Bilbao Expects To Double Its Crowd

Stepping up Bilbao Live Festival from three to four days, Ibai Villapún from promoter Last Tour International Co. was confident of nearly doubling the crowd size of the Spanish festival’s first year.

The second staging of the event, which is at Kobetamendi, a park in a mountainous region just outside the city, has been split in two (June 21-22 and June 28-29).

Villapún reported more than 39,000 people turning up for the first part and she expected a further 35,000 to show for June 29, headlined by Metallica. She expected about 10,000 for the previous day’s show with Maceo Parker, New York Dolls and a supporting cast of mainly Spanish acts.

If her figures are correct, this year’s crowd will have been close to 85,000.

Last year’s three-day festival pulled 44,000 people to see a bill that included Placebo, Guns N’ Roses, Ben Harper, The Cardigans, The Pretenders, Deftones and Mando Diao.

The other acts on this year’s split Bilbao Live bill included Red Hot Chili Peppers, My Chemical Romance, Iron Maiden, Within Temptation, Incubus, Stone Sour, Mastodon and Billy Talent.

Last Tour International is still confirming acts for this year’s Santander Festival (August 14-15), while its Azkena Festival (August 31 and September 1) has announced Tool, Brant Bjork & The Bros, and Quique González y la Aristocracia del Barrio.