Last Tour International Co. press manager Ibai VillapĂșn said the way the company developed the Azkena Rock Festival Festival in Vitoria has created the platform to start more Spanish outdoors.
Speaking after close to 45,000 people turned up across the three days of the new Bilbao Live Festival, she told Pollstar, “Azkena Rock gave us some prestige and that’s helped the institutions trust us to produce good festivals.”
From starting Azkena in a Vitoria pub, Last Touring International has grown it to a 25,000-capacity event.
This year, the fifth time it’s been held (August 31 to September 2), the bill will include Pearl Jam, Iggy & The Stooges, New York Dolls, My Morning Jacket, Buckcherry, Mondo Generator, Redd Kross, Gang Of Four, and Big Star.
Three years later, the company started Santander Summer Festival and, this year, the second edition (June 22-24) attracted an average 12,000 per day to see a bill that included The Prodigy, HIM, Editors, Pet Shop Boys, Black Eyed Peas, Primal Scream, Infadels, and Stereo MC’s.
With former Mean Fiddler chairman Vince Power and Irish promoter Denis Desmond buying into Benicassim Festival, the Spanish outdoor market looks to be growing.
Bilbao Live, which, like Santander and Azkena, is booked by Carlos Asmarats of the Barcelona-based Encore Music Tours, is at Kobetamendi, a park in a mountainous region just outside the city.
The acts on the bill included Guns N’ Roses, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Placebo, The Cardigans, Deftones, The The Pretenders, Mando Diao, The Cult, and Fun Lovin’ Criminals.
â John Gammon
Daily Pulse
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