André Béchir to operate new Eventim Live company
André Béchir will operate a new company under the Eventim Live umbrella, in collaboration with Swiss-French promoter TAKK.
Béchir was acting as a senior advisor to CTS Eventim-backed Gadget abc Entertainment Group AG under a three-year contract that ended last year.
He will continue to co-operate with Gadget abc on shows such as Bruce Springsteen, Herbert Grönemeyer and Eros Ramazzotti.
With his new company, Béchir will stay part of Eventim Live promoter network and collaborate with TAKK, using its infrastructure and team for the new shows to come.
Sebastien Vuignier’s TAKK and Gadget abc have collaborated for the last five years on concerts for Muse, Sam Smith, Bon Iver and others.
“I am very proud to now work side by side with André, a pioneer and internationally recognised market leader”
“I have known Seb since he was at Paleo Festival,” says Béchir. “Through his passion for music and his sense of business, he could establish his name and his company TAKK as a leading international promoter. I am very happy to be collaborating with him, with Théo and the whole TAKK team.”
Vuignier adds: “I met André Béchir more than 20 years ago. I was his local partner in the French-speaking part of Switzerland while I was working at Paleo Festival. I learned a lot and could always count on support from André, working on my first arena and stadium shows at that time. I am very proud to now work side by side with this pioneer and internationally recognised market leader.”
Théo Quiblier, who joined TAKK last September, comments: “When André promoted The Rolling Stones in Lausanne in 2007, little did he know 11 years old Théo was attending his very first show with his father and fell in love with the magic of shows. André has always been an inspiration for me and I cannot wait to work with him and learn from him. Nothing but huge respect on my side for his illustrious career. Bring on the shows!”
Béchir’s abc Production was amalgamated with Gadget and Wepromote by CTS Eventim just a month or two before the pandemic hit. The newly formed Gadget abc Entertainment Group is 60%-owned by Eventim, with the rest held by the Swiss partners.
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Theo Quiblier moves to Swiss-French promoter Takk
Swiss-French concert promoter and artist booking company Takk has announced that Theo Quiblier will be joining the team from the beginning of September.
Quiblier joins the Grimisuat-based company from Two Gentleman, where he has spent the last five years – most recently as the company’s head of concerts and touring.
He will bring with him a roster that includes The National, Faber, The War on Drugs, Mitski, Fontaines D.C., Polo & Pan, Wet Leg, Shygirl, Caroline Polachek, Self Esteem, Gabriels and Black Country New Road.
Founded in 2009, Takk has worked with the likes of Muse, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, Nick Cave, Florence and the Machine, IDLES, Queens of the Stone Age, The Lumineers, Sam Smith, Sigur Ros, Amy Macdonald and Paolo Nutini.
The company, which was recently profiled in IQ‘s Swiss Market Report, says it will continue to work with Two Gentleman on specific projects and artists.
“Our team will certainly benefit from Theo’s passion and dedication”
“We are convinced that Theo shares the same values, and we have always looked at his achievements with respectful consideration,” says Takk founder Sebastien Vuignier. “We are thrilled that our team can now grow in the best manner, and will certainly benefit from Theo’s passion and dedication.
“As a new team member, Theo will bring his own style and energy, and we are determined to offer him an opportunity to grow with his own acts, being under the same roof as the many exciting acts I’ve been working with for years now.”
Quiblier adds: “I am so thrilled to join a vibrant team like Takk. Everyone across the industry knows how much I always admired Seb’s work ethic, passion and indie spirit. Everything he has accomplished ever since establishing Takk in 2009 has always been nothing but inspirational to me and he has been instrumental in my early career success.
“Getting the chance to team up with a leading player in live like Takk and strengthen our activities together that will benefit all our partners across the board is an opportunity I could not miss. I am so much looking forward to embracing this new challenge and to everything that’s ahead.”
Quiblier has previously held roles at music venue La Parenthèse, as well as festivals Montreux Jazz and Antigel. Last year, he was nominated for The New Bosses 2021, IQ’s annual celebration of the brightest young talent in the live business today.
As well as appearing on last year’s ILMC panel, Meet the New Bosses, Quiblier penned a comment piece about embracing failure for IQ, which can be read here.
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CH-CH-changes
Switzerland is prosperous, politically neutral and stands outside of the EU, a wealthy, land-locked island in the middle of Europe. But in its highly active live business, it is certainly not insulated from competition, external or otherwise.
Take the case of the Hallenstadion, Zürich’s 15,000-capacity former Vélodrome, and Switzerland’s most popular arena destination for major incoming touring acts. Until 2013, the venue was booked exclusively by Good News – then the unchallenged market leader. These days, it’s open to all, as everyone knows, but here’s the point: Hallenstadion director Felix Frei estimates that the arena now routinely takes bookings from ten or 15 promoters.
“We have a much broader base of promoters in music than before,” says Frei. “We have more concerts but, on average, less attendance. The reason seems to be a really, really strong music market here. Artists are playing five, six, seven times in Switzerland and we can feel that.”
“You travel through Switzerland in the summer and basically in every town you have a music event”
Out in the fresh Swiss air too, where it has been joked that every field has its own festival, the open-air market is bulging at the seams. Something like 300 events battle for the attention of fewer than 8.5m Swiss, plus musical tourists.
“I think it’s great for the audience,” says Dany Hassenstein, booker at Paléo in Nyon, which has sold out in advance for 16 years in a row. “You travel through Switzerland in the summer and basically in every town you have a music event. It’s great for people who love music.”
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