium maintaining the ISO20121 standard for sustainable events management.

“However, we want to make further progress. This new sustainability rider will enable us to move forward with the next phase of our sustainability efforts.”

Last year The FA launched its ‘Playing for the Future’, strategy to drive forward its environmental ambitions up until 2028.

Central to that plan was reducing the environmental impact of Wembley Stadium with a clear focus on reducing energy consumption, avoiding waste, improving recycling rates, reducing water consumption and positively impacting stakeholders.

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Leaps & Bownes: Emma Bownes’ 25 years in the biz

As programmer for The O2 – the world’s busiest arena for more than a decade – Emma Bownes is arguably the most popular arena booker internationally, thanks to her enthusiasm, hard graft, and an ability to solve multiple problems all while flashing that infectious smile. Now, as she celebrates 25 years in the business, IQ quizzes Emma on her path to the top, as well as the philosophies that have shaped her success.

Born in Peterborough, England, Emma was raised on the outskirts of the city, as her parents moved around with their jobs. “Mum was originally an accident and emergency nurse, before opening a retirement home,” she says. “Dad worked in change management for Thomas Cook, meaning that he was in New York from time to time.” But her parents’ occasional absence for work reasons introduced her to the wonders of live entertainment.

While younger brother Tom has since followed her into live music (as a promoter at Live Nation), there was no family history in the business. However, Emma knew from an early age exactly what she wanted to do. “When you ask people what they want to do for a living, they say, ‘I want to be a footballer,’ or ‘I want to be a ballet dancer.’ Nobody ever says, ‘I want to be a band programmer.’ But my parents’ families were both from Sheffield, and I’d be taken by my grandparents to working men’s clubs when I was a kid.

“There were a few working men’s clubs we used to go but the format was always similar: there’d be bingo, there’d be a turn, and there’d sometimes also be a fish man,” she laughs. “But the turn was what caught my imagination. I remember an act called Betty Bonk, who sang about stabbing her husband and being in prison. My sister looked at my nan and told her she wanted to be a singer. And I looked at granddad and asked who decided who played on stage. He told me it was the committee, so I said to him, ‘I want to be on the committee.’ I was only eight years old, but ever since then, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

Having identified her dream job, ten years later Emma enrolled at the University of Hull and instantly ingratiated herself with the campus entertainment committee. “Shortly after I arrived in Hull and became part of the entertainment committee, the entertainment manager left, so I applied and got the job.”

Indeed, Emma’s activities also saw her booking events off-campus. “I co-promoted a drum & bass night called Future Methods. We had everybody – Hype, Grooverider, Goldie, Ed Rush & Optical – it was brilliant: it taught me how to do on-the-ground promoting.”

“I did the maths at the end of the gig, I realised I’d lost money. But it was amazing because who gets to have a bit of a go until they get it right?”

As she embarked on a career that’s been punctuated by moments where she simply presented herself to new employers and won them over, her time in Hull is among those she looks back upon most fondly.

“I don’t even know if those kinds of jobs exist anymore, but I just loved it,” she says. “When you’re the ents manager, you just do it all. You sit there with a calendar when you start in June, you book all the freshers’ gigs and all the club nights and all the things that freshers might go out and get drunk to, like a Halloween party or Jason Donovan or Chesney Hawkes.”

It also provided a steep learning curve. “I remember promoting this gig with a band called Rialto, and I paid them about £800. It went on sale to the students on a Monday, for the show on the Friday, and tickets were literally £2 or £3. It sold out, but when I did the maths at the end of the gig, I realised I’d lost money. But it was amazing because who gets to have a bit of a go until they get it right? And that went for everything I did – booking the band, designing the posters, sticking the posters up, sitting in the box office and selling the tickets. I’d be there for the load-in, I’d be there at load-out, and I’d pay the band. It was just the best fun.”

A New Mission

Emma fell in love with the city of Hull and extended her time there as much as she could. “I was there for eight years in total,” she recalls. “But I realised that if I didn’t move away, I’d wake up one day aged 40 without having done anything different.”

Together with her then flatmate, who had reached a similar conclusion, they moved to London to pursue loftier ambitions. “Luckily, I was on this ents managers’ email chat group where we’d swap information: ‘I booked Atomic Kitten, and it did this many tickets’ – that kind of thing. Someone posted that there was a vacancy at Mission Control, so I applied and got the job.”

“What I discovered was if you call someone and sound cheerful, rather than stressed, it’s a lot easier to have a conversation”

Placed in charge of the agency’s university bookings, it was an ideal stepping stone and also introduced her to the likes of Gary Howard, whose clients these days account for a healthy chunk of bookings at The O2.

“Mission Control had a roster of mostly garage, which I really liked – Artful Dodger, Solid Crew, DJ Luck & MC Neat – and they also did a lot of pop acts like Jason Donovan and Atomic Kitten. So I basically booked their roster for universities.”

Despite landing on her feet in London, Emma admits to finding it tough. “It was a culture shock,” she states. “I didn’t find it easy to start with, but there were some nice people at Mission Control who just tried to show me how it all worked. They taught me how to find acts, how to sign acts, and how to book gigs.”

Nevertheless, after a year, working for the agency was losing its appeal.

“I just wanted to go back to working in a venue,” explains Emma. “I didn’t mind the selling aspect. In fact, randomly, one of my student summer jobs was selling windows – cold-calling people. Because I’m a naturally cheerful person, what I discovered was if you call someone and sound cheerful, rather than stressed, it’s a lot easier to have a conversation… that job taught me things that I’ve used ever since.”

Pacific Career Path

Having made up her mind that venues were her happy place, Emma found herself at Ocean in Hackney. “It opened in June 2001, I started in June 2002, and it shut on 4 December 2004. The only reason I know that is because I, like many people who worked there, absolutely loved the place.

“Being on the board of the Music Venue Trust, I meet people all the time who are in love with their small venues. At Ocean, we all put absolutely everything we could into it: we were there every hour, for the most random of shows.”

“I think they forgot they’d hired me because when I turned up, the theatre dog literally had a bigger desk than me”

Leaning on her experience, Emma concentrated on booking garage and reggae acts, “like Heartless Crew and Sean Paul.” She adds, “We had lots of shows that were promoted by first-time promoters who needed a lot of hand holding because a lot of things could, and invariably would, go wrong.

“Ocean was such a lovely venue, but the problem was people thought that it was hard to get to. That sounds ridiculous now, but promoters used to tell us, ‘No, we want to play in central London.’ If Ocean had opened a few years later, it would probably still be going strong because Hackney’s obviously gentrified and cool now.”

Ever the pragmatist, when Ocean’s shutters came down permanently, Emma wrote to the neighbouring Hackney Empire theatre. “It was run by a guy called Roland Muldoon, and in my letter, I asked if he could please consider me for anything that came up.”

It worked, “But I think they forgot they’d hired me because when I turned up, the theatre dog literally had a bigger desk than me, and after a while, I could see that they didn’t need me, so I started looking for something else.”

Next port of call was the Mean Fiddler Group where she worked as a promoter for the Jazz Café, The Garage, and Borderline. “I did that for a while, and then became the in-house booker at the Kentish Town Forum,” she tells IQ.

Hello, Wembley

In 2007, Mean Fiddler was acquired by MAMA Group, and Emma’s contacts alerted her to unsettling news. “The guy I was going to report to offered my job to two other people before he even met me. Those people both phoned me to ask if I was leaving.”

“I thought I’d blown it because I’d mainly been used to booking small venues, and I wasn’t confident I’d be any good at arena level”

Once again, her proactive writing skills came to the fore. “I sent [Live Nation UK President] Paul Latham an email to point out what I’d achieved at the Forum – it had lost money every year until I’d taken over booking. I made my case and asked if there was anything at Live Nation I could help with. Within a couple of days, Paul called and said, ‘I need you to go to speak to Wembley Arena.’ It turned out their booking manager, Katie Musham, had just moved to The O2.”

Her Wembley interview did not go as smoothly as she hoped, though.

“I was promoting a gig at the Borderline the night before with a band called the 1990s, and it was sold out, so I wanted to be there,” says Emma. “As usual, I sort of ended up doing everything, including running the door, where I had a hand stamp for everyone who came in.

“Anyway, the interview was at 10am with [GM] Peter Tudor, but for some reason I turned up an hour early – they must’ve thought I was really keen – and I thought I’d blown it because I’d mainly been used to booking small venues, and I wasn’t confident I’d be any good at arena level.

“By the end of the meeting, I really wanted the job, even though I felt I’d messed up because I hadn’t prepared enough for the interview. And then, as I was leaving, I saw these hand stamps all down my arm. They must have thought I was batshit crazy.”

Nonetheless, the job was Emma’s, and when Tudor left for pastures new a few months later, new general manager John Drury, whose background was in venue booking, took the reins.

“I’ve been at The O2 14 years now – my longest job by a long shot – and the team has grown quite a lot since I arrived here”

“John was great – he really helped me develop as a programmer,” reveals Emma. “He’d copy me in on emails with promoters he had a relationship with, and then he’d hand on that relationship to me; he’d do the deal in the first year, but then I’d take over to allow him to do all his GM duties.

“That really stuck with me, and it’s something I’ve also tried to do in my time at AEG – I’ll introduce people in the programming team to promoters before handing them over. It can be quite tough because there are people you’ve dealt with for 20 years who you really like and don’t necessarily want to stop speaking to. But ultimately, it benefits everyone, and I learned that from John Drury.

“The other thing about John is his passion and enthusiasm for the job. I was at Wembley when The O2 opened, and clients like Disney and WWE and loads of touring acts were leaving us for The O2, so we had a difficult time. But in 2009, we started to focus on acts that were maybe playing a couple of Brixtons, and we could offer them that next step to a 10,000-ticket gig. We had some great shows – Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys, Green Day, Fleetwood Mac. It was a fight to get them, but whenever something confirmed I’d stick my head around John’s office door, and he was always just so pleased. He was brilliant to work with.”

Greenwich Mean Time

In 2010, Emma brought her Wembley days to a temporary end when she accepted a new role as programming manager at The O2. However, three years later, she was promoted to arena programming director, placing both The O2 and Wembley Arena under her remit.

“I’ve been at The O2 14 years now – my longest job by a long shot – and the team has grown quite a lot since I arrived here,” she observes.

Indeed, for the past five years, Emma has been AEG’s vice president venue booking for The O2 and Europe, adding oversight for the likes of Hamburg’s Barclays Arena, the Uber Arena in Berlin, and the neighbouring Uber Eats Music Hall.

“The venues in Germany have their own bookers, so I don’t get involved in the detail that I do at The O2, where I’m involved a lot more on the diary,” she explains. “Where I can help is when we’re asked for avails at The O2, I can push tours to consider adding Hamburg or Berlin to the routing.”

“I’m not sure how we got through Covid… We’d be rescheduling the same shows three, four, five times”

Highlighting the complexity of the programming process, Emma reveals that in a year when The O2 hosted 180 events, someone tracked 4,000 ‘pencilled’ dates during the process of producing a final diary for that year.

And, of course, those figures multiplied during the Covid years. Looking back on those troubled times, Emma says, “I left the venue like most people, thinking we were going to be closed for six weeks – and even that was tough to contemplate, as I had to home school two kids as well.

“There were essentially five bookers working on the diary at that time: me, Christian [D’Acuña], Marc [Saunders], Anna [Parry], and also Jo [Peplow Revell] who oversaw the corporate and special events. The fact we were no longer in the same room massively complicated things. In normal times, our jobs are a continual information swap in the office [with all of us] on the phone with promoters fighting over the same dates.

“I’m not sure how we got through Covid. Obviously, we had that initial wave where we needed to reschedule everything in the first three months, so we’d all be on the phone with each other to sort that out. But then it just kept going and going, and we’d be rescheduling the same shows three, four, five times.”

With The O2 operating as a makeshift Covid training centre, the venue remained a hub for Londoners, albeit for all the wrong reasons, while the programming team battled to find suitable new dates for hundreds of postponed shows.

“In the midst of the pandemic, we realised there would inevitably be a period of time when the venue would reopen, and we’d face a potential big gap in the diary,” says Emma. “So we came up with the idea of creating a series of events so that when the doors were allowed to reopen, we’d have something ready to go.”

“The best show I’ve ever booked is Monty Python. It was the most exciting show reveal I’ve ever worked on”

As a result, Emma and her team programmed a series of “Welcome Back Shows”, including three nights with Wizkid, Burna Boy, Mo Gilligan’s Black British Takeover and an NHS fundraiser with Gorillaz, to kick-start London’s live music scene when the UK’s first lockdown ended in August 2021.

As emotional as those first shows back at the venue were, it’s actually some of the non-music shows that she cites as career highlights.

Four Yorkshiremen

“The best show I’ve ever booked is Monty Python,” she states. “It was the most exciting show reveal I’ve ever worked on, because when I first went to see [producer] Phil McIntyre, he wouldn’t tell me what the event was. He started asking me loads of ticketing questions while telling me that lots of different promoters were bidding on the show, and he was worried details would leak, so it was better if he didn’t tell me who the act was.

“Because I couldn’t help with his ticketing questions, I went back the next day with Paul Newman from AXS, who was able to answer everything. But Phil still wouldn’t tell us details. There was a photo of John Cleese over his shoulder, so I suggested we hold the dates under a fake name – John Cleese. And he told us under no account should we use that name.

“So, Paul and I were convinced it was Monty Python, but we swore each other to secrecy and ended up holding the dates under the fake name ‘Russell Brand and Friends.’”

Roll forward to the Monty Python launch at a London theatre. “It was one of the most exciting days of my career, because I watched all of the Monty Python guys come on stage, and everyone in the place was going nuts. And then they announced their reunion and said they were going to pull the name of the venue out of a bag – I felt physically sick, but it was just so exciting. And then the shows themselves were incredible.

“The venues in Germany are actually having their busiest year ever. Between the two Berlin venues, they’ll do well over 300 shows

More Laughs

Comedy was central to another achievement for Emma and her team when, in March 2023, they brought the Just For Laughs festival to The O2.

“A friend of mine who I used to work with at Mean Fiddler, Nick Adair, who sadly passed away, was a massive comedy guy, and he used to talk about organising a comedy festival,” says Emma. “Then one year at ILMC, Steve Homer introduced me to Scott Mantell who represents a lot of comedy acts. It was one of those conversations at the bar, where everybody’s really enthusiastic. But during Covid, Scott introduced me to Just For Laughs in Canada. I pitched the idea to them, and then Steve Homer became involved, and it ended up being a three-way co-pro between us, Just For Laughs, and AEG Presents.”

Emma’s blueprint was to take the already successful Country to Country (C2C) concept and adapt something similar for comedy. “I wanted it to have a sort of Edinburgh Festival vibe where fans could walk from one venue to another in 30 seconds. What worked really well was having a load of programming in the Spiegel tent outside the venue that sold out. And we also had 11 sold-out shows in Indigo over the weekend.”

Hopeful that The O2 can host a comedy festival again, Emma notes that the concept is one that could also be replicated in the likes of Hamburg or Berlin – again emulating the success of C2C, which this year visited Berlin, Rotterdam, London, Glasgow, and Belfast.

Not that feeding AEG’s European venues is a necessity. “The venues in Germany are actually having their busiest year ever,” she reports. “Between the two Berlin venues, they’ll do well over 300 shows. We’re lucky to have a group of people who are sharing information that benefits other venues in the group. For example, Christian [D’Acuña], whose focus is on The O2 and the AEG Presents venues, recently persuaded an agent to book a date in Hamburg.”

Indeed, she lauds senior programming director D’Acuña as the most influential colleague she’s ever had. “I don’t really have a mentor, but the most important working relationship I’ve had has been with Christian. I’ve worked with him since May 2012, and I just can’t speak highly enough of him. When he started, he was programming admin assistant and, coming from Apple, he’d never done it before. But by October 2012, I was off on maternity leave, the venue was really busy, and at one point Christian was left on his own and just had to get on with it. Ever since then, any time I have a decision to make, I always check in with him as he’s like the other half of the brain.”

“We’re in this incredible position where we get to come and work in a music venue every day and see all these incredible acts”

With dates at The O2 held as far out as 2031, Emma and her London-based team are as busy as ever, but she still finds time to be on the board of Music Venue Trust, which fits in with her general ethos about venues being more than just places that host shows.

“We’re in this incredible position where we get to come and work in a music venue every day and see all these incredible acts. But venues can be so much more than that,” she says.

“Two years ago, we began to fund schools to help them participate in Young Voices, which has now played The O2 80 times.

“But the sad truth is that not all schools can afford it, so a couple of years ago we sponsored a local school. Then last year, we sponsored two schools. And this year, it’s going to be eight schools. And now other venues have started doing it and so have companies like PRG.

“It’s a really big deal for me: you can’t just be a music venue – there’s so much more you can do, and knowing we’re making a difference to so many children and their families is just great

Balancing Act

With quarter of a century under her belt and now leading the programming team at the world’s busiest arena, as well as its sister European buildings, Emma Bownes is at the top of the game. But she believes there’s still room for improvement.

“I don’t know about personal ambitions, but I’d like to be better at just trying to balance it all,” she concludes. “It probably also sounds cheesy but trying to balance being a good parent and doing this as well as I can is tricky. You always feel like you’re in the wrong place.

“But I do feel lucky, because this company that I work for, AEG, are totally fine with me being at my children’s sports day on Wednesday afternoon, in the knowledge that I’ll be at Olivia Rodrigo on Thursday night. And the night after that. It’s the best job in the world, and I wouldn’t swap it for anything.”

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The New Bosses 2024: Tom Matthews, UTA

The 17th edition of IQ Magazine’s New Bosses, in association with Futures Forum, was revealed in IQ 129, recognising 20 of the most promising 30-and-unders in the international live music business.

To get to know this year’s class a little better, IQ conducted interviews with each one of 2024’s New Bosses, discovering their greatest inspirations and pinpointing the reasons for their success.

Tom has risen swiftly through the ranks and is enjoying a standout year. Alongside colleagues, Jbeau Lewis and Jules de Lattre, he aided the success of Karol G’s record-breaking Mañana Será Bonito tour. Demonstrating his ambition, Tom was recently made the point person for Asia in UTA’s London office, ensuring fellow agents find the best possible partners across the region while guaranteeing clients find their audiences on relevant Asian social media platforms like Weibo, WeChat, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, QQ, and more.  

You’re working with some superstars, while also beginning to build your own roster. Are there any lessons you can learn from stadium acts that can help with those who are just performing their first club shows?
Whether it be a stadium show or a debut show in a 150-cap venue, the principles are still the same. The fan has purchased a ticket to see an artist give the best performance they can and that’s what I say to all of my artists. If you can get 150 people in a room, make sure that 150 of them want to buy a ticket to the next show and they tell five of their friends how incredible it was, and suddenly you’ve got a powerful multiplier on your debut show and you will see great growth in the market. I’m also huge on the visual aspect of a performance. The better the visuals, and the more immersive an experience can be, the more it gets shared across socials and that in itself is a great way to build your fanbase.

With all the competition out there, how do you persuade a new act to allow Tom Matthews to represent them?
The one main focus for me is ensuring that my clients really do get a fully tailored experience. One that matches both their long-term goals and also pays attention to the data points that we get from the online analytic tools that we have access or the information our IQ department is able to gather. It’s incredible how much further an artist can develop if you really pay attention to the markets in which their fans are organically engaging, both from a streaming and social media perspective. One artist may start to break in Germany and another may start to break in parts of Southeast Asia, and I make sure that we strategise around those important markets and build out the global strategy from there. Natalie Jane is a great example – we saw huge social media growth (through her 10M+ followers) and streaming growth in Germany, and she just sold over 3600 tickets in Germany alone on her recent European tour.

Do you have any mentors or people you can rely on to bounce ideas off?
Before becoming an agent I was lucky enough to spend the first half of my career at UTA as a booker to Gary Howard. Gary is still to this day my go-to for advice on navigating what can be at times a complex but incredibly rewarding career. I also need to give a huge shout-out to Jbeau Lewis (partner, UTA) and Jules de Lattre (agent, UTA) who I both work with on KAROL G. They’re not just colleagues, but also incredible resources who constantly share their expertise not just to me, but agents globally at UTA.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
In the famous words of our global head of touring, Neil Warnock… “Pick up the [insert word of choice here] phone!”

“Seeing 500,000 in the queue to buy a ticket to the second night of Karol G at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium was surreal”

What’s been the highlight of your career so far?
Okay so this is a tricky one… Refreshing my laptop and seeing 500,000 in the queue to buy a ticket to the second night of Karol G at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium was quite a surreal experience, but also comforting knowing that we did the right thing and held a few more nights so we were definitely prepared! The shows in Madrid were without a doubt the best shows I have ever seen in my career.

The other highlight that springs to mind is, before I recently moved out of London back in June, I lived 15 minutes from North Greenwich, where the O2 Arena is. Having two nights sold out for Karol there was definitely a great moment for me after seeing the venue almost every day for two years and the shows were the same week that I moved out, so it was a really great send-off to that part of my life. I had my fiancé and parents there for the second night which made it all the more special.

And are there any particular platforms, venues, or events that you favour to discover new talent?
I’m definitely deep into the TikTok algorithm these days as I’m sure most of us are, but I still get great tips from people working in the industry, whether that be an A&R at a record label, a manager of a client or a promoter that I work with.

Which one act on your roster should promoters be keeping an eye on in the next few months?
asiris is a client of mine who I am sure will be on everyone’s radar in the next 12-18 months. Originally from Texas and now based in Virginia, he is one of the most talented songwriters I’ve come across in recent years. He recently released a song named ‘miramar’ which is a truly stunning record. Promoters – you know what to do!

“Kindness really isn’t a weakness, it is a key ingredient to a successful and fulfilling career for yourself”

You’ve recently been made UTA London’s point person for Asia – a massive market. How do you keep on top of everything that’s happening out there, business-wise, while learning about the nuances of cultural differences, language barriers, exchange rate fluctuations, and opportunities for clients?
Between all of the agents at UTA who book in this region, we ensure that there is a constant information flow between all of us. It’s not just me who gathers the data for this region, it’s agents who are booking there and providing feedback from their experiences, it’s information that we get from our promoter partners out in the region who provide us with their local expertise and it’s my responsibility and that of the of the wider team to be on hand to pass that information across to agents when needed. Being a global business, we also have point people based in our US offices, so in a 24-hour period it’s highly likely there is someone awake and on-hand to assist. I recently spent some time in Taipei and Shanghai for the Elijah Woods tour, and being on the ground seeing these venues first-hand and not just from seeing images online really does make a difference. It allows us to correctly advise our clients when we’re proposing our touring strategies.

As a new boss, what one thing would you like to change to make the live music industry better?
The relentless drive for success in the music industry can often overshadow the importance of kindness. As an agent, I see firsthand the toll that extensive touring and relentless pressure can take on artists and their teams. Burnout is a real threat, and it stifles creativity and long-term health. A kinder music industry attracts and retains talent who feel valued, respected, and empowered to do their best work. Kindness really isn’t a weakness, it is a key ingredient to a successful and fulfilling career for yourself and massively impacts the people you work with on a day-to-day basis in a positive way.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
I think it goes without saying that I want to continue to sign incredible artists to my roster and continue to develop live strategies for them on a global scale, but I also want to continue helping the next generation thrive in this business. I feel a tremendous amount of happiness seeing my fellow colleagues succeed and I would love to see my assistant grow into the incredible agent I know they will be one day. It’s down to me to make sure I’m giving them all of the tools they need to learn and succeed, the same as I was given by my mentors starting out.

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Disclosure’s Boiler Room set cancelled over crowd surge

Disclosure’s performance at a London festival was cancelled five minutes into their set following a crowd surge.

The English electronic duo were scheduled to deliver a surprise set at Boiler Room’s World Tour at Lee Valley Showgrounds on Sunday (25 August).

The performance at the Waltham Cross site was announced just three days prior and promptly sold out. Other artists on the line-up included Giggs, Sara Landry, Flowdan, and Rosey Gold.

However, the set was cancelled just five minutes in due to crowd surges posing a health and safety risk.

In a statement, Boiler Room said that it “became clear five minutes into their set that a big proportion of festivalgoers wanted to get into the tent to see them, so as a safety precaution, the set was halted”. No one has been reported as injured.

The performance was cancelled entirely, to which Disclosure responded: “Unfortunately it’s out of our control, but the festival has deemed it unsafe for us to play due to crowd surges.”

The duo – comprised of brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence – also told fans on Instagram that they had worked “really hard” on their set, and flew to London from LA to perform.

“Unfortunately it’s out of our control, but the festival has deemed it unsafe for us to play due to crowd surges”

The incident comes just a month after Peggy Gou’s Seoul Boiler Room set was shut down by police over fears of crowd-crushing.

The event, held at Seoul’s SFactory on 27 July, was evacuated before the South Korean DJ was due to headline the stage.

According to a report by Korea Times, emergency services received reports of overcrowding during the event, resulting in 11 fire engines and 42 firefighters being sent to the venue.

Five people were reportedly treated for breathing difficulties, but no casualties or serious injuries have been recorded.

At the time, Boiler Room also added in a separate statement that it takes safety “extremely seriously”, with “detailed measures in place at every event to ensure a situation like this doesn’t occur”.

“We are reviewing our systems internally to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” they continued. “To our fans in Seoul, you and your city are incredibly important to us, and we’re devastated that we couldn’t deliver you an event to the standards we hold ourselves to.”

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Wembley installs Mark Lynch as stadium director

London’s Wembley Stadium has installed Mark Lynch as its new stadium director.

Lynch joins from the Rugby Football Union (RFU), where he was executive director of venue, with responsibility for Twickenham Stadium including operations, revenue, events and long-term development.

In his new role, Lynch will be responsible for overseeing the overall delivery of events at Wembley, in addition to managing day-to-day operations, sales and revenue for the stadium.

“I am delighted to take up the position of stadium director at England’s national stadium,” says Lynch. “Wembley Stadium is an iconic venue recognised around the world. It has a history of hosting the biggest and best sports, music and entertainment events and I look forward to continuing that work in the next stage of the venue’s development.”

Prior to the RFU, Lynch served as operations director at Yas Marina Circuit, home of the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He has also worked on two FIFA World Cup tournaments, as well as for a leading marketing and experience agency.

The stadium has hosted 32 events already in 2024, including a record eight-night run by Taylor Swift

Former Wembley Stadium director Liam Boylan left the venue in 2023 after nine years and has since resurfaced as CEO of Academy Music Group, while Wembley’s head of event operations Paul Smyth was upped to the position of stadium general manager last November.

The 90,000-cap stadium has hosted 32 events already in 2024 including a record eight-night run by Taylor Swift, which was attended by more than 700,000 people. Wembley’s summer music calendar has also included Capital’s Summertime Ball, as well as concerts by Green Day, AC/DC and Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band.

Dua Lipa is the first act confirmed for 2025, with two sold-out headline dates at the venue scheduled for 20-21 June.

The stadium has also undergone significant change in the last 12 months following the completion of an investment programme which saw major upgrades to security, hospitality and entertainment areas across the venue.

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Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour resumes in London

A week after cancelling three Austrian dates due to a terror threat, Taylor Swift returned to the stage for the first of her five nights at London’s Wembley Stadium.

The singer was joined by surprise guest Ed Sheeran during the acoustic section of her set to play their Everything Has Changed and End Game collaborations, as well as a rendition of Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud.

In a five-star review of last night’s (15 August) 45-song, three-hour-plus performance, the Telegraph says: “Midway through the set, proceedings were temporarily halted by an ovation so long and loud and heartfelt that Swift took out her ear monitor to experience it fully.

“She likened the audience’s appreciation to ‘a love system overload’. You could apply that to the whole show. It’s what the world needs right now.”

The Times awarded the concert four-stars, concluding: “The Eras tour is a well-oiled machine, delivering the greatest (or most successful) hits from each album in a set routine with no encores. This could make it seem impersonal… Yet the faces around me seemed enraptured.

“People are paying mega money for this (for two women I met it was £800) and you can’t say she doesn’t deliver as a performer, making her crowd deliriously happy and emotional.”

“To support with the safe entry and exit of everyone within the stadium, no one is allowed to stand outside any entrance or on the Olympic Steps at the front of the stadium”

The 92,000-cap shows will continue at the UK venue on 16-17 and 19-20 August to mark the European finale of The Eras Tour, which is set to conclude in North America this December. Swift played three nights at Wembley in June, bringing her total number of Eras Tour shows at the London stadium to eight – more than any other city in the world.

The run will see her crowned as the biggest-selling female artist to ever perform at the London venue, in addition to setting a new record for the longest residency of a solo artist at Wembley.

Last month, in a practice known as “Tay-gating“, an estimated 40,000 fans gathered on a hill outside the Olympic Stadium in Munich, Germany, to listen to Swift’s performance. In light of the Vienna arrests, Wembley Stadium posted a reminder to ticketless fans that they would be unable to stand outside the venue during the shows.

“To support with the safe entry and exit of everyone within the stadium, no one is allowed to stand outside any entrance or on the Olympic Steps at the front of the stadium,” said a statement. “Non ticket holders will be moved on.”

Upon the conclusion of the Wembley residency, the tour will take a two-month break before restarting in the US at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium on 18 October.

Meanwhile, the UK government quoted Swift songs to announce it will launch a consultation in the autumn regarding new consumer protections on ticket resale.

With Taylor in town, there’s no better time to begin taking swift action on ticket touts pic.twitter.com/YVe8KanC4p

— Department for Business and Trade (@biztradegovuk) August 16, 2024

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Green Events & Innovations Conference 2025 launches

Registration for the 17th edition of the Green Events & Innovations Conference (GEI) is now open.

The leading conference for sustainability in the live events sector will return to London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel on Tuesday 25th February 2025.

The one-day event is a partnership with not-for-profit sustainability specialists A Greener Future (AGF) and the International Live Music Conference (ILMC), which takes place immediately after GEI.

“Things are really heating up, literally and figuratively, in the lead-up to GEI17,” says GEI producer and AGF co-founder Claire O’Neill.

“The events and live sector is feeling the impact of global and national tensions first-hand with growing costs, ethical scrutiny, and uncertainty, but at the same time pulling out the stops on some of the most ambitious green initiatives we’ve ever seen.

“We’re in a time of significant transition, which is sharpening focus and boosting innovation and action”

“We’re in a time of significant transition, which is sharpening focus and boosting innovation and action. The purpose of GEI has always been to do its small part to make the transition that we all have to face, a transformation for good. To be better people, making better choices, creating better experiences, and having the most fun possible during this brief time we get to be alive, together, at the same time, on this beautiful planet.”

GEI17 promises engaging talks, panels, discussions, case studies and networking opportunities. The conference concludes with the annual International AGF Awards Ceremony.

Previous GEI speakers include Brian Eno, Jarvis Cocker, Pat McCabe, Aurora, Dale Vince (Ecotricity), Mark Donne (Act1.5), Cathy Runciman (EarthPercent), Blaine Harrison (Mystery Jets), John Langford (AEG), Carol Scott (TAIT), Em Weirdigan (Green Gathering), Tori Tsui, Mark Stevenson (CUR8), Patricia Yagüe (Live Nation) and Fay Milton (Music Declares Emergency).

Super Early-Bird tickets are now on sale for £139 (€165), which includes access to the conference, the International AGF Awards Ceremony, a drinks reception, plus a five-star lunch.

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IFF 2024 unveils International Showcase partners

A top line-up of emerging acts from the Netherlands and Spain will take to the stage to entertain delegates as part of the International Showcase at this year’s International Festival Forum, which is presented in association with TicketSwap.

An invitation-only event organised by the International Live Music Conference (ILMC), IFF is returning to Omeara in London Bridge with an expanded campus for its 10th edition from 24-26 September, in association with TicketSwap.

Supported by Dutch Music Export and The Spanish Wave, the 25 September showcase in London will feature two artists from each nation.

Dutch Music Export is an initiative by Fonds Dutch Performing Arts, Buma Cultuur and Stichting Popcoalitie, created with the core mission of highlighting and strengthening the international status of Dutch pop music around the world.

“The Netherlands has a vast musical landscape with an incredibly diverse range of domestic artists touring worldwide throughout all different types of musical genres,” says Marcel Albers, general director of Dutch Music Export. “Make no mistake – there’s a lot this small country has to offer to the world when it comes to live music and events!”

The Spanish Wave, meanwhile, is Live Nation Spain’s local talent export and internationalisation programme, working closely with booking agencies, record labels, public institutions and national and international promoters.

“We will be presenting two incredible young and fresh urban Latin acts from Spain”

“In 2024 we will bring a tsunami of the best, coolest, freshest, and most varied emerging music coming from Spain, taking showcase festivals and conferences worldwide by storm,” says The Spanish Wave’s César Andión. “We are back at London’s IFF, which is one of the most important music industry gatherings in the world, where we will be presenting two incredible young and fresh urban Latin acts from Spain.”

Since launching in 2015, IFF (International Festival Forum) has brought the industry’s principal buyers and sellers together each autumn, when conversations about the following year’s festival lineups are well underway. More than 600 delegates have signed up for this year’s gathering so far.

As previously confirmed, the team behind Primavera Sound will star in IFF’s keynote interview on Thursday 26 September from 11.30am to 12:30pm. The Barcelona-hailing festival’s co-director Alfonso Lanza, head of press and institutional relations Marta Pallarès and head of booking Fra Soler will sit down to discuss the history, identity and development of one of the leading lights of the European scene at the 10th edition of the leading annual gathering for festivals and booking agents. Full details are here.

The conference programme is doubling in number this year, with two new sessions already announced. On Wednesday 25 September, the programme will kick off with The Festival Season 2024, chaired by European Festival Report editor James Drury, with Jana Posth, head of festival operations at Berlin-based DreamHaus, chairing The Responsibility Session: Festival power later that morning.

Booking agency partners on this year’s IFF are CAA, WME, Solo Agency, Primary Talent, ATC Live, Wasserman Music, ITB, One Fiinix Live, and Pure, with many agencies showcasing new artists at the event. Previous editions of IFF have included early performances from Lewis Capaldi, Tom Grennan, Yonaka, Bob Vylan, Sam Ryder, Slaves, Raye, Black Midi, Loyle Carner, Dermott Kennedy, Shame and others.

Alongside the agency showcases and this year’s International Showcase, the final night of IFF sees a Rising Metal night presented by Doomstar Bookings, Catch 22, Napalm Events and The Link Productions. Partners on this year’s event include CTS Eventim, See Tickets, Tysers Live, FKP Scorpio, All Things Live, iTicket Global, TVG Hospitality and LMP Group.

This year’s edition is expected to sell out with more than 1,000 delegates.

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Broadwick Live launches new music initiative

Broadwick Live, the UK promoter and venue operator behind Printworks, Drumsheds and Field Day Festival, is launching a new music initiative.

Under the banner Broadwick Live Presents, the firm will collaborate with some of London’s best-loved clubs to foster up-and-coming talent and “make a healthy contribution to club culture”.

The first collection of shows launch in October and include Otik at the Carpet Shop in Peckham, D.O.D at Phonox and Nils Hoffmann at Electric Brixton.

The firm says the new endeavor will “connect the dots in a new way” by engaging venues operating at all levels, as well as a range of artists from emerging to established talent.

“With one eye firmly on the future, our Broadwick Live Presents events reflect our passion and dedication towards ensuring the most exciting emerging talent in electronic music achieve their potential,” says Jeff Gray, BWL head of music.

“These events reflect our dedication towards ensuring the most exciting emerging talent in electronic music achieve their potential”

“This will involve us hosting events across our favourite London venues, all of which are equally committed to pushing the dance music scene forward. We can’t wait to get started…”

Other Broadwick Live Presents shows include tech-house stalwart Tita Lau at giant warehouse venue E1, DJ and producer hitty at St John’s Hackney and pop-rock band SWIM at the Carpet Shop.

Broadwick Live recently expanded out of London into New York, US, via a transatlantic partnership with independent live music firm TCE Presents.

Together, they have opened a new 5,000-capacity venue in the Brooklyn Navy Yard called Brooklyn Storehouse, which will host concerts from Justice, Charlotte de Witte and Eric Prdyz in the coming months.

See the full list of Broadwick Live Presents shows here:
SWIM @ Carpet Shop [03/10/24]
D.O.D @ Phonox [05/10/24]
Otik Live @ Carpet Shop [10/10/24]
Tita Lau @ E1 [11/10/24]
hitty @ St Johns Hackney [30/11/24]
Nils Hoffmann @ Electric Brixton [07/12/24]

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Dua Lipa announces second Wembley Stadium show

Dua Lipa has announced a second Wembley Stadium show in 2025 after “incredible demand” saw her first show sell out in five minutes.

The 28-year-old English-Albanian singer will bring her Radical Optimism Tour to the 90,000-cap stadium in London on 20 and 21 June next year.

The Live Nation-promoted dates – the first of which was announced earlier this month – will mark the star’s first-ever UK stadium headline shows.

“I heard it’s coming home so I thought I would too (AGAIN)!!!!” wrote Lipa on social media of the first night’s sell-out.

“I heard it’s coming home so I thought I would too (AGAIN)!!!!”

“Wow this was the best morning wake-up call!!! YOU GUYS SOLD OUT WEMBLEY STADIUM IN MINUTES!! I love you so much we’re adding another date for ya!!”

News of the first Wembley Stadium date came shortly after she headlined Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage, closing the Friday night of the festival with a well-received 19-song set.

The WME-represented hitmaker followed that up with festival dates at Poland’s Open’er Festival (4 July), Belgium’s Rock Werchter (6 July) and Mad Cool Festival in Spain (10 July). Tonight (12 July), she’s due to play Nos Alive Festival in Portugal.

She will then play a sold-out show at London’s Royal Albert Hall on 17 October, prior to heading to Asia, where she will visit Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea.

The Radical Optimism Tour is Lipa’s first outing since 2022’s 71-date Future Nostalgia run, which generated $89,302,575 at the box office.

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