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THE GAFFER 2023 Malcolm Weldon

2023: A YEAR IN TRENDS

LECH THE GOOD TIMES ROLL Poland market report

first direct arena

INCOMPARRABLE Memo Parra’s 30 Years in Music

LEEDS BY EXAMPLE Ten years of

ILMC

IQ124 CONTENTS Cover photo: Beyoncé on the final night of her June 2023 Renaissance tour residency at Tottenham Stadium in London © Mason Poole

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36 54

22 NEWS

FEATURES

COMMENT AND COLUMNS

06 08 14

16

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Index In Brief The main headlines over the last month Analysis Key stories and news analysis from around the live music world New Signings & Rising Stars A roundup of the latest acts that have been added to the rosters of international agencies

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2023: A Year in Trends IQ wraps up the key trends and takeaways from the global live music business this year Incom-Parra-ble Former financial wizard Memo Parra celebrates 30 years in music The Gaffer 2023 IQ crowns Malcolm Weldon as this year's top production guru Leeds by Example Derek Robertson talks to the people who helped make the first decade of Leeds’ first direct arena such a success Lech the Good Times Roll Adam Woods visits Poland to learn about the growing optimism among live music industry professionals

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Touts are Getting More Sophisticated Adam Webb cites the reasons behind the relaunch of the FanFair Alliance, with a push to outlaw ticket resale for profit Working Toward Gender Balance Christina Hazboun outlines some of the campaigns and initiatives Keychange is employing to end the music industry’s patriarchal landscape Members’ Noticeboard ILMC members’ photographs Your Shout What would help send you into orbit in 2024?

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THE LAST DINNER PARTY • JAZZY • JESHI • OLIVIA DEAN • NO GUIDNCE

EXPLORING NEW FRONTIERS IN THE LIVE MUSIC BUSINESS ILMC 36 IS IN ORBIT WITH OUR GRAVITY-DEFYING PARTNERS

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THE ROARING TWENTIES

I

t barely seems like a few weeks ago when I sat down to my computer to write the end-of-year editorial for 2022. It was the first year of business following the coronavirus pandemic, and with the best part of three years of touring effectively crammed into nine months, it turned out to be a record year, with many people thinking it would take an era to surpass.

Roll forward 12 months and it would appear that’s exactly what has happened, albeit with a few more staff on hand to help out, and the supply chain issues that gave countless people sleepless nights in 2022, in a more manageable state.

Looking back on this year, we’ve identified a number of trends across the industry (see page 16) to reflect upon, while in our news analysis section (starting on page 8), we also flag up some of the latest financial results that point to 2023 being another record breaker. So, while 2019’s predictions of the Roaring Twenties may have fallen flat in 2020 and 2021 when pandemic lockdowns shut everything down, certainly the past two years have fulfilled those prophecies, with the global business enticing more fans than ever to buy tickets, at higher prices than many might have imagined.

One very concerning topic from our review of the year is the weather. Living for the most part of my life in the UK, the weather has never exactly been predictable, but the extreme storms that once would have made international headlines now seem to be a weekly occurrence somewhere on the planet, and it seems increasingly likely that the weather will become public enemy number one for event organisers everywhere – and not just for outdoor shows, as we’ve now seen storms impact ingress and egress at bricks and mortar venues.

If, as some experts are reporting, insurance companies decide not to provide cover for weather-related claims, the risk factor may prove too much for certain promoters to stomach.

Talking of risk takers, we’re celebrating trailblazer Memo Parra’s 30 years in music (page 22), where we learn about his previous career as a stock market trader – a path he was driven to take because of the Mexican government’s decision to forbid large-scale concerts for many decades.

Our end-of-year edition also sees us crown road warrior Malcolm Weldon as The Gaffer 2023 (page 36). If ever there was proof that a strong work ethic will pay dividends, Weldon’s journey to the top of the production pyramid nails it, while his ego-free, relaxed approach to taking the biggest artists out on the road should be an inspiration to all.

Elsewhere, Derek Robertson glances back across the first decade of First Direct Arena (page 48), where we discover that demand from the residents and businesses in the city of Leeds ultimately led to the ambitious arena project.

And for this issue’s market report, Adam Woods travels to Poland (page 54), where it is hoped that an imminent political regime change will usher in a new era for culture and live entertainment.

That optimism seems like a good place to sign off IQ Magazine for 2023 – a year that took everyone by surprise in terms of ticket sales, and which, despite breaking records yet again, still left many fans disappointed as demand outstripped supply.

All of which hints that 2024 could be another stellar one. We certainly hope so.

Happy holidays to all of you – and from all at IQ, we wish you a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

ISSUE 124 LIVE MUSIC INTELLIGENCE IQ Magazine Unit 31 Tileyard Road London, N7 9AH info@iq-mag.net www.iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0)20 3743 0300 Twitter: @iq_mag Publisher ILMC and Suspicious Marketing Editor Gordon Masson News Editor James Hanley Deputy News Editor Lisa Henderson Sales Director Gareth Ospina Design RND Studio Sub Editor Michael Muldoon Head of Digital Ben Delger Digital Content Executive Hanna Ellington Contributors Christina Hazboun, Derek Robertson, Adam Webb, Adam Woods Editorial Contact Gordon Masson gordon@iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0)20 3743 0303 Advertising Contact Gareth Ospina gareth@iq-mag.net Tel: +44 (0)20 3743 0304

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IN BRIEF INDEX The concert business digest

Live Nation signs a multi-year global strategic partnership with K-pop label JYP Entertainment.

Finland’s Fullsteam Agency promotes longtime employee Aino-Maria Paasivirta to head promoter.

Venue management giant ASM Global announces three new appointments as it continues its expansion in the Nordics.

The O2 in London launches its very own Green Rider, an “industryleading” document outlining sustainable choices for incoming tours and productions.

Mexican stadium Foro Sol is to be closed for renovation for the majority of 2024 before reopening with a concert by Metallica.

Organisers of Israel’s Supernova Sukkot festival pay tribute to the victims of the massacre at an official memorial ceremony.

Promoter DF Concerts is to bring Scotland’s long-running Summer Sessions to the foot of Stirling Castle, Stirling City Park in June/ July 2024.

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Tours by superstars including Taylor Swift, Paul McCartney, and Coldplay help drive CTS Eventim to strong growth in the first nine months of 2023.

Travis Scott makes his first public statement on the Astroworld crowd crush in more than two years. years. “I always think about it,” the rapper told GQ. K-pop stars Blackpink announce their first-ever virtual concert in partnership with Meta (formerly known as Facebook) and production company The Diamond Bros.

Primavera Sound announces its first foray into Uruguay with The Cure’s tour of South America.

Bruno Mars is set to make history in Japan with seven sold-out shows at the 55,000-capacity Tokyo Dome in early 2024.

Denmark’s Syd For Solen festival is to relocate to Copenhagen’s largest park, Valbyparken.

AEG Europe unveils plans for a new 8,500-cap arena in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Glastonbury Festival 2024 sells out in just under an hour, with organisers saying, “demand greatly exceeded supply.”

Live Nation Finland appoints Annika Oksanen to head the company’s booking agency for domestic artists, effective 1 January 2024.

Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour is set to become the most well-attended concert tour of all time.

South American promoter Time for Fun implements a spate of changes for Taylor Swift’s final Eras concerts in Rio de Janeiro, following the death of a 23-year-old fan who fell ill while attending the singer’s show.

CTS Eventim acquires Punto Ticket in Chile and Teleticket in Peru via its joint venture with Sony Music Latin Iberia.

Talent giant CAA signs AI and metaverse technology and content company Futureverse.

P!nk and Burna Boy each announce more stadium shows across UK/Europe after milestone concerts in Britain this summer.

The death toll from the massacre at Israel’s Supernova Sukkot festival rises to more than 360, according to a new report.

Live Nation is issued with a subpoena by a U.S. Senate panel for documents regarding its ticket pricing and fees.

The Rolling Stones announce a 16-city stadium tour of the US and Canada for 2024.

TEG-owned ticketing, data, and analytics firm Ticketek rolls out an online accessible ticket booking platform.

UK live music organisations welcome the extension to business rates relief for grassroots venues announced by chancellor Jeremy Hunt as part of his Autumn Statement.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre cancel the remainder of their Australian tour following an onstage scuffle between two band members at a show in Melbourne.

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Analysis

MSG REJECTS LONDON SPHERE LIFELINE

T

he UK government has dramatically stepped in to prevent plans for an MSG Sphere London from being scrapped.

The project by the firm behind the recently launched $2.3bn Sphere in Las Vegas was first announced more than five years ago and was approved in principle by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) despite objections.

London mayor Sadiq Khan had appeared to bring the long-running saga to an end when he rejected the 21,500-capacity proposal, stating concerns it would result in an “unacceptable negative impact on local residents.” However, levelling-up secretary Michael Gove has subsequently ordered a six-week pause as he considers whether to call in the application for the development on the edge of the Olympic Park in Stratford.

Sphere Entertainment slammed the mayor’s ruling in a withering statement issued in the wake of Gove’s intervention.

“The entire five-year planning process was hijacked by the mayor and his bogus last-minute report,” claimed a Sphere spokesperson.

“Londoners should be dismayed that they are not going to benefit from this groundbreaking project and others looking to invest in London should certainly be wary. Moreso, everyone should be alarmed by how easily the government’s established process was tossed aside by one politically motivated official.

“Mr Gove’s action, although commendable, still appears to us to be more of the same, and we cannot continue to participate in a process that can be so easily undermined by political winds. As we said previously, we will focus on the many forward-thinking cities.”

Meanwhile, U2 have added a final four dates to their groundbreaking U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere residency in Las Vegas, which launched on 29 September, bringing the band’s run at the futuristic venue to 40 nights.

Sphere Entertainment and Live Nation confirmed the additional shows for 23-24 February and 1-2 March 2024 following “overwhelming, sustained demand.” Billboard Boxscore reported that the first 17 shows grossed $109.8m and sold 281,000 tickets, making it the fastest-grossing residency in Boxscore history.

American rock band Phish are the next major act lined up to play at the Sphere and will deliver a four-show run at the 17,500-seat/20,000cap venue from 18-21 April 2024.

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LEGENDS ACQUIRES ASM GLOBAL

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egends has ushered in a new era for the venue management sector with its blockbuster acquisition of ASM Global, creating a premium global live events company.

The reported $2.4bn deal promises to enhance Legends’ services portfolio, positioning it to “meet the expanding needs” of sports organisations, venues, and attractions around the globe, while “supporting its vision to deliver exceptional live experiences for fans in the digital age.”

“Legends and ASM Global are both deeply client-centric and fan-focused, and together we will deliver maximum value for our global client roster with even greater support and service options,” says Legends CEO Shervin Mirhashemi.

Premium experiences specialist Legends was founded in 2008 and is backed by global investment firm Sixth Street. It provides venue planning and project management, premium sales, sponsorship, hospitality, and merchandise services.

High-profile clients include prestigious brands such as Real Madrid, SoFi Stadium, Dallas Cowboys, FC Barcelona, New York Yankees, and Ryder Cup, as well as the NFL, MLB, NASCAR, PGA of America, and FIFA World Cup. “Welcoming ASM Global to Legends is a capstone achievement in our 15-year journey toward becoming the world’s trusted partner for connecting people with the brands and communities that matter most to them and for helping our clients create memorable moments that keep their fans and patrons returning time and again,” adds Mirhashemi.

ASM, which was formed in 2019 following a merger between arena operators AEGThousands Facilities of and Onex’s SMG, operates buildings including professionals read ICC Sydney Convention Center, Avicii day.

ArenaMake IQ every in Stockholm, OVO Arena Wembley, Coca-Cosure you get the la Arena in Dubai, and State Farm Stadium in

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NEW SIGNINGS & NEW MUSIC Tracking the acts that have found representation at booking agencies around the world.

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iecy Blues describes their songwriting process like an undertow: “I feel a strange pull and let it carry me, following swirling leaves… whole days roll by, forgetting about the body.” Their full-length debut, Exit Simulation, captures this sense of deep-rooted divination, cycling between simmering ballads, ghosted R&B, downtempo gospel, and looped vocal improvisations – often within the same track.

Recorded in their current home of Charleston, South Carolina, the music of Niecy Blues transposes reverie and reckoning into emotive devotionals of keys, guitar, bass, synth, and bewitched voice, steeped in sacred atmospheres gleaned from a youth spent in a religious Oklahoma household: “My first experience with ambient music was church – slow songs of worship, with delay on the guitar… even if you don’t believe, you feel something.”

Niecy Blues will be coming to Europe in spring 2024.

LOUANE AGENT

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(FR)

Clementine Bunel | Wasserman Music

nne Peichert, known by her stage name Louane Emera or just Louane, rose to fame as a contestant on the second season of The Voice: la plus belle voix. She later starred in movie La Famille Bélier, for which she won a César Award for Most Promising Actress.

Her first studio solo album, Chambre 12, was released in 2015 to great success, with single Avenir topping the French charts. Subsequent albums Louane and Joie de vivre were both certified platinum, while latest album Sentiments was released to critical acclaim last year.

After a full tour in 2023, Louane is planning further Le Club des Sentiments shows in Europe for 2024, promising a series of intimate, emotional concerts full of sharing between artist and fans.

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DECEMBER 2023

Jan Bouwhuis | Earth Agency Fastest growing artists in terms of music consumption, aggregated across a number of online sources.

AGENT

HOTTEST NEW ACTS

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THIS MONTH

LAST MONTH

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ARTIST COLBY ACUFF (US) RAY BULL (US)

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DIDE (UK) STEVIE BILL (NL)

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ARTEMAS (UK)

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68

HOTLINE TNT (US)

7

STEPHEN WILSON JR. (US)

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KINGFISHR (IE)

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36

DIALE (UK)

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89

ILSEY (US)

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ALEX FAVELA (US/MX)

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41 (US)

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BBY (UK)

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CASSO (UK)

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DYLAN GOSSETT (US)

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PREDICTIONS FOR JANUARY 2024

read KARRAHBOOO (US), SOUTHERN professionals RIVER BAND, THE (AU), REDFERRIN (US),IQ every day. Make BIIANCO (UK/US), KATE PEYTAVIN (US) sure you get the Artists not in the current top 15, but growing quickly

NIECY BLUES

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Comment

“The mechanisms of dealing with cases of bullying, harassment, and discrimination within the music industries are still nascent”

CHRISTINA HAZBOUN | KEYCHANGE

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usic is a tool for the creation and consolidation of times, spaces, thoughts, and emotions and therefore has the power to articulate many layers of our societies, with all their diversity and colourfulness.

Yet this rich multiplicity does not always manifest in what we hear whether we are talking about the representation of different genders; different racial and ethnic backgrounds; or different socio-economic strata and disabilities. This is where Keychange plays a pivotal role.

Having started in 2016 following a report on the dire representation of women within the music industries, Keychange embarked on an ambitious project to amend this representational gap, through a motley of tools. Supported by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, Keychange is a global network and movement working towards a total restructure of the music industry in reaching full gender equality. We are blessed to have partners collaborating with us from 11 different European countries, in addition to Canada, [who are all] working proactively to make this change. This year, we have expanded further, founding the Keychange U.S. branch.

The latest Music Industry study from Believe, TuneCore, and Luminate, titled Be The Change: Gender Equality in the Music Industry, indicates that cisgender men are paid more than others in the music industry, whereas the sixth annual University of Southern California Annenberg Inclusion Initiative report, which was funded by Spotify, states that the amount of women represented in Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 chart increased from 28.7% in 2022 to a total of 30%. There are still significant gaps in representation of women and gender diverse artists in the industry, where only 14% of songwriters on the chart were shown in the report to be women, while women producers made up only 3.4% of all producers, with only one declared nonbinary producer.

Gender identities are varied, and the current designations do not necessarily encompass them all. They do not encompass the multitude of identities each individual holds either, and this prompts the question: how do we go about creating safer and more inclusive spaces to embrace the multitudes within our musical sphere?

At Keychange, we chose to do so through a number of approaches, one of which is an annual participant programme that supports 74 artists and innovators in showcasing their

talent and knowledge through the network of our partner festivals, but also by receiving mentorship from our partners at Shesaid.so. Throughout the year, the participants get to network and build on their capacities, knowledge, and experience in what we constantly strive to call a safe space.

As the TuneCore report shows, 34% of women in the industry reported experiencing sexual harassment, while 62% of nonbinary persons felt some form of discrimination based on age. We have therefore chosen to share our Code of Conduct with our partners and participants, which also includes an incident reporting form for our team to look into any concerns.

The mechanisms of dealing with cases of bullying, harassment, and discrimination within the music industries are still nascent, and therefore, we should all work together to foster collaborative efforts to nurture spaces free of any form of aggression. A trait much needed especially during times of extreme violence.

On a broader industry level, we have also been working with over 650 pledge signatories from around the world who have taken the Keychange Pledge to increase diversity within their work. With the Pledge, Keychange offers an effective tool and tailored support to increase representation throughout the music world.

This year, we have launched our Pledge Action plan, which calls for four points: Going beyond gender, calls for urgent action, calls on the global music community to get involved, and highlights the role and work of education and activism in achieving these goals.

Our May 2023 Pledge report, Keychange – Working Towards Gender Balance in the Music Industry, clearly indicates that there is both a need and a desire for the industry to adopt a more intersectional approach to build on networks of solidarity and achieve improvements for women and gender-diverse artists but alongside male-identifying partners in order to heal the current status quo and restore an approach that is more humanist and in tune with the nature of beings on our planet. If the arrangement of music fashions societies, then now is the time to seek more harmony, melody, and rhythm to orchestrate a safer, less dominant, and less patriarchal musical environment for humankind both on and off stages.

Christina Hazboun is Keychange Project Manager, UK, Thousands of at PRS Foundation professionals read

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2023 A YEAR IN TRENDS

Once again, it’s been an eventful 12 months in the global live entertainment business worldwide.

And while challenges abound, it’s set to be a record year for many.

Whether you took a 12-month sabbatical to a Wi-Fi-free island or were just so busy trying to get through 2023 that you hadn’t noticed the business around you, here’s how the live business changed in 2023...

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1

2023 WAS A MAMMOTH YEAR FOR LIVE MUSIC

While 2022 was the biggest year on record for live music, incredibly it seems like 2023 is on course to be even larger, both in terms of tickets sold and box office revenues, driven in no small part by a packed calendar of stadium and arena tours.

Elton John’s epic Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour came to an end, setting a new world record for box office grosses - $939.1m – as 6m people witnessed the 330-show run over a five-year period, thanks to the coronavirus postponing the majority of those dates.

However, with Beyoncé generating $579m from just 56 dates of her Renaissance tour, Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres at 7.5m ticket sales and $550m and counting, and Taylor Swift’s remarkable Eras Tour earning an estimated $900m just from its run through the Americas, Sir Elton’s will not remain the record holder for long.

Meanwhile, the industry’s biggest companies all reported impressive financials.

“This is an industry that’s going to grow for a long time,” said Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino in a recent interview, on the back of his company reporting its strongest ever quarter, with revenues of $8.2bn. Ticket sales across its events during the first nine months of 2023 topped 140m, meaning Live Nation has already outstripped last year’s record-breaking sales of 121m tickets throughout the entire 12-month period.

“We believe demand on a global basis for the next decade is going to be very strong,” added Rapino.

CTS Eventim revealed revenues of €729.3m for Q3 2023 – up 5% year-on-year – and €1.75bn for the year to date, which marks a 23% increase on the same period last year.

And to quote ticketing expert Tim Chambers: “Against a post-pandemic background of challenging global market conditions – high inflation and growing interest rates, slowing economic growth, and violent geopolitical disputes – the sector seemingly operates in contradiction to one of the basic rules of economics i.e. that as the cost of living goes up, discretionary spending goes down.”

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THE MAJORS ARE EVEN MORE MAJOR

The last 12 months have also been super busy for mergers and acquisitions, with consolidation by leading players continuing as private equity-backed majors added to their portfolios.

One of the biggest deals announced – which still has to receive the green light from competition watchdogs – is Legends’ reported $2.4bn acquisition of ASM Global, which would see the premium experiences specialist (which is backed by investment fund Sixth Street) become one of the biggest global players in the venue management sector.

Global tour deals continue to become increasingly common, removing big-name artists from the potential pool of talent for independent

2023: A year in trends_Feature promoters, and with the post-Covid acquisition spree continuing, fewer indies remain overall.

The influx of private equity capital into the live business also shows no sign of slowing, activity that is driven by the promise of future returns. All Things Live (backed by Waterland Private Equity) took controlling stakes in Dutch festival promoter Loveland Events; Ostend Beach Festival in Belgium; event agency All-In and festival organisers HES in Norway; Sweden’s Amaze Festival; and expanded its reach into the Middle East.

Not to be outdone, festival giant Superstruct Entertainment (funded by Providence Equity) bought majority stakes in London-based festivals Mighty Hoopla and Cross The Tracks, as well as Austria’s Snowbombing. That followed a January deal, reportedly valued at €120m, to wholly acquire The Music Republic – the promoter behind iconic Spanish festivals Arenal Sound and Benicàssim. Those deals bring Superstruct’s portfolio of events to around 90 worldwide.

And in France, Artémis, an investment firm led by billionaire French businessman François-Henri Pinault, acquired TPG’s majority stake in Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Financial details were not disclosed, but Bloomberg reported the deal values CAA at $7bn.

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ARENAS ARE CONTINUING TO BOOM

2023 will be remembered for the opening of Sphere in Las Vegas, where at press time, Irish superstars U2 are currently in the midst of a record-breaking residency. The concept of the building, and the technology used to create the landmark building, have set a new benchmark for the phrase ‘state-of-the-art,’ and anyone who has attended one of the U2 gigs, speaks more about the venue and the visuals than they do the music.

Also making their debuts during 2023 were

Elton John brought the curtain down on his 50-year touring career with his recordbreaking Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour © Rory Barnes

the Indonesia Arena in Jakarta, and the Mohegan Inspire Arena in Incheon, South Korea.

Looking ahead, billions of dollars of projects will see a swathe of large indoor venues opening their doors in the year ahead, including the grand opening of Oak View Group’s (OVG) Coop Arena in Manchester, which its operators promise will raise the bar for venue development in the UK and beyond.

OVG will also open Brazil’s Arena São Paulo in 2024, while AEG Asia is counting down to opening the UOB Live arena in Bangkok, Thailand. ASM Global is looking forward to the Kai Tak Sports Park opening in Hong Kong, and also in Asia, AEG is working on a K-pop-focused arena called CJ LiveCity in the Korean capital of Seoul.

Indeed, the potential tour circuit across Asia

MSG Sphere in Las Vegas has raised the bar on arena expectations

will be transformed in the coming years, with numerous new buildings coming on stream, paving the way for international artists to build meaningful fanbases throughout the continent.

Significantly, the world’s second-biggest music market, Japan, is adding at least nine new arenas as part of new basketball league rules that require each team to have a minimum 5,000-capacity home venue before a 2026 deadline.

Further ahead, cities like Milan and Brisbane have announced new buildings to help host their Olympic Games responsibilities, and in Saudi Arabia, where live entertainment has been flourishing in recent years, it seems certain that a fresh phase of construction will commence if, as expected, FIFA awards the Kingdom with the 2032 World Cup tournament, while ASM Global is already working on the Jeddah Arena to kickstart that building boom.

And with so many new buildings opening, many existing arenas are refurbishing and upgrading their own facilities.

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STADIA ARE HERE TO STAY

Live music in stadia is obviously nothing new, after all the Beatles performed at Shea Stadium back in 1966. But 2023 seemed to herald a new era in the stadium touring business, with countless buildings announcing box office records.

Acts such as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, P!nk, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Rammstein, Bruce Springsteen, and more filled stadiums around the world, with many of those acts performing multiple dates in key cities, effectively creating stadia residencies.

Elsewhere, smaller stadium owners openedof Thousands their doors to touring acts in a bid to generate professionals read more revenues out of season, and that IQ every day.trend Make looks likely to continue in the year albeit sureahead, you get the many of those venues may be restricted to the

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INCOMPARRABLE MEMO PARRA’S 30 YEARS IN MUSIC

Growing up in a country where concerts were banned forced Memo Parra to pursue an early career in the financial sector.

However, as soon as restrictions were relaxed, his passion for live music came to the fore, and 30 years later, he’s one of the most successful promoters in the world. Gordon Masson learns more about his remarkable journey…

B

orn into a family that relied on contemporary art to pay the bills, it’s perhaps no surprise that Guillermo ‘Memo’ Parra ended up making a name for himself in the live entertainment sector. But, as a teenager and young adult, that career path was an impossibility.

“My dad was involved in the movie industry,” says Parra. “When a new movie would come to Mexico, he would make copies of the original so it could be screened in movie theatres all over the country. And if there was a problem with the colour or the sound, he would fix it.”

Because of that early exposure to the world of the silver screen, Parra is a self-confessed movie fanatic. “Actually, I wanted to go into the film business, but my dad didn’t let me because he wanted me to study for what he called ‘a real career’ in something, and that’s basically why I studied economics,” he says.

While film may be among his passions, his true love has always been music. “I had the classic young boy’s room, filled with posters of Mötley Crüe and Black Sabbath,” he reports. “But when I was young, concerts were prohibited in Mexico because the ruling party of the government

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thought that the gathering of more than 20 or 30 young people was dangerous to the system. So, while Brazil and other countries in Latin America had concerts by the likes of Queen or the Rolling Stones or whoever, they would skip Mexico.”

Sadly, those government fears extended beyond live entertainment. “It was not a communist party, but they thought that anything consumed in Mexico should be made in Mexico, so imports of any kind were hard to get: if you wanted a new record, you couldn’t get it through a record store chain, you had to find underground record stores to get your Mötley Crüe record or your Ozzy Osbourne record or your Pink Floyd record.”

Such restrictions also impacted home life, as Parra’s father could only rely on movies approved by the government for his business. “We probably got everything eventually, in terms of movies, but the problem was that we got it at least six to eight months after it had opened in the United States. So, if a blockbuster movie debuted in January, Mexican audiences wouldn’t see it until August or September at the earliest.”

Determined to have an education that would allow Memo options both inside and outside of

Memo Parra: Incomparrable_Feature

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P!nk with her production manager – and this year’s recipient of The Gaffer Award – Malcolm Weldon © Andrew MacPherson

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Malcolm Weldon_The Gaffer

JUST A GUY PUSHING A BOX MALCOLM WELDON

Harbouring teenage dreams to be a producer, Malcolm Weldon found himself becoming a stage manager and then production manager by default.

But the recording industry’s loss has definitely been live music’s gain. Gordon Masson talks to 2023’s winner of The Gaffer award. rowing up in South Central Los Angeles, Malcolm Weldon decided very early on that he wanted to pursue a career in music, and his unfailing work ethic saw him working multiple jobs to get a foot in the door. But live music was not on his radar.

“I loved jazz music, and I would study the liner notes on records to find out what all the associated jobs were,” he tells IQ. “I played bass, but by a certain age, I figured out that I wasn’t going to be the kind of musician that I aspired to be – Jaco Pastorius or Stanley Clarke. Instead, I made

up my mind that I would become a recording engineer and producer.”

Determined to fulfil his dream, Weldon enrolled on a college course and worked every hour he could to pay for his tuition. “That was back in the early 80s, and it cost close to $10,000 – that was a lot of money for a poor kid from South Central LA. But I worked multiple jobs to put myself through school, and somehow, I managed it.”

That perseverance is something that has been a mainstay of Weldon’s career for the past 40 years and counting. “I mainly got it from my grandmother. My family were from Oklahoma and migrated to Southern California in the late

1940s, and my grandmother just had an amazing work ethic. Those were very hard times for people of colour, back then, but she just told me as a kid, ‘Whatever it is you want to do, you can do it if you put your mind to it and work hard.’

So that’s what I believed.”

Earning himself the credentials to be a recording engineer was one thing, but actually finding a job to match those qualifications proved to be a frustrating exercise.

Thousands of professionals read But luckily, Weldon’s grandmother the Make fanIQ every–day. tastically named Sweetie Magnolia intersureRuff you–get the vened, with a little help from the force… whole picture…

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Gran Designs

LEEDS BY EXAMPLE Words by Derek Robertson

T

wenty-four years. TWENTY-FOUR! That’s how long the good people of Leeds lived without a music arena befitting the city’s status as the UK’s fifth largest and a hotspot of innovation, culture, and creativity. Instead, Leeds’ 750,000-odd residents, and artists, had to traipse down the M1 to Sheffield or cross the Pennines to Manchester to get their arena-sized music fix.

“It’s weird to think back to the early Kaiser Chiefs days in Leeds, and how quickly, as a band, we reached a level where there wasn’t anywhere for us to play in our home

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city,” says the band’s bassist, Simon Rix. “Leeds was the largest city in the UK without a large-scale music and entertainment venue,” adds Kevan Williams, Leeds Arena’s head of marketing. “The people here are passionate about music and live events, and it was deeply frustrating they had to travel for miles to see their favourite artists.”

But the lean years finally ended on 24 July 2013, when the first direct arena threw open its doors to the public (fittingly, Bruce Springsteen, a working-class hero from another blue-collar town, provided the entertainment). Ten years on, it’s time to

celebrate not just this anniversary and the positive impact the arena has had on the city but to look forward to its next decade and how the arena is gearing up to thrive as an example of what a 21st-century music venue should be.

When the Queens Hall closed for good in 1989, it left a sizable hole in Leeds’ cultural scene. With live music being one of the city’s cultural lifebloods, fans were spoilt for choice when it came to smaller venues such as The Cockpit, The Wardrobe, The Warehouse, and, of course, the world-renowned Brudenell Social Club,

Leeds first direct arena – 10th Anniversary_Feature

“Leeds fairly quickly became one of the mustplay venues on an arena tour, and as much as its facilities and layout help, that’s driven by the local population taking the venue to its heart” James Harrison | ASM Global

but the Queens Hall’s demise left the O2 Academy Leeds (formerly known as Town and Country Club) and its 2,300 capacity as one of the very few venues suitable for bigger, more established acts and events.

Naturally, the clamour for a solution to this became too loud to ignore. “Prior to the first direct arena opening, music fans from the city would have to travel over an hour to other arenas in the North of England,” says Martin McInulty, the arena’s general manager. “So there was huge public demand from the people of Leeds to build something in their city.”

That demand led to consultations with the council and its inclusion in the Vision for Leeds 2004 – 2020; the project eventually became one of the city’s 12 stated priorities. The Leeds Initiative then formed a Cultural Facilities task group to consider possible options; they investigated the viability of a Leeds Arena, the refurbishment of existing buildings and venues, and other potential projects such as a concert hall.

Angry Mob

Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia tour visited first direct arena in April 2022

At the same time, campaigners, including the Yorkshire Evening Post, local artists such as the Kaiser Chiefs, and local businesses and residents, lobbied for a new arena to be built in the city. This resulted in a widescale “Leeds needs an arena” campaign that was publicised nationwide and drew widespread support from the cultural community.

In addition to local demand, various studies outlined the economic, cultural, and social impact of such an arena. It was thought that it could bring in up to 900,000 additional visitors annually, adding up to £25m to the local economy.

Job creation was another benefit – one study predicted over 300 direct, full-time equivalent roles would be required, with further jobs created in the construction sector. And, of course, tourists and out-of-towners weren’t the only thing a new arena would attract – other businesses and organisations would be drawn to Leeds, too. “An attractive venue displays an auspicious future with a dynamic business environment,” stated one study.

Eventually, and unsurprisingly, the task group recommended that the council proceed with the development of a 12,500-seat arena – and concrete plans were set in motion. With funding in place from Leeds City Council, additional public funding from Yorkshire Forward, and some commercially funded revenue, Claypit

Lane, in the Northern Quarter of the city centre, was chosen as the site for the new arena, and the council decided that they themselves would proceed as the developer. Designed by the council’s own team with a budget of £60m in mind, the proposed venue was notable in a number of ways .

All Roads Lead to Leeds

For a start, its central location was seen as a positive; it sits just ten minutes’ walk from Leeds train station, three bus stations are all within walking distance, and there are over 7,500 car parking spaces within a 15-minute walk. The building itself was modelled on a giant insect’s eye, with the external design utilising a honeycomb design based on a Voronoi diagram, and the façade was designed to change colour or pattern depending on the show or mood of the arena at the time.

Innovation wasn’t limited to the outside, either. According to McInulty, the arena was also the UK’s first fan-shaped bowl, a design that allowed the venue to achieve the largest capacity possible given the size of the site. “This alternative layout means that guests are never any further than 68 metres away from the stage – typically, this can be 95 to 110 metres in traditionally designed arenas – with the nearest seats being only a few metres away and allows every seat to directly face the performance area,” he says. “Utilising the early concepts of the amphitheatre, this layout optimises sightlines and the guest experience.”

It also makes for a far more intimate experience than one might expect from a venue with a capacity of 13,871. Divided into a floor-standing area and two raised banks of seats that rise high above the stage, the design also gives spectators the best acoustic experience from any position; interestingly, even the sound mixing desk can be situated in different places. And it’s flexible; the layout, and the building itself, was designed with easy modification and retractable seating to meet the changing requirements of a diverse event schedule, which could be anything from theatre to family events, ice dance shows, and indoor sports.

“Impressive” is an understatement. But such an ambitious build came with a unique set of challenges. For a start, the city centreThousands location andof tight space constraints meantprofessionals construction access read was restricted; this was particularly challenging IQ every day. Make with regard to the transport and delivery of matesure you get the rials, especially the two 500-tonne mobile cranes

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MARKET REPORT POLAND MARKET REPORT POLAND

LECH THE GOOD TIMES ROLL With a new, more liberal government incoming, and a population whose demand for live entertainment is increasing year on year, Poland appears to be on the brink of a new era. However, some tricky obstacles during 2023 have made that path a bit more complex to navigate than many in the live music business would have wished. Adam Woods reports.

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hese are significant days in Poland – “the end of the evil times,” as prime minister-in-waiting Donald Tusk called them, after taking a close second place in the country’s parliamentary election in November, in a result that looks likely to oust the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party in favour of a centre-left coalition.

For now, liberal democracy seems to have given populism a

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bloody nose in the fifth-biggest nation in the EU, although certain obstacles – including an incumbent right-wing president – still remained at the time of writing.

And just as Poland’s political direction is both full of promise and yet somewhat undecided, so its live business is an intriguing work in progress. It has been buffeted lately by some familiar challenges, but it remains a maturing market with huge untapped potential, moving in

the right direction. “And we know it,” says Mikołaj Ziółkowski, founder and CEO of Alter Art, promoter of Poland’s biggest festivals, including Open’er and Orange Warsaw. “We have not been using our resources to their full potential. We feel we have still got space to develop as an industry, and we are really optimistic about the upcoming year.”

Certainly, Poland has a great deal going for it. In terms of national wealth, its GDP per capita of

$45,343 sits just ahead of European markets such as Portugal, Hungary, and Croatia, and not too far behind Czechia, Spain, Lithuania, and Estonia [source: IMF]. Likewise, its appetite for tickets is also formidable, and while Warsaw is clearly the focus of things, other big cities are in the mix, such as Kraków and Katowice in the south, Łódź in the centre, Poznań further west and Gdańsk on the Baltic coast.

“There’s certainly a lot of things

MARKET REPORT POLAND

“We have now got to the point where it’s so saturated that it’s become quite hard to sell out an event, which was previously an achievable goal” Konrad Kozioł |Arena Gliwice

Alter Art’s Open’er Festival is one of the jewels in the Polish industry’s crown © Roza Smolka

happening,” says Good Taste Production creative director Sara Kordek. “You have lots of festivals, at all levels; you have different venues, at all levels; you have 38 million people that listen to music.”

It is true that the year nearly gone has been a complicated one, due to a list of factors any live professional can reel off with ease: cost of living; production and talent inflation; competition for headliners; and the effect on the market of sev-

eral years’ worth of stadium shows all arriving at once.

Under these conditions, highly active Polish promoter Follow The Step came unglued in August. The heavily undersubscribed On Air and FEST Festival events were both cancelled as their parent company’s troubles mounted, and Follow The Step has since suspended operations and focused on attempting to settle its liabilities and find a buyer for certain assets.

The impact of the failure of such an ambitious promoter has been felt across the business, with sponsors losing some of their nerve and ticket-buyers questioning the safety of their investment.

“A situation like this affects everyone in the business ecosystem, including artists, industry professionals, customers, and venues,” says Konrad Kozioł, director of sales and marketing at Arena Gliwice. “We now have to work twice as hard to build trust among our potential clients to make sure they have no reservations about buying tickets in advance.”

Poland is accustomed to playing a difficult hand. With Germany to the west and Belarus and Ukraine – and, of course, Russia – to the east, it has regularly been caught in the push and pull between bigger powers, leaving a question mark against its name in the minds of many further west – booking agents among them.

“Poland stands out as a unique market in various respects,” says Filip Potocki at FKP Scorpio Poland. “On one hand, the enthusiasm for live events in the country is comparable to that of the largest European markets, with Warsaw closely trailing its Western counterparts. However, on the other hand, Poland’s geopolitical location poses challenges that can significantly impact the industry.”

But particularly in Poland’s big cities, which typically are strongly pro-Ukraine and pro-EU, the electoral swing towards Europe feels like a welcome platform for good things to come.

“All the economic predictions for next year are very good,” says Ziółkowski. “Our industry is very connected to what is happening with the country, and if the political situation and the economy are better, more stable, more progressive, it will give us the opportunity to develop the market as well.

“If you compare Poland to many other countries, I really hope we are coming back in the right way. I hope we will be a bright star of Europe.”

Promoters

The Follow The Step debacle, which erupted in early August, has had major consequences across the Polish business. In addition to the two cancelled festivals, there have been debts unpaid, many tickets unrefunded, and outstanding concerts taken on, in some cases, by other promoters and venues.

Initial reports of bankruptcy turned in September to talk of “restructuring,” with FEST Festival ticketholders contacted and invited to accept free future tickets in lieu of refunds. FEST president Marcin Szymanowski said in October that the festival will be sold to a new investor if the restructuring can be settled, though no further updates have yet been announced.

One sad aspect of the Follow The Step collapse – which Szymanowski attributed to extremely soft sales of On Air and FEST Festival tickets, combined with crippling production costs – is that the promoter in many respects represented an ambitious and energetic face of the Polish scene.

As well as the much-admired FEST and other festivals, it staged 100 international headline shows per year for artists including Alan Walker, Avril Lavigne, Melody Gardot, Hardwell, Robert Glasper, Boris Brejcha, Rise Against, and Denzel Curry – though clearly there were flaws in the model, and the market may bear the scars.

“It damages Poland because they over-offered for so many artists. If an artist usually gets around €10,000 euros in Czechia or Austria, for example, they would offer 15k or even 20k in some cases,” says Charm Music Poland promoter Weronika Tomkowska, who is also quick to give Follow The Step credit for a commendable booking policy.

“They did a lot of wonderful shows. I went to FEST Festival several times, and it was a really great festival. It’s a real pity that it’s happened. But I know several people that worked [at Follow The Step] – all wonderful people – and there was a kind of a [standing] joke that they were constantly losing money on a sold-out show. So, the agents are now used to the fees that Follow The Step offered, and other promoters don’t really have a fighting chance.”

The evidence of a busy summer suggests that damage to consumer confidence, at least, is unlikely to be permanent. The Live Nation stadium roadshow that did such good business across Europe this summer came to Poland in force, with two Beyoncé shows, plus Imagine Dragons, The Weeknd, Depeche Mode, P!nk, Harry Styles, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, all at Warsaw’s PGE Narodowy Stadium.

Live Nation has operated in Poland for many years, with Steven Todd, managing director, Central and Eastern Europe, at the helm since 2014. In spite of its heavy megastar calendar, Live Nation’s Polish business is broad; in 2019, it acquired Poznań-based promoter Go Ahead, the country’s leading promoter of club shows, and now stages numerous smaller shows for both of Thousands international and domestic artists. professionals read And while blockbuster shows IQ every day.

Make clearly drew a great dealyou of money sure get the out of the gig-goer’s pocket in 2023,

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Your Shout

If the event and concert business realised that we are better off working with each other than against each other, just imagine the world and society that we could create through community, cooperation, empowering each other, sharing knowledge, and taking care of each other. Now THAT would be the best party the planet has ever seen.

Katrin Wipper | The Changency I’d like to see all my competitors, on the occasion of my 70th birthday in March next year, in Berlin – bringing the majority of the shares of their companies as a gift. That’s m+a!

Prof. Peter Schwenkow | Deutsche Entertainment AG

What would help send you into orbit in 2024?

TOP SHOUT My wish is to see a live market where independent promoters and venue owners can competitively operate. These last few years have been absolutely brutal to the independent live sector, even as multinational companies boast record-breaking profits. Yet, it’s these locally owned and operated businesses and organisations that foster tomorrow’s headline talent.

Corporate consolidation, increased costs, ticket fraud, and lower foot traffic all continue to impact these comparatively smaller operations that largely focus on serving their communities, rather than shareholders. It would send me into orbit to have this entrepreneurial spirit be consistently rewarded with a path to economic stability and growth.

Rev. Moose | Marauder

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More shows.

Richie Mattila Professionally: For the UK government to follow through on its stated desire to support and grow live music by returning VAT to 5%. That would be rocket fuel for our industry.

Personally: For the Premier League to back track from their unjustifiable ten-point deduction imposed on Everton. We give enough points away as it is!

Jon Collins | LIVE May I slightly twist the proposal? What would make me forget all the madness that goes with the job is to send Vladimir Putin and the entire Russian government into an orbit, preferably around Neptune, from which they never return.

If there’s space in the capsule, Donald Trump could join them. That would send me into a figurative orbit where I would think for at least a moment that the world just became a bit less mad.

Nick Hobbs | Charmenko Bringing art to arena audiences globally would definitely send me into orbit! I see a lot of great entertainment at arenas, but less than 4% of it can be described as art, and I am dying to see more of that happening.

And concretely, we want to produce an ice ballet that jumps over the threshold of artwork, in the same style as we did The Snow Queen, and to have co-promoter partners to promote it in London, The Nordics, GSA, Asia, US. A globally touring ice ballet production.

I know it is one of the hardest things to do – and therefore no competition or equivalent available in the market whatsoever, but I also know our audiences are dying for something like this. (We had 34,000 people coming to see of Thousands a totally unknown brand in professionals Finland in theread premier season.) That will send IQ meevery into orbit, I day. Make guarantee. sure you get the Paulina Ahokas | Tampere Hall

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