Middle East
Mediterranean promoters As the beating heart of the Israeli concert business, Tel Aviv is also home to the majority of its promoters, who grow in number by the year and arguably over-serve a market that is famous for the warm welcome of its crowds. Among the big-hitters are long-standing independents Shuki Weiss, Gad Oron, 3A Productions, 2b Vibes and the club-owning Zappa Group, and comparative newcomers such as Tandi Productions and Bluestone Group, the latter of which recently morphed into Live Nation Israel. Veteran’s veteran Marcel Avram also knows his way around Tel Aviv – his Justin Bieber show at Hayarkon Park in May is looking like one of the summer’s big hits. While operating as Bluestone, the company is actually registered as Bluestone-Maverick Entertainment, a name that hints at the quiet involvement of Maverick Music’s Jersualem-born CEO Guy Oseary, manager of U2 and Madonna. Given that Maverick has operated as a partnership with Live Nation since 2014, the move doesn’t come out of the blue. “Guy Oseary was like a mentor for us,” says Beser. “He took care of a lot at the beginning of the business.” Bluestone’s international shows have included Rihanna, Backstreet Boys, Bon Jovi, Enrique Iglesias, Major Lazer and One Republic, with Guns N’ Roses and Aerosmith incoming. Just as significant is the arrival of Ticketmaster in a market that previously has been dominated by CTS Eventim. “It’s a new thing for them, and for us,” says Beser. “They have very big ideas for this market, for Ticketmaster and also for Live Nation. It’s an evolving market here, just starting to wake up in the past few years.” Promoters such as Shuki Weiss, who has been active in Israel for four decades, handling concerts by the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney at the top end of the scale, might dispute that, but Weiss’s senior promoter Oren Arnon certainly isn’t shying away from a fresh wave of competition. “There were more shows than ever last year, without a doubt,” says Arnon of a year that brought Sia, Queen, Ricky Martin, Jason Derulo, Die Antwoord, Morrissey, Sean Paul and others through Israel. “I don’t think everything was hugely successful,” he notes. “You know, there’s a lot going on in the market, and a lot of good, healthy competition. It is definitely looking like that pattern is going to continue this year, even though, as always with the Middle East, there’s a lot depending on world politics. The interesting thing to see this year is how the audience reacts to the amount of shows and the ticket prices that keep going up. I have a strong feeling that ticket prices is going to be the name of the game.” Tel Aviv-based Gad Oron confirms Oren’s impression that many promoters lost money on big shows in Tel Aviv last year. This year’s schedule, while largely still under wraps, is expected to be busier still, and there are differing views as to whether that is a good thing. “2017 is going to be very, very busy – I would say a bit over the capacity that Israel can afford – and I wonder who will end this season with empty pockets,” says Oron. “I hope no one, but it looks like we are over-capacity this season.”
Even for those artists who are unswayed by the controversy around playing in Israel, the market isn’t the most easily routed – a fly-in/fly-out destination that requires a measure of extra effort. Nonetheless, the artists do certainly continue to come. Hillel Wachs, who operates Jerusalem’s 2b Vibes with partner Carmi Wurtman, selling more than 200,000 tickets last year, favours an optimistic outlook. “Things are good, as long as we don’t have any security surprises,” he says. “Some might say Donald Trump is a loose cannon and we don’t know what we are in for, but last year was unbelievably fantastic for us, and this year is looking great too.”
Mediterranean venues As any Israeli promoter will tell you, the venues available in the country have a way of being either bigger than you need, or not quite big enough. The biggest arena – in Jerusalem, not the music capital Tel Aviv – seats just 10,000, and while crowds of up to 70,000 can be accommodated at Hayarkon Park, demand for outdoor shows tends to top out at around 50,000. As in many sunny spots, there is a lack of good indoor facilities in Israel, particularly at scale. “There’s no arena in Israel that has [a capacity of] more than 10,000,” says Wachs. “So all these people who would like to come to Israel during the winter months can only come in summer for an outdoor show.” High ticket prices in Israel, meanwhile, reflect the fact that international artist fees aren’t necessarily easily recouped from ticket demand. The Times of Israel recently estimated that fees for performances in the larger outdoor venues range from $50,000 (€46,800) to $450,000 (€421,000) for an artist performing in Rishon Le Zion’s Live Park, up to $4m (€3.8m) for superstar shows in Tel Aviv’s much larger Hayarkon Park. “The potential in Israel for open-air music events, it’s very limited, and promoters pay too much compared to a medium city
“ Listen, if you are living in the Middle East, concerts and culture are necessary.” Guy Beser, Live Nation Israel
The historic Caesarea venue on Israel’s Mediterranean coast
76
IQ Magazine March 2017