No Substitute For Local Talent

With no Vasco Rossi to pull 120,000 people, Live Nation wasn’t surprised to see the attendance for Heineken Jammin Festival in Italy drop back to the usual average of around 30,000 a day.

“He’s by far the biggest star in Italy. Others can do huge shows but nobody can do those numbers consistently,” Live Nation’s Roberto de Luca told Pollstar after Rossi’s record-breaking 2005 performance.

However, this year’s headliners, Depeche Mode and Metallica, did 40,000 and 35,000 respectively, which was up on what such international acts as R.E.M., Green Day, Garbage, Oasis, and Velvet Revolver managed between them last year.

Without an act of Rossi’s extraordinary pulling power, the event dropped back down to two days, June 16th and 17th.

Among the other acts playing the Formula One motor racing track at Imola were Morrissey, Hard-Fi, Goldfrapp, The Darkness, Lacuna Coil, and Trivium.

– John Gammon