Country music again takes centre stage in the UK this weekend with the return of Country to Country (C2C), as the genre’s remarkable international growth shows no sign of plateauing.

Lainey Wilson, Dierks Bentley and Cody Johnson headline the 2025 edition of Europe’s biggest country festival, which returns to London’s The O2, OVO Hydro Glasgow and Belfast’s SSE Arena from 14-16 March.

Created by AEG Europe and SJM Presents in collaboration with the Country Music Association (CMA), the event launched in London in 2013 and has expanded to other markets including Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Germany and Australia.

“It’s such an incredible brand and is the market leader,” The O2’s GM and VP Steve Sayer tells IQ. “Each year the programming gets bigger and better and it’s one of our favourite events of the year. The bill is as big as it’s ever been and as in previous years, you’re going to see programming right across the O2 site.

“From our perspective, we’ve seen country music really take off in the UK in the last few years, in no small part, because of the success of C2C. It’s an important genre in our programming strategy and country music is only going to grow over the coming years.”

“Brands are completely ingrained in what we do. The artists are as engaged as the fans are”

The CMA hosted a presentation at The O2 today (14 March) entitled Brand Power of Country Music in the UK, which explored the rise in country consumption and the consumer loyalty of country music fans. The panel was attended by leading UK and US promoters, agencies, record labels and management companies.

It noted that in 2024, country streams surpassed 1 billion for first time in the UK in Q3, while five of the top 15 tracks of last year were country songs. Since Q4 2022, country music streams in the UK have grown 159%.

UTA agent Sean Hendrie spoke about opening mindsets of brands to country and it being “an untapped genre” which has now gone mainstream, with brands involved in country space now including Urban Outfitters, Victoria’s Secret, Primark, Louis Vuitton, Shein and Levi’s.

“Brands are completely ingrained in what we do,” added AEG Presents UK promoter and C2C booker Rachel Lloyd. “The artists are as engaged as the fans are.”

Furthermore, the audience for Bauer’s Absolute Country Radio was up 50% year on year, while Global’s Smooth Country reported a 650% rise in female listeners aged 15-24.

“C2C has laid a lot of the foundations for what we’re now doing at Hyde Park”

Almost 30 country acts will visit the UK for headline tours in 2025, including Brothers Osborne, Kip Moore, HARDY, Alana Springsteen, Darius Rucker, Kane Brown, Old Dominion, Dasha, Tyler Childers and Brett Young, as well as Post Malone and Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour.

In addition, there are now more than a dozen country festivals on the UK calendar such as Highways, Red Rooster, The Long Road, Towerfest and Maverick. Meanwhile, Morgan Wallen became the first country headliner of AEG’s BST Hyde Park last week.

“C2C has laid a lot of the foundations for what we’re now doing at Hyde Park,” said AEG’s European festivals’ chief Jim King.

Following Wallen’s success, fellow country star Zach Bryan has gone on to sell 130,000 tickets for his two nights at the London concert series this summer.

“It’s tremendous to be a part of that, and a part of the country music journey in the park,” added King, who said he expected country to become even more ingrained at BST in 2016.

“It’s not just about the programming,” stressed King, “we’re fully committed to this genre, not just at BST but at other events we’ll be running in the future.”

“Year after year, the passion grows, the audiences get bigger and the atmosphere more unforgettable”

Last weekend saw AEG and Semmel Concerts stage the German edition of C2C, attracting 9,000 fans to Uber Eats Music Hall in Berlin from 7-9 March.

The site-wide festival featured 51 international artists, including the likes of Dylan Gossett, Dasha, Lainey Wilson, Tucker Wetmore, Chase Matthew, Tanner Adell, Nate Smith, Shaboozey, Chayce Beckham and Avery Anna, attracting coverage in several media media outlets for the first time.

“The impressive growth of the country genre in Germany was more than evident at the festival in Berlin,” says Semmel’s Sina Hall. “The enthusiasm of the fans shows how much country music has now arrived in the mainstream – and with growing momentum.

“Year after year, the passion grows, the audiences get bigger and the atmosphere more unforgettable. This festival has proven once again that country is not just a niche in Germany, but a movement that is constantly growing.”

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UK arena bosses have weighed in on the sector’s biggest issues in 2025 – and debated whether the stadium boom is hurting the indoor circuit.

The arena market boasts an abundance of top talent, with upcoming tours by stars such as Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish, Teddy Swims, Gracie Abrams, Usher, Pulp, Andrea Bocelli, Chase & Status, Bryan Adams, Olly Murs, Katy Perry, Tyler, the Creator, Tom Grennan, The Lumineers, Lil Baby, Jamiroquai, Central Cee, Busted vs McFly and Kylie Minogue.

But with Post Malone becoming the latest A-lister to announce a summer stadium run, joining around 30 artists from Oasis to Beyoncé in headlining music’s biggest stages, does something have to give?

“The fan demand for live entertainment is stronger than ever, and although we are always competing to some extent, there’s no harm in a wider choice for fans across the board,” says Guy Dunstan, SVP and GM at Manchester’s Co-op Live (cap. 23,500), speaking to IQ.

“There will always be differing levels or artists taking to different sized venues, and at Co-op Live we’re even seeing some of the staple outdoor artists like Bruce Springsteen, Eagles and Pearl Jam opt to return to an indoor venue of our scale and size. It’s testament to the strength of the industry, that these events can co-exist.”

Gemma Vaughan, GM of Manchester’s 23,000-cap AO Arena is equally confident there is enough room for everyone.

“Manchester is lucky enough to be a city that’s home to two arenas, a plethora of smaller independent venues and two stadiums that also host live events,” she says. “We’ve been at the heart of Manchester’s music scene since 1995, we’re confident we’ll continue to thrive alongside all of our neighbours.”

“Fans only have a limited amount of discretionary spend”

Indeed, Steve Sayer, SVP and GM at London’s 20,000-cap The O2, says it is shaping up to be a year to remember for both stadiums and arenas.

“With stadium gigs, it tends to be a little bit cyclical: you’ll have a strong year and then the next year isn’t quite as strong, so it could potentially be perceived as having an impact on arena shows,” he contends. “But we’re certainly confident when we look at the diary – and not just this year, but next year as well – that the show count forecast remains strong.”

North of the border however, Rob Wicks, MD of Aberdeen’s P&J Live, admits to harbouring reservations on the subject, stressing: “Fans only have a limited amount of discretionary spend.”

Nevertheless, Wicks, who lists the cost of touring, the cost of living crisis and closures of grassroots venues among his chief concerns for the business, reports the 15,000-cap Scottish arena is still on track for a stellar year.

“The venue sold 31% more tickets in 2024 than it did in 2023 and is on track for a similar increase in 2025, which is really encouraging,” he tells IQ.

John Drury, VP and GM of London’s OVO Arena Wembley (cap. 12,500), sees both sides of the argument, but tells IQ it’s a case of so far, so good.

“There’s no doubt that a rising number of outdoor shows and festivals can widen the market and lead to some challenges in arenas, but so far for us at Wembley we’re not seeing a downside,” he reports. “2024 was a record-breaking year for Wembley and 2025 is shaping up to be as strong, if not stronger. Significantly, we hosted over 50 first-time headline acts last year, which shows the current strength of the arena market in the UK.”

“The arena landscape is really strong in comparison to 2024,” nods Utilita Arena Newcastle GM Caroline James. “Maybe it is already having a positive impact?”

“Anything that brings massive profile to the sector is a good thing – particularly if it reminds people to buy tickets for other gigs!”

Dom Stokes, general manager of Utilita Arena Sheffield (cap. 13,600), shares similar sentiments – suggesting that a rising tide lifts all boats.

“I think it’s positive,” he argues. “Anything that brings massive profile to the sector is a good thing – particularly if it reminds people to buy tickets for other gigs! A strong stadium season can lead to offshoot events in the arenas. In Sheffield, we have often found an opportunity to use our huge space for rehearsals.”

Stokes describes 2025 as a “transitional year” for Utilita Arena Sheffield, which joined the ASM Global venue network last month alongside Sheffield City Hall.

“However, product is strong and the investment planned in both front of house and back of house areas is very exciting,” he adds. “Ticket sales for all our genres are strong, but ticket buyers continue to buy a long time in advance or very late. There doesn’t seem to be very much in between.”

It is a similar story at the 11,000-cap Utilita Arena Newcastle, where James projects a “fantastic year both for private events and live events”, but points out that ticket trends “seem to be all or nothing”.

“Late purchasing is still very apparent,” she advises, adding that an increasing number of events are going to the bigger cities and missing regional venues.

“UK arenas generated £100 million in VAT in 2023: £60m on ticket sales and £40m on ancillary income”

OVO Arena Wembley’s Drury goes into detail on the issues at the top of his in-tray right now as chair of the National Arena Association.

“Since coming back from Covid, costs have continued to rise, which puts pressure on our margins,” he notes. “We’re also of course aware that production costs are also rising, putting the squeeze on from all angles. To add to this, we are concerned that a proposed increase in business rates designed to hit the major warehouse operators of online sales will also affect arenas disproportionately – we feel that an adjustment of the proposed raises should be made for our businesses.

“We of course already contribute massively to the government coffers: we employ huge numbers locally, contribute millions of pounds to our local communities – studies show £100 per person average spend in the community from each arena show – and also pay a big part in positively impacting the mental wellbeing of our millions of guests.”

Drury also backs trade body LIVE’s calls lower VAT rates in line with many other European countries “where 20% is unheard of”.

“UK arenas generated £100 million in VAT in 2023: £60m on ticket sales and £40m on ancillary income,” he says. “A cut would help the grassroots sector massively but also if we were able to divert a portion of our VAT income back to those most in need in our industry we could and should pretty much become a self-financing industry.

“If, for example, we could plough back 5% of the VAT we raise on tickets as part of a wider VAT cut for our events, that would have meant £3m going back to grassroots in 2023 alone.”

“Grassroots venues are an incredible part of the broader live music ecosystem”

In late 2024, IQ reported the UK live music industry was edging towards a deal which would see more stadium and arena tours agree to include a contribution towards grassroots support after a meeting with culture minister Chris Bryant MP.

The ministerial roundtable followed the government’s plea to the live industry to introduce a voluntary ticket levy to support the grassroots music sector in its response to the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Select Committee’s report.

“What the minister asked for – and was looking for – was momentum,” says The O2’s Sayer. “From our perspective, we’ve always said that grassroots venues are an incredible part of the broader live music ecosystem. We’ve got a collective responsibility to ensure that we can put together a solution that’s equitable and works and actually delivers funds to the venues and the artists that really need that support.

“From what I can see, and the conversations that I’m having, I’m confident there will start to be momentum this year around the levy and hopefully, over time, that will start to generate the sort of funds the grassroots desperately needs.”

The struggles of the grassroots sector are also at the forefront of Vaughan’s mind.

“It’s no secret that rising touring costs are proving challenging across the live entertainment industry, but I think the more relevant question is how does that affect our grassroots musicians and venues?” queries the AO Arena boss. “If these artists are unable to perform, how can they graduate through the talent pipeline and become our next headline act?

“As one of the UK’s largest entertainment venues, we’re extremely conscious of our position, and this is something we’ve been working closely with Music Venue Trust and Manchester’s wider community as a whole. Especially as we turn 30 this year, it’s more prevalent than ever to ensure that we’re protecting grassroots from the top down, or there will be no arena sector for us in the next 30.”

“We’re seeing fans wanting a more focused consumer experience”

On the programming front meanwhile, Vaughan detects a consumer shift in genres, particularly K-Pop, where “Manchester is rivalling the likes of London when it comes to talent and demand”.

“There’s also been a substantial shift in what our fans expects not only from their favourite artists, but venues too,” she continues. “Fans are looking for authentic experiences that go beyond their Instagram stories, they’re wanting connection. Experiential experiences are not to be overlooked, so that will be another key priority for us this year.”

Across the city at the rival Co-op Live, Dunstan is revelling in the arena’s first full year of operation, with UK arena exclusives from the likes of Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band and Robbie Williams on the horizon in H1 2025.

“The appetite for content has been immense,” he observes. “Amongst it, we’re seeing fans wanting a more focused consumer experience, from quality food and drink, to pre- and post-show entertainment, well beyond VIP and hospitality.”

He concludes: “There’s significant attention on arenas and the part they play in the wider music ecosystem; perhaps more than ever, with vital conversations around ticket pricing, support for the grassroots sector, ticket levies and more.

“It’s a very exciting time to be part of the industry, and to work collaboratively to balance the various needs of all levels with an increase in fan experience and expectation. It’s this that rings loudest, with fans rightfully wanting the best possible experience in exchange for their hard-earned money.

“It’s great that things are being shaken up, and we’re proud to be at the forefront of many of these timely conversations and their subsequent changes.”

• ILMC’s annual deep dive into the arena sector, The Venue’s Venue: Anchor Topics, will take place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel at 9.45am on Thursday February 27.

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The O2’s purple patch of first-time headliners is being turbo-charged by artists from across the globe, according to the London arena’s boss Steve Sayer.

The 20,000-cap venue hosted more debut headline acts than ever before last year, with 41 artists – including Raye, Charli XCX, Sam Fender and Sleep Token (UK), Karol G (Colombia), Asake (Nigeria), Noah Kahan and Cigarettes After Sex (US), Pendulum (Australia), Arijit Singh and Sid Sriram (India) and IVE (Korea) – among those topping the bill for the first time, representing a 70% increase on 2023.

And 2025 is set to follow in a similar vein, courtesy of the likes of Ateez, Tomorrow X Together (Korea), Zhou Shen (China), JJ Lin (Singapore), Central Cee (UK), Tarkan (Turkey), Tate McRae (Canada), Sabrina Carpenter and Gracie Abrams (US) and Babymetal and Ado (Japan).

“We’re definitely seeing this global ecosystem starting to come together,” Sayer tells IQ. “This year looks strong for first-time headliners and a couple of new countries are represented for the first time. That plays back into that globalisation of music agenda that a lot of us have spoken about in the industry and it certainly sets us up well for this year.”

The O2 sold over 2.6 million tickets in 2024 overall – up 3.5% on 2023’s previous high. Other highlights included multi-night stands from acts such as Liam Gallagher, The Killers and Olivia Rodrigo, and staple events like the BRIT Awards and C2C Festival.

“If we look at the number of shows confirmed… we’re slightly ahead of the same period last year”

“It was a record-breaking year,” contends Sayer, the venue’s SVP and general manager. “We maintained our longstanding position as the world’s busiest live music and entertainment arena, with 200 or so arena performances, and had multi-night runs from global superstars. We were delighted.”

In addition, the venue ended 2024 on a particularly high note with two shows by Paul McCartney, with the second performance on 19 December seeing Ringo Starr joining his former bandmate on stage.

“It was an incredible couple of shows, and that second night when both of the Beatles joined together on stage was an incredible moment,” says Sayer. “We were really proud that we were able to host it and everybody who worked on that event felt it was one of the best shows of the year. We are very grateful to our friends at Marshall Arts for working on that one with us and giving us those two amazing nights. It was definitely a night to remember.”

The BRITs return to the complex on 1 March, followed by long-running country music festival Country to Country, which will be headlined by Lainey Wilson, Dierks Bentley and Cody Johnson from 14-16 March. A 10-night residency by Usher (29 March-7 May) and six nights with Billie Eilish (10-17 July) are also lined up.

“If we look at the number of shows confirmed, or at strong pencil, we’re slightly ahead of the same period last year, so it bodes well for a slightly stronger year,” points out Sayer. “The year is anchored by some big residencies and there’s also a real spotlight on big female pop acts. Alongside Billie, we’ve got Kylie, Katy Perry and some of the new superstars: Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams and Tate McRae, plus Busted vs McFly doing five shows towards the back end of the year.”

“We’re really proud of the carbon removed shows that were launched last year, and we’d like to secure more of them”

The O2 also made history in February last year by hosting the world’s first carbon-removed arena events at The 1975’s four headline shows, resulting in the extraction and removal of 545.9 tonnes.

“We’ve got to a really good place with our sustainability programme, but we want to take that a stage further,” says Sayer. “We’re really proud of the carbon removed shows that were launched last year and we’d like to secure more of them. That would be part of the solution towards getting The O2 to a net zero position.”

Furthermore, the venue became the first UK arena to achieve ‘Platinum’ Accessibility status with disability charity Attitude is Everything. It also introduced self-serve bars, powered by Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology. It also opened a multi-million-pound VIP members club.

“It was a busy year on lots of fronts, but a really strong year,” concludes Sayer. “It’s all about ensuring that we’re fit for the future. We’ve made a number of investments in the last three to four years and work is underway in relation to how we evolve and improve our backstage and green room areas. We also want to look at how we evolve the guest experience more generally.

“Over and above, the target is to deliver on those 200-plus amazing shows that we get in the building each year and giving everybody – the fans, the bands and the brands – a great experience.”

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K-pop is yet to reach its peak despite its incredible growth on the international stage, according to experts.

ILMC’s How K-pop Conquered the World panel charted the history of the genre and how it broke worldwide, while pondering what is next for the scene.

ICA-Live-Asia president Tommy Jinho Yoon, who moderated the session in London, outlined the growth of the K-pop, saying he would never have imagined that Korean music would be embraced on a global platform.

“It’s about perfection,” said Yoon. “These artists live together and are trained at least two years before they do anything. They’re not allowed to do this and that; they’re not even allowed to date. It’s just total military training – this high, intense level of choreography, vocal and physical training – all these elements are embodied in the performance side of K-pop. And apparently, it is working with this generation.”

“It takes a significant time and also talent development for these artists to debut to the world,” affirmed Humid.TV’s David Choi, a former A&R director/producer for K-pop giant SM Entertainment.

“I don’t think we’re at the stage where it’s going to plateau yet”

California-based Choi credited a ’90s show in Korea by iconic American boyband New Kids on the Block for inspiring SM founder Lee Soo-man to create K-pop pioneers H.O.T. in 1996.

“That’s when [Soo-man] got the idea that, ‘Hey, I should build a boy group like this,'” said Choi. “That group was called H.O.T. And he was right – it was a global success.”

With superstars BTS not expected to regroup until 2025 while the band members fulfil their mandatory military service, there have been suggestions that the genre is starting to wane in popularity. But to Live Nation Australasia’s Wenona Lok, who recently worked on Stray Kids’ record-breaking Australian shows, any concerns on that front are premature.

“I don’t think we’re at the stage where it’s going to plateau yet,” she said. “It’s something that people can really learn from and we’re also starting to see a lot of K-pop acts collaborate with Western artists.”

“A lot of Western artists that I deal with are requesting to be connected with K-pop artists to do collaborations, and vice-versa,” agreed Yoon. “So I foresee a lot of that in the future – there is going to be joint shows and a lot of music produced together.”

“We had more traffic in the AXS waiting room for BTS than for Adele’s comeback shows one or two years before”

The O2’s VP and general manager Steve Sayer reflected on the impact BTS’ two nights at the London venue in 2018, which he said exceeded even the promoter’s expectations.

“I won’t put anyone on the spot, but I don’t think anyone really appreciated quite how big it was going to be,” he said. “We had more traffic in the AXS waiting room for BTS than for Adele’s comeback shows one or two years before. We could have had 20 shows comfortably, but they were holding back shows for Wembley Stadium the following summer.

“On the morning of [the first show], I had to double take because it was about 8.30am and there must have been at least 5,000 fans, if not more, queuing compliantly, and the front doors of The O2 weren’t even open.

“You announce one band, you sell 5,000 tickets. You announce the next band, you sell another 5,000 tickets, and then it adds up to 40,000 at the end”

“Everyone was in the arena bowl 90 minutes before the show’s start time. It smashed our merchandising record, which was broken, subsequently, at Blackpink a few months ago – and when the band came on stage, I’d never seen anything like it – not even at One Direction shows. I will use the word ‘hysteria’ because I can’t I can’t think of a better adjective.”

The O2 will host Europe’s biggest K-pop festival Kpop.Flex from 22-24 September this year, while Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park hosted the inaugural edition of Kpop.Flex in May 2022. The event will return to the German venue for a second edition from 17-18 June this year.

“We announced the line-up band by band,” said the stadium’s MD Patrik Meyer. “You announce one band, you sell 5,000 tickets. You announce the next band, you sell another 5,000 tickets, and then it adds up to 40,000 at the end. You could see that every fan had one specific band [they had come to see], but they like it all, so that’s fantastic for a festival.

“We sold out the first day of the [2022] festival within four to six weeks, so we added the second day. That didn’t sell out completely, but at the end we had almost 70,000 – 40,000, plus 30,000 for a first time event, which was a huge success.”

“It’s become a community and a culture beyond the music”

He added: “Social media is key to K-pop. Without that, it wouldn’t be possible to create that phenomenon. For our festival, no flyer was printed, no poster was put up, it was just starting an Instagram account from zero, so it’s a very active crowd.”

Creative director Amy Bowerman, whose past clients include Blackpink, extolled the strength of the genre’s relationship with its fans.

“One of the things that Kpop does so well is talk in youth language,” she said. “The power of that culture is huge, and one of the beautiful things about it is that it obviously lives online, but there’s also a physical space where you see all these dance groups come together. It’s become a community and a culture beyond the music. And I think that that is incredible, specifically for young people.

“With how tumultuous the world has been over the past four years, looking to these people who stand as beacons for  inclusivity and bringing people together… that is one of the reasons I think people are connecting to the artists so deeply and profoundly.”

“I think the reason K-pop is so big is because it’s really accessible,” agreed Lok. “If you go online, there are many fan groups that are happy to help educate you. Having the internet makes a big difference – it’s a right time, right place thing – but a lot of K-pop fans are women in their mid 40s, of all race groups. They come to the shows and bring their daughters because it’s something that is easy to share and get excited about.”

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London’s The O2 is gearing up to host this weekend’s BRIT Awards, which are taking place on a Saturday for the first time ever.

Performers at the 11 February ceremony – the biggest night on the British music industry’s calendar – will include Harry Styles, Lizzo, Cat Burns, David Guetta & Becky Hill & Ella Henderson, Sam Smith & Kim Petras, Stormzy, Lewis Capaldi and Wet Leg.

The awards, which have been held at The O2 since 2011, will be hosted by comedian Mo Gilligan and be broadcast live on ITV1 and ITVX from 8.30pm GMT. The night will also see the return of table seating on the arena floor, following two years of Covid restrictions.

“The BRITs is always one of the high points of the year, it’s a weeklong build and it’s a huge occasion for the industry,” The O2’s VP and GM Steve Sayer tells IQ. “We’re very proud to have hosted it for many years now and long may that continue. We’ve got a great relationship with the BPI and we work very closely with them, not on the artistic production, but on every other aspect, and it’s huge.

“They’ve moved it to a Saturday, which was a decision that the [record industry trade association] BPI made to try something a little bit different. We’re really excited about it, it’s a big showpiece for us and I have no doubt it will be as big as ever.”

“We are seeing the usual last-minute scrambles for tickets, and you can see why”

Wasserman Music will also be hosting its annual post-BRITs boat party, which has previously been presented by the likes of Lewis Capaldi, Sampha, Annie Mac, The xx, Disclosure and Rudimental. This year will feature The BRITs Rising Star top 3 – FLO, Cat Burns and Nia Archives.

“We are seeing the usual last-minute scrambles for tickets, and you can see why,” says Tom Schroeder, EVP of Wasserman Music. “We’ve been doing this in one guise or another since 2014, and have had the pleasure of hosting some of the biggest acts in the industry. This year, it’s all about the future with FLO, Cat Burns and Nia Archives presenting. And that’s what we are all about – supporting rising talent.”

The BRIT Awards is preceded by the annual BRITs Week charity concert series, presented by AEG, which gives fans the opportunity to see leading UK artists in intimate music venues across the country. Shows have included The 1975 at the 550-cap Gorilla in Manchester, and Sugababes at the 600-cap Garage and Kojey Radical at the 800-cap XOYO, both in London.

BRITs Week, which concludes tonight with Rina Sawayama at Lafayette (cap. 600) and Bob Vylan at Omeara (320), has raised millions of pounds for War Child since its inception in 2014, thanks to underplay shows by artists such as Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Take That, Florence & The Machine, Biffy Clyro , Foals, Royal Blood, Wolf Alice and The 1975, raising millions of pounds for War Child.

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The O2’s Steve Sayer has reflected on a “year of two halves” for the London venue in a new interview with IQ.

The 21,000-cap arena is finishing 2022 strongly following a difficult first few months, initially due to the spread of the Omicron variant and then damage caused by Storm Eunice, which caused it to close for a week in February.

“Overall, we’re really happy with the year and we’re ending on a high,” notes Sayer, The O2’s VP and general manager. “We’ve had some incredible shows but it was only 10 months ago that we were dealing with the storm ripping into the tent. We were just coming out of Covid wave number four or five with a lot of new team members and contractors, so it was a challenging start to the year.”

The venue, which celebrated its 15th anniversary this year, recovered to host a string of triumphant shows by the likes of Dua Lipa, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Rod Stewart, Lewis Capaldi, Travis Scott, Diana Ross, Little Mix and a 10-night stint by Queen + Adam Lambert.

“I think the recovery from Covid is going to take a little bit longer than we all anticipated… It’s just the aftermath that we’re now dealing with”

“By the time we got to Queen + Adam Lambert for those 10 shows in June, Diana Ross, which was another highlight, and Billie Eilish and the Overheated climate conference, I said to the team that it felt like we were getting back into our groove – and we’ve kicked on since that point,” adds Sayer.

“I don’t think anyone anticipated coming out of the global pandemic into the economic environment that we find ourselves in, so there are plenty of headwinds. We have some challenges around the cost base that are no different to any other venue and we’re working hard to figure out how we can mitigate that, so there’s still a little bit of uncertainty ahead. But then when I look at the diary, I think it’s going to be a solid year.”

Shows lined up for 2023 include Panic! at the Disco, George Ezra, Lizzo, Tom Grennan, Michael Buble, Elton John, Sam Smith, Paramore, Maroon 5, Kiss and Iron Maiden, among others, along with a monthly residency by comedian Peter Kay that stretches all the way to 2025.

“In terms of the number of shows that are already confirmed or strong pencils, we’re exactly where we need to be,” says Sayer. “I think the recovery from Covid is going to take a little bit longer than we all anticipated. I think the C-word is pretty much done, it’s just the aftermath that we’re now dealing with.

“We know that there is still a lot of pent-up demand from the fan for tickets. Some shows are doing incredibly well and there are one or two shows that perhaps aren’t doing quite as well as they would have done in normal times, but that might be a function of ticket price and cost of living, but what we have seen is that when fans are coming into The O2, they’re still spending money.

“What I take confidence from is that at times of recession, in recent memory, it tends to be that sport and music is the stuff that people don’t want to give up on. So I feel reasonably confident, but of course we have questions about how next year will play out.”

“We’re planning to deliver a net zero show. If we can prove the model for a single night, I’m pretty sure we can scale it up and replicate it over the medium and long term”

Sayer also discusses the knock-on effects of Eilish’s multi-day climate festival Overheated, which coincided with the singer’s six-night residency at the venue. The O2 implemented various changes within the arena to reduce single use plastic, promote a plant-based menu, and better enable customers to make informed and responsible choices.

“It’s been a real catalyst for us and has stimulated at least one if not two conversations with artist management about shows next year where the act has a particular leaning towards climate activism and the climate agenda,” reveals Sayer. “Whilst we probably won’t repeat the Overheated model, we’re planning to deliver a net zero show. If we can prove the model for a single night, I’m pretty sure we can scale it up and replicate it over the medium and long term.”

Last week, The O2 became the first arena in England to achieve its Greener Arena certification thanks to its sustainability practices and commitments.

“We’ve reduced the amount of meat we’re serving around the campus with out catering partner Levy UK & Ireland, and have been developing a Green Rider,” adds Sayer. “We appointed Jamal [Chalabi] and A Greener Festival to work with us on that and turn all of those learnings from the shows we’ve been running where the artist had a real leaning towards doing the right thing when it comes to sustainability.

“We’ve brought in an energy manager and AEG Europe is soon to be appointing a director of sustainability, who will support The O2 in 2023 and give us some additional expertise in terms of building our plans. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but I think both of those hires are going to be key for us.”

“We’re going to be improving our premium spaces… Our new super-club lounge concept on level 3 is going to be the best place to watch a show”

Having served as a transformative force in the venues sector ever since opening in 2007, Sayer is adamant The O2 is not about to rest on its laurels.

“It’s just about not being complacent,” he explains. “We’re going to be improving our premium spaces; we’re removing 12 suites and putting a new super-club lounge concept on level 3, which will have an incredible view of stage and is going to be the best place to watch a show.

“We’re planning a number of investments to ensure that our back of house areas are renovated and brought up to an even better standard. We’re investing in the fan experience – introducing kiosk ordering in some of our busy bar areas to try and reduce the queues – and are also planning to introduce  frictionless payment kiosks in a couple of areas. We invested in Evolv Express security scanning technology earlier this year, which continues to keep everybody safe but also ensures that fans get into the building a lot quicker.”

Sayer continues: “We’re also upgrading our Wi-Fi over the next six months and rolling out 5G across the venue because, while we don’t want fans to spend all their time on their phones, we know they want to put stuff on their social media channels and we want to give them the best experience to do that.”

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The O2’s VP and general manager Steve Sayer has spoken to IQ about the global K-pop boom after the London venue was lit up pink in honour of Blackpink’s two headline shows.

The 21,000-cap venue’s iconic white tent, and entrance sign were transformed to bright pink for the South Korean girl group’s AEG-promoted concerts on 30 November and 1 December.

The O2 was an early adopter of the K-pop craze, having welcomed BTS in October 2019, who smashed a merchandise sales record previously held by the Rolling Stones. The seven-piece band went on to make history the following year by playing to 120,000 people over two nights at Wembley Stadium, promoted by Live Nation.

“We hosted BTS before most people in the UK mainstream even knew who they were,” Sayer tells IQ. “They had this phenomenal fan base, but it was still relatively cult, and when we had those two shows I remember walking into the venue that morning – it was midweek and it wasn’t a school holiday – and there was this huge queue on the square outside The O2.

“We’ve had a lot of smaller K-pop artists and Asian artists play The O2 over the last 10 years, but that event really set the standard. You now have major artists – Blackpink’s a great example – that have the capability of selling out huge venues.”

“It’s a genre that is clearly only going to grow”

Europe’s largest K-pop festival, Kpop.Flex, sold more than 70,000 tickets in 84 countries for its inaugural edition at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt, Germany, in May.

Staged by K-Pop Europa in partnership with PK Events, K.Flex was due to make its UK debut at The O2 last month with acts including Winner, Pentagon and AB6IX, alongside the first-ever Kpop.Flex Awards For Emerging Artists. But the event was cancelled following the Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon, Seoul that killed 158 people. The festival, which returns to Germany from 17-18 June, will now launch in the UK from 22-24 September 2023.

“It was sad that we had to cancel the event recently, but I think everybody understood why,” notes Sayer. “But next year’s K. Flex is going to be brilliant, because there will be big headliners but it will also be an event that breaks some of the up-and-coming K-pop artists.

“In addition to K.Flex, we’ve have a number of other pencils for K-pop artists next year. It’s a genre that is clearly only going to grow and our partners on that event are very much connected with the Korean equivalent of our DCMS, which is actively using it as a way to promote Korean culture globally.”

“To mark Blackpink being the first female K-pop band to headline The O2, it was only right that the whole venue should be turned pink for the first time ever in their honour”

Blackpink recently became the first girl group to gross US$3 million (€2.9m) from a single arena concert in North America, generating $3.297m per night from their two 23,928-cap sellout shows at the Prudential Center in Newark from 14-15 November. The quartet will return to London in 2023 for their UK festival debut at BST Hyde Park on Sunday 2 July.

“We were very excited and proud to start Blackpink’s European arena tour with two historic nights at The O2 – a mere sneak peek into what they have planned for their colossal BST Hyde Park show in July 2023,” adds Simon Jones, SVP of International Touring at AEG Presents. “To mark Blackpink being the first female K-pop band to headline The O2, it was only right that the whole venue should be turned pink for the first time ever in their honour. Iconic!”

Meanwhile, Billboard‘s newly published Year in Touring places BTS as the 27th highest-grossing tour of 2022, generating US$75,489,240 from 458,144 ticket sales for just 11 shows.

BTS’ record label Big Hit Music announced in October that the K-pop superstars were moving forward with plans to fulfil their mandatory military service, ending a long-running debate in Korea over whether they should receive an exemption due to their artistic accomplishments.

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The O2 in London has announced a series of new sustainability measures as it prepares to host multi-day climate festival Overheated.

Overheated is set to take place across six days  – 10-12, 16 and 25-26 June – during Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever, The World Tour dates at the AEG-operated venue.

The O2 will be implementing various changes within the arena to reduce single use plastic, promote a plant-based menu, and better enable customers to make informed and responsible choices. Working with the singer and her tour team on their Green Rider, it has committed to going 100% vegan on all available food items for the six shows,

Following Eilish’s residency, The O2 will continue with a plant-forward philosophy, which will see the concession stand staple ‘beef burger’ being removed from the menu permanently.

“We’re proud to be leading the charge as a company”

“Finding ways to make both our venues across Europe and worldwide, as well as the wider live entertainment industry, more sustainable has never been more important,” says AEG Europe COO John Langford. “We’re proud to be leading the charge as a company to help find and trial innovative solutions and help reduce our impact on the planet.”

Throughout The O2 arena, the venue will be installing several water dispensers for fans to easily access on their visit, thereby reducing the need for plastic water bottles. Visitors to the arena will be encouraged to bring soft, reusable water bottles which will need to be emptied prior to entry and fully collapsible.

The O2 is also taking strides to reduce the amount of single-use plastic used in the arena moving forwards and has committed to using recyclable paper cups in all areas of the arena, including backstage. It has also removed all plastic bags from merchandise units and is implementing fabric wristbands made from 100% recycled PET plastic for standing arena attendees for the first time this month.

“As one of the world’s leading venues, it’s important that we help drive industry change in the space of sustainability”

“We’re so proud to be taking real strides this month to becoming an even more sustainable venue here at The O2,” says Steve Sayer, the 21,000-cap venue’s VP & general manager. “Going fully vegan in the arena for six sold out show dates with Billie Eilish is no small task and is something that we know will really resonate with fans attending the shows.

“The reduction in single use plastic in The O2 arena is another huge step forward for us, as we work towards our A Greener Arena accreditation, and ultimately one day towards becoming net zero as a venue. As one of the world’s leading venues, it’s important that we help drive industry change in the space of sustainability and show that we can all make a difference, whilst continuing to still provide a best-in-class experience for the fans and artists.”

Through its partnership with catering partner Levy, The O2 is also working with Klimato to calculate, communicate and report the climate impact of the food available for fans to purchase. Levy has committed to reaching net zero at the arena by 2025 – an integral part of The O2’s overall strategy to hit net zero.

The O2 and AEG Europe are currently working with A Greener Festival on establishing an accurate scientific baseline for scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions before publishing its full plan for net zero later this year.

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The O2’s Steve Sayer is tipping 2023 to be an even bigger year for live music as the business edges back towards normality following the Covid shutdown.

The 20,000-cap, AEG-operated London venue, which hosted the UK’s annual BRIT Awards on 8 February, reopened last Friday with a concert by UB40 featuring Ali Campbell after being closed for a week due to damage caused by Storm Eunice.

And despite the industry enduring a slightly slow start to Q1 due to the spread of the Omicron variant, the arena’s VP and GM tells IQ it is now all systems go.

“The BRITs was really the kickstart for us at The O2,” says Sayer, who succeeded John Langford in the role in 2018. “A week or so later, we were naturally concerned about whether the impact [of the storm damage] was going to go on longer than we thought, but it’s just getting busier and busier from here on in.

“We’re getting back to what The O2 has done for many years, which is six or seven shows a week, back-to-back, for the next few weeks. Dave doing two shows this week has been fantastic – a London artist coming through and headlining his first two shows at The O2 was a major milestone – but we’ve got many more to come.”

Superstar artists set to play the venue in the coming months include Stormzy, Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, Queen + Adam Lambert and Alicia Keys, while Justin Bieber, Elton John, Ozzy Osbourne and Shawn Mendes are already announced for next year.

“A lot of rescheduled events from the last couple of years have dropped into this year, but we’ve got new shows getting announced all the time and Q4 looks strong,” says Sayer. “It’s been difficult getting dates, not just at The O2, but across the board, and we’ve also got a lot of content already lined up for 2023.

“I think 2023 is probably going to be a bigger year than 2022. We all thought that ’22 would be the record year and the recovery year, and I still think it’ll be a really strong year in terms of the event count and the calibre of the artists playing. But hopefully, from here on in, we’re looking at 18 to 24 months of really strong, bumper content.”

On 18 February, an estimated 1,000 people were evacuated from the Greenwich complex, which also boasts the Up at The O2 attraction, the Icon Outlet shopping centre, a cinema and the 2,800-cap Indigo at The O2, after one of the worst storms to hit the UK in decades ripped a hole in the venue’s iconic roof.

Two shows by Dave set for 21-22 February were rescheduled for the following week but, despite initial concerns, all other gigs in the main arena have been able to proceed as planned.

“We’re in the events business and the one thing we’re great at is keeping the show on the road”

“It was a huge relief to be back up and running after various lockdowns and the impact of that on the arena for the best part of two years,” reflects Sayer. “So to then get the call that part of the tent had torn in the wind wasn’t the best news to get on a Friday,” says Sayer. “At that point, we really didn’t know how long it was going to take, but it was a monumental team effort.

“We had to move on our feet for the first 24 to 36 hours to really understand what it was we were dealing with. But by the Sunday, we were confident that we would be at least partially open within a week if we could create a safe passage for fans using Entrance H, because it was around that area where the roof has been damaged.”

He continues: “We brought in a number of construction experts and structural engineer expertise right away and worked to make the site safe and get back open within just under a week, which was an incredible achievement and a massive tonic for us all.

“There was always going to be speculation that it could be longer and we took a lot of calls from a number of very worried promoters and agents asking, ‘What’s happening with our show? Can you confirm it’s definitely going ahead?’ And we were able to reassure all of those clients quite quickly that it wouldn’t be a long closure, because the arena hasn’t been impacted at all, we just needed to create that safe passage. Fans coming to the Dave shows on Monday and Tuesday experienced that for the first time and it worked pretty well.

“We got a lot of messages of support from across the industry – and some practical support from Dave’s team, who actually had to move two other shows to accommodate moving the two shows at The O2, so I’d like to place on record my thanks to everybody involved in that.”

Other upcoming events over the next couple of weeks include Simply Red (2-3 March), The Lumineers (4 March), Davido (5 March) and the return of the Country to Country festival (11-13 March).

“Fundamentally, we’re in the events business and the one thing we’re great at is keeping the show on the road,” adds Sayer. “After the past couple of years, it was imperative that we did that and everybody at The O2 pulled together to make happen.”

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The O2, the world’s most popular live entertainment venue, will enter 2019 with a new general manager.

Steve Sayer, formerly the O2’s commercial director, will become its GM and vice-president from January, succeeding former GM/VP John Langford, who was recently named COO of AEG Europe.

Sayer’s promotion is accompanied by two other appointments: The O2 operations director Danielle Kennedy-Clark is promoted to deputy GM, while Gavin Brind becomes finance director, replacing AEG Europe’s new CFO, Paul Reeve.

“I’m delighted to be announcing that Steve, Danielle and Gavin will be leading the O2 from January,” comments Langford. “Their combined experience in managing this incredible venue, working alongside the senior leadership team, means that the world’s busiest arena will continue to flourish.”

“I’m excited to be leading the venue as we further develop the customer experience and our programme”

Sayer joined the O2 in 2014 as commercial director, overseeing ticketing operations, merchandising, food and beverage, and corporate sales, along with exhibition content and overseeing roof-walk attraction Up at the O2.

Kennedy-Clark joined the O2 at venue manager in 2010, before being promoted to operations director in 2017. Brind, meanwhile, joined AEG in 2012 and has been deputy finance director since 2017.

“The O2 continues to set the benchmark for the music and entertainment industry in every respect,” adds Sayer. “I’m excited to be leading the venue as we further develop the customer experience and our programme, finding new ways to delight the millions of fans who visit the O2 every year”.

The O2 was once again the world’s top arena by ticket sales in 2017, selling more than 1.44 million tickets compared to Madison Square Garden’s 1.17m.

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