A Super Bock Pleases Coração

It didn’t equal the record-breaking year of 2011, when 35,000 showed for a bill topped by Arcade Fire, but festival promoter Música No Coração is “very happy” that Super Bock Super Rock is competing somewhere near the top of an unpredictable Portuguese outdoor market.

Photo: Filipe Feio

An average crowd of about 28,000 still puts it way behind Everything New’s Optimus Alive, which had closer to 50,000 per day, but Super Bock’s attendance was a healthy 30 percent up on last year.

“With a venue prepared to receive up to 30,000 per day, we have basically reached that number on every day of the festival, therefore accomplishing what we had set for,” said festival talent booker Jwana Godinho. “At a time when the economy in Portugal is struggling it is very rewarding to see that people are going to festivals and proving this is one of the best value for money options in music.”

Even without the country’s financial ills, the Portuguese market has always been volatile with festivals doing 30,000 per day one year and then plunging to 13,000 per day the next.

The acts helping to create a Super Bock July 18-20 included Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, Queens of the Stone Age, Azealia Banks, Johnny Marr, and Kaiser Chiefs.