High demand for Lana Del Rey surprise concerts
Tickets for Lana Del Rey’s surprise shows in Dublin, Paris and Amsterdam have flown off the shelf.
The singer announced the shows last Tuesday (27 June), just three days before tickets went on sale: “I love Europe and after playing at Glastonbury I’ve decided to play a few more shows around my Hyde Park London concert.”
General sale for Del Rey’s concert at the Ziggo Dome (cap. 17,000) in Amsterdam – the largest of the three shows – took place last Friday (30 June) and sold out within 10 minutes. A pre-sale exclusive to subscribers of MOJO’s newsletter launched a day prior.
At present, 1,440 tickets are wanted on the resale platform Ticketswap and 849 have been sold since the general sale.
“I love Europe and after playing at Glastonbury I’ve decided to play a few more shows”
The 4 July concert will mark the first time in a decade that Del Rey has performed in the Netherlands, after a sold-out show at the 6,000-capacity AFAS Live (then known as Heineken Music Hall) in 2013.
The 38-year-old will also visit the 3Arena (13,000) in Dublin on 7 July and the Olympia Music Hall (1,996) in Paris on 10 July. Both shows are sold out.
The New York-born singer, represented by WME worldwide excluding North America, also played Italy’s La Prima Estate festival on 2 July and is due to close BST Hyde Park (AEG Presents) this Sunday (9 July).
It comes after Del Rey’s headline slot at Glastonbury was cut short as a result of appearing on stage 30 minutes late.
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Major festivals report speedy sellouts for 2023
Some of Europe’s biggest festivals have sold out within half an hour, regardless of significant ticket price increases.
Live Nation-backed Mojo Concerts says Lowlands (aka A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise) sold out in less than 15 minutes, despite ticket prices increasing from €255 to €300.
The 2023 edition of the Dutch festival will see acts including Billie Eilish, Florence + the Machine and Charlotte de Witte return to Walibi Holland between 18–20 August.
Discussing the ticket price increase on the festival’s own podcast LLowcast, director Eric van Eerdenburg said: “Inflation has hit us hard. It is not in our interest to have an expensive ticket. It is in our interest to have a ticket that is as cheap as possible, because then it is easier to sell your tickets. But it’s no different.
“All refugee shelters are full of stuff from the festival industry, everything is becoming much more expensive and harder to get. People who work for us have all submitted their salary demands and we must also comply with them. It’s a tough cookie to swallow, but we’re going to deliver something good for it.”
This year the 55,000-capacity festival is going mobile-only, with ticketholders allowed to resell on Ticketmaster only.
Tomorrowland has sold all 400,000 tickets, with the first 50% (reserved for Belgium fans) selling out in 20 minutes
Lowlands sister festival Down the Rabbit Hole – which also experienced a significant price increase due to inflation and higher costs – also sold out faster than ever.
Elsewhere, Tomorrowland has sold all 400,000 tickets, with the first 50% (reserved for Belgium fans) selling out in 20 minutes.
This year the festival will return to its two-weekend format, taking place in Boom, Antwerp, from 21 to 23 and 28 to 30 July.
More than 600 DJs will perform across 14 different stages including Afrojack, Amelie Lens, Armin van Buuren, Lost Frequencies, Netsky, Paul Kalkbrenner, Steve Aoki, Tiësto and Yves Deruyter.
Last year, the festival took place over three weekends to “cushion the financial hangover” of six cancelled festivals in 2020 and 2021.
Lowlands and Tomorrowland’s speedy sellouts come after the UK’s Glastonbury festival sold out in just over an hour, despite a 26% price increase for the 2023 edition.
The Glastonbury onsale failed to beat 2019’s record of just 34 minutes due to a “technical problem”, as organisers reported “incredible demand” for the 135,000 weekend tickets. Coach packages sold out in just 22 minutes.
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Mojo withdraws from Parkpop due to losses
Live Nation’s Mojo Concerts has withdrawn from promoting Parkpop festival, one of the largest and longest-running free-to-attend festivals in Europe.
The Dutch festival has reportedly been in financial trouble for years, with Mojo and the Parkpop organisation picking up the shortfalls “for a long time”.
“A free Parkpop is very difficult these days,” reads a statement from Mojo. “The financial results, the changed festival climate since the pandemic, the increase in costs of materials and artists have prompted Mojo to reconsider its involvement with Parkpop.
“Mojo will continue to support the festival in the background where possible, but due to current developments, Mojo is leaving the organisation. The relations between Parkpop and Mojo are and will remain good, only the cooperation will take on a slightly different form.”
The 40th edition of Parkpop took place in June at new location Malieveld after forty years at Zuiderpark – both of which are located in The Hague.
Organiser Guus Dutrieux of Ducos Productions reports that the most recent edition made losses “in the thousands”.
“A free Parkpop is very difficult these days”
“We caught the shortfalls for a long time and Mojo did too,” he told Algemeen Dagblad. “But of course that will stop at some point. We want to take the time to investigate how Parkpop can be made healthy again. This can be done in several ways and nothing is excluded. The aim is that Parkpop must remain accessible to a wide audience.”
As a result, the festival, which is visited by up to 350,000 people each year, will not take place in 2023.
Following the news, local authorities have weighed in to state the importance of the festival returning, and to pledge their support.
“Parkpop runs like a green-yellow thread through the lives of many residents of The Hague and Hagenezen,” said councillors Richard de Mos and Ralf Sluijs.
“It cannot be that the fortieth edition was also the last. As far as we are concerned, everything is being done to keep this iconic music festival going. Parkpop is too important to the city to just let it die. We will not let that happen.”
The Hague alderman Saskia Bruine added: “If Parkpop comes up with a good plan, we can talk about the 2024 edition. The festival should not be left with a shortage every year. They can simply apply for a subsidy, the conditions for Parkpop are no different than for other festivals. I give them a year to think things through.”
Mojo recently announced that its Dutch hip-hop festival, Woo Hah!, will return next year under a different name and in a new location.
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Mojo’s Woo Hah! festival adopts new name, location
Mojo’s Woo Hah! festival will return next year under a different name and in a new location.
The Dutch hip-hop event has been renamed Rolling Loud Rotterdam, and will take place in and around Rotterdam Ahoy between 30 June and 1 July 2023 with headliners Kendrick Lamar and Travis Scott.
Woo Hah! festival was founded in 2014 by 013 and Live Nation’s Mojo, with the aim of bringing more major hip-hop acts to the Brabant region. In 2018, the event moved to its most recent site in Beekse Bergen.
For the 2022 edition, Woo Hah! joined forces with the world’s largest hip-hop festival franchise Rolling Loud, which also has a presence in the US, Canada, Portugal and soon to be Thailand.
Rolling Loud Rotterdam 2023 will reportedly host around 28 artist performances for 40,000 visitors each day.
Rotterdam Ahoy’s ability to host more attendees than the Beekse Bergen site was a big part of the draw according to Camiel Le Rutte, project manager festivals Mojo.
“First of all, there was a production problem on the Beekse Bergen site: lack of space. All festival visitors must be able to see the headliners on the main stage at the same time. That does not work with big names such as Kendrick Lamar, who sold out the Ziggo Dome twice in October. In addition, their show must meet high requirements in terms of sound, LED light, video walls and set pieces.”
Another important factor was that many of the Woo Hah! visitors came from Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Utrecht. “We see a longer future in Rotterdam. And thanks to the North Sea Jazz Festival, we are very familiar with Ahoy’s production possibilities.”
Jolanda Jansen, director of Rotterdam Ahoy, says: “In recent years, Ahoy has already proven itself as a perfect location for major events and we can’t wait to add Rolling Loud to this list. The international and culturally diverse character of this American festival fits perfectly with a city like Rotterdam.”
Rolling Loud founders Matt Zingler and Tariq Cherif add: “Our first experience with the Dutch festival audience was one to remember. We love the energy you bring when you finally get to see your favourite artists live. We are ready to show the Netherlands the next step of everything Rolling Loud has to offer at the new location at Rotterdam Ahoy.”
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Dutch promoters outline impact of staff shortages
Key promoters in the Netherlands have aired concerns about the industry’s acute staff shortages and its impact on the forthcoming festival summer.
Labour shortages have been a widespread issue in the international live music industry, with many markets reporting a “talent exodus”.
According to Dutch publication 3voor12, concerts in the Netherlands are already being cancelled because there is not enough staff available, festivals are being forced to start building earlier and headliners are toying with the idea of smaller productions.
John Mulder, CEO of Live Nation-owned concert and festival promoter Mojo, says he is “very concerned about this summer. There are huge logistical challenges, both in international touring and at a local level in terms of crews and people.”
The Mojo boss says it is difficult to get staff and crew, and that trucks are “a big problem” this summer.
“There are huge logistical challenges, both in international touring and at a local level”
“There are already acts that have to leave things at home because they can’t get the number of trucks. Instead of 16 trucks, headliners will probably come with less. All those rock ‘n roll trucking companies are running on only 30-40% of their staff and have sold a lot of trucks. There are no new trucks for sale due to the chip problem. But money rules, huh? At some point, of course, acts will make all kinds of crazy jumps to get stuff from A to B.”
Meanwhile, Mojo-promoted festival Pinkpop has been forced to start site construction a month ahead of schedule due to this issue.
“We mainly see problems with suppliers: the tent builders, for example, and the fencing suppliers,” said Pinkpop festival manager Niek Murray. “The pink tent has already been erected on the site because otherwise, it would not work out in the planning. We are already buffering fencing because there was no transporter to deliver it at the normal time.
“In short: three weeks ago we already started building, while we would normally only start next week. If we hadn’t had such a good relationship with the terrain, I don’t know if we would have made it all, but we didn’t have to drastically change things.”
In February, Mojo launched a new platform (www.festivalbanen.nl) featuring hundreds of festival jobs, in a bid to counteract the major staff shortage in the sector.
Many of the employers listed on the website operate at festivals including Lowlands, Pinkpop, NN North Sea Jazz, Down The Rabbit Hole and Woo Hah! x Rolling Loud.
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Mojo launches platform with hundreds of festival jobs
Dutch promoter Mojo has launched a new platform featuring hundreds of festival jobs, in a bid to counteract the major staff shortage in the sector.
Launched in conjunction with TSC Crowd Management, the site (www.festivalbanen.nl) collates jobs from a myriad of partner companies operating within the Dutch festival sector.
The platform comprises jobs in fields such as security, medical services, production, office, hospitality, cleaning and tech. Part-time jobs, flexible work, specialist vacancies and permanent positions are all on offer.
Many of the employers listed on the website operate at festivals including Lowlands, Pinkpop, NN North Sea Jazz, Down The Rabbit Hole and Woo Hah! x Rolling Loud.
The site comprises jobs in fields such as security, medical services, production, office, hospitality, cleaning and tech
“There are hundreds of vacancies,” says MOJO spokesperson Bente Bollmann, “including positions that you don’t immediately think of when you talk about the festival sector: a mechanic at water infrastructure company MTD Water, or an ambulance driver.
He continues: “The platform is also meant to indicate how much fun it is to work in this sector, and how many options there are. And what we see is that there are also a lot of people who have other jobs, like in a hospital, but might also like to work at a festival on weekends.
“This platform is now mainly focused on this year, because of the large shortages, but I can imagine that it will be a nice recruitment platform for the partners to continue using in the coming years.”
Labour shortages have been a widespread issue in the international live music industry, with many markets reporting a “talent exodus”.
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NL gains new rock festival Headbangers Parade
The Netherlands is set to gain a brand new one-day rock and metal festival, Headbangers Parade.
The inaugural edition is slated to take place at Klokgebouw (cap. 9,000) in Eindhoven, south Netherlands, on 21 May with ten blockbuster acts from the genres.
Architects, Ghøstkid, Tesseract and Stake have already been confirmed, with more names to be announced in the coming months.
According to the organisation, Headbangers Parade – a nod to the ‘Headbangers Ball‘ programme which aired on MTV in the 1990s – offers “a contemporary program, with room for new sounds, but also for established names”.
The festival’s name is a nod to the ‘Headbangers Ball‘ programme which aired on MTV in the 1990s
Dutch promoter Mojo, rock festival franchise Impericon and Ticketmaster are listed among the supporters on the festival’s website.
The festival is launching a membership – which is free for the first year – and will include discounts on Headbangers Parade events, tickets for other festivals, merchandise and more.
Membership tickets cost €59.00 each but are limited to two per customer. Regular tickets for Headbangers Parade cost €64.00 each and are limited to 10 per customer.
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Dutch event sector loses summary proceedings
The Dutch event sector has lost the summary proceedings that were brought against the state due to the latest Covid-19 restrictions.
Twenty organisations including Mojo, ID&T, Unmute Us and Apenkooi Events demanded in court that all events and club nights be allowed again without restrictions on capacity and time.
As of 25 September, indoor events are restricted to 75% capacity of the venue and are required to close between 00:00 and 06:00 CET.
The Dutch event sector has continuously argued that the government restrictions do not reflect the three months’ worth of findings from the Fieldlab Evenementen studies.
However, the judge said that the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) has, in fact, factored in the results when giving advice to the outgoing cabinet: “That has led to a decision to gradually relax with the abolition of the one and a half meter measure, but with additional measures for indoor events.
“The reason we are still not allowed to open completely is not substantiated”
“This does not lead to an unjustified distinction with other branches. The necessity of the measures taken for indoor events has been explained by the State and that explanation is not incomprehensible.”
The organisations that went to court say they are deeply disappointed.
MOJO director Ruben Brouwer says: “Over a year and a half ago we were the first to close and now we are at the back of the queue to be able to open fully again despite all our efforts. The cabinet continues to focus on keeping our sector closed even longer and has even asked us not to organise dance parties because they could not legally prohibit this. We are considering steps to be taken, but we must and will continue towards the autumn and we will do everything we can to organise the events for visitors and artists in the best possible and safe way.”
Ritty van Straalen, CEO of the ID&T Group, adds: “We are extremely disappointed. We have been standing still for over 18 months and in that time have demonstrated through various Fieldlabs, together with the government, that we can safely organise events. The reason we are still not allowed to open completely is not substantiated.
“The Fieldlab advice explicitly states that organising events at 100% capacity, both indoor and outdoor, is safe if the guidelines from the research are followed. Our Fieldlab results are successfully used in Belgium to organise events safely, at 100% capacity. It is incomprehensible that we in the Netherlands still have to remain partly closed while the very last step would be that the 1.5 meters would go off. Now we are the very last step.
“We must show solidarity with society, but where is the solidarity towards us?”
Jasper Goossen, on behalf of newly formed campaign group Unmute Us, says: “We are despondent by the wall we keep running into. It is frustrating that the judge apparently cannot allow our investigation results to outweigh arbitrary advice and decisions from the OMT and the cabinet, but we will continue to fight for the preservation of our sector. We recently took to the streets with more than 150,000 people to demonstrate how essential our sector is. Besides the fact that our sector guarantees more than 100,000 jobs, it also provides an essential social outlet for young and old. We must show solidarity with society, but where is the solidarity towards us?”
The Dutch government has attempted to soften the blow of the restrictions by announcing a €15 million fund to compensate promoters and venues for lost revenue from indoor standing shows – on top of its €385m guarantee fund.
Lowlands festival director Eric van Eerdenburg last week told the International Festival Forum (IFF) that the guarantee fund helped to “keep the festival infrastructure alive” and that the industry was looking at implementing a long-term contingency plan for unforeseen circumstances like Covid.
“As an industry, we’re looking at an alliance right now and adding a levy of €1 per ticket to go towards an insurance fund for unforeseen circumstances like Covid,” says van Eerdenburg.
Eerdenburg went on to say that the fans also played a crucial part in keeping the business alive during the Covid-19 pandemic due to a vast majority holding onto tickets.
“The audiences have been our bank,” the Lowlands director said. “A ticket is like a crowdfunding exercise. Even after the second round of cancellations we said we’d pay everyone back, and the audience didn’t want it. We should be grateful to our audiences because without them everyone would have gone bust.”
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350+ Dutch fests join protest: “We will not be silenced”
More than 350 organisations from the Dutch event industry are backing a protest march against the government’s ‘arbitrary’ restrictions which have effectively wiped out the festival season.
Last Friday (13 August), the cabinet announced that the current restrictions preventing multi-day festivals with overnight stays will remain in force until 19 September – despite the promise they could take place again when everyone has been offered the vaccine.
The protest, dubbed ‘Unmute Us‘, has drawn support from some of the Netherlands’ biggest and best-known festivals such as DGTL, A State of Trance Festival, Amsterdam Open Air, Awakenings, Best Kept Secret, Defqon, Dekmantel Festival, Down The Rabbit Hole, Lowlands, Mysteryland and Paaspop.
While many of the aforementioned festivals have been cancelled as a result of government restrictions, other large events outside of the live music industry have been permitted to take place with hundreds of thousands of attendees.
“Elsewhere in society there is room for full football stadiums and overcrowded fairgrounds, but safely organised events are not given any space. And that has been the case since the start of the pandemic, more than a year and a half ago,” reads a statement on the ‘Unmute Us’ website.
“It is measured with two measures, with the message that Formula 1 in Zandvoort (operating at two-thirds of its normal capacity, with 105,000 visitors per day) can continue as an exception for the time being. It shows a total undermining and misjudgment of everyone who cares about culture and nightlife.”
“The studies and results are a painful reminder that at this point not corona, but politics is the cause of a festival-free summer”
The organisations involved point out that it was the government itself, along with Fieldlab, that conducted months of scientific research and pilot events to determine whether festivals could be organised safely.
It was ultimately revealed that, when following certain hygiene and testing protocols, the risk of Covid-19 infection at concerts and festivals is about the same as being at home.
“The studies and results are a painful reminder that at this point not corona, but politics is the cause of a festival-free summer and uncertain future,” the ‘Unmute Us’ manifesto continues.
As well as event organisers, it is hoped that the campaign will galvanise young festivalgoers who have ‘been delivered empty promises by the government and kept on mute’.
“With ‘Unmute Us’ we make a fist. We are sending out a clear signal to The Hague: it can no longer be done like this, we will not be silenced. The sector asks for a clear plan for the future, with measurable agreements, but also for recognition of the emotional state of the many visitors and makers who do not feel heard. We want to be able to meet again, laugh and dance again. Above all, we want to be able to look ahead again.”
The ‘Unmute Us’ protest march will take place on Saturday 21 August in various Dutch cities.
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Dutch gov delivers death knell for summer festivals
Dutch festivals such as Lowlands, Down the Rabbit Hole and Mysteryland, will not be permitted to take place this summer after the government extended its ban on multi-day events until September.
The ban on non-seated public events and multi-day festivals with more than 1,000 attendees came into effect on 10 July and was set to remain until 14 August, when the government would decide whether festivals after that date could go ahead.
However, the cabinet has sealed the fate of the summer season sooner than expected, ruling out multi-day festivals until at least 1 September due to uncertainties surrounding the Delta variant of Covid.
Following the news, Mojo-promoted event A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise (aka Lowlands), which would have taken place between 20–22 August, has been called off for a second consecutive year.
“This is a very bitter pill because the developments surrounding corona have clearly gone in the right direction in recent months,” says Mojo. “Based on that, we started the preparations for Lowlands full of enthusiasm and all artists, suppliers and especially you were ready for a fantastic weekend in the polder. While this is a major setback, we understand and respect [the government’s] decision.”
“This is a very bitter pill because the developments surrounding corona have clearly gone in the right direction”
All Lowlands ticket buyers will automatically receive a refund for tickets purchased in 2020 and 2021. The next edition of the festival is set for 19–21 August 2022.
The organisers thanked the government for setting up the €385 million insurance fund, which they say would guarantee the survival of the sector, as well as Lowlands itself.
Mojo has also been forced to cancel Down the Rabbit Hole, which had already moved from July to the weekend of 27–29 August for a one-off visit to the Biddinghuizen (home of Lowlands).
“No matter how big that setback is, we respect that decision and are happy with the life preservation buoy in the form of a guarantee fund that allows us to support artists, suppliers, caterers, and all the other thousands of hands that make Down The Rabbit Hole,” says Mojo.
All ticket buyers will automatically receive a refund for tickets purchased in 2020 and 2021. Down the Rabbit Hole will return to its usual home of Groene Huvels in Beuningen between 1–3 July 2022.
“No matter how big that setback is, we respect that decision and are happy with the guarantee fund – a life preservation buoy”
Mysteryland (cap. 60,000), the Netherlands’ oldest and most famous electronic music festival, will also forego 2021 due to the extension of the ban.
This year’s sold-out edition was due to take place between 27–29 August in Haarlemmermeerse Bos in north Amsterdam.
The festival’s promoter ID&T, along with a raft of Dutch event organisers, recently initiated summary proceedings against the government over the initial ban on multi-day festivals.
“We understand that this isn’t the news you were hoping for, and it breaks our heart to share it with you,” ID&T wrote.
“During the last months, our whole team has been pushing the limit, working day and night to create what would’ve been the most magical weekend of the year, while also complying with the changing regulations set by the Dutch government. With only a month to go till a sold-out Mysteryland would’ve taken place, all stages and shows were ready for our festival adventure, but unfortunately, it seems it wasn’t meant to be this year.”
“Unfortunately, the Alliance jointly with the government had to conclude that [multi-day festivals] are an unfeasible scenario”
Elsewhere, the Alliance of Event Builders says that it understands the cabinet decision: “Over the past few weeks, we have had intensive consultations with the government about the conditions under which multi-day camping festivals such as Lowlands and Mysteryland can continue.
“Unfortunately, the Alliance jointly with the government had to conclude that we have now been overtaken by reality and that this has become an unfeasible scenario. The quality and responsible festival experience for visitors, employees and artists cannot be sufficiently guaranteed.”
Organisers of one-day festivals will have to wait until August before the government decides whether or not they can continue with their event. The same applies to other one-day events without overnight stays.
The government’s tightening of restrictions comes in spite of Fieldlab’s findings from three months’ worth of pilot events in the Netherlands show that the risk of Covid-19 infection, when following certain hygiene and testing protocols, is about the same as being at home.
Fieldlab is an initiative of the Dutch government and several trade bodies, including the Alliance of Event Builders.
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