‘The Albert Hall Is Bigger Than Everybody’: Q’s With CAA’s Emma Banks

– Emma Banks

Emma Banks is the co-head of CAA’s London office. Her roster includes Florence + The Machine, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Muse, System Of A Down and more. She’s one of the few agents who’s set foot inside the Royal Albert Hall during this past year: As host of ILMC’s Arthur Awards, which were streamed from an empty Hall on March 4, Banks had the entire building almost to herself for one evening.

She’s also part of the Hall’s anniversary committee in charge of curating the celebrations. Despite being mad busy navigating this crisis (“we’re cracking on with it, we’ll get there,” she says), she found the time to share some of her experiences at the London landmark venue.

Pollstar: What makes the Royal Albert Hall special in your eyes?

Emma Banks: Number one, it’s just beautiful. It was really interesting actually being there last week to do the Arthur Awards in an empty Albert Hall, because it’s very rare that you’re in it properly empty, but clean and tidy, and not doing a load-in. Or at the end of the night when everyone’s gone, but there’s litter everywhere and people are on the stage busy loading out.

It’s just a spectacular, beautiful building. It’s incredible from the outside. And everything around it is incredible as well, there’s such beautiful buildings just beside the Albert Hall. It’s so imposing when you go up that set of steps to the entrance, which I consider on the back because it’s not overlooking the Albert Memorial. It’s just the most imposing, beautiful room.

And then you get in there and you see the mix of boxes and seats and that enormous organ at the back of the stage, which just is spectacular too. It’s grand, but it’s friendly. And I think it’s really hard to achieve that. I think it might have to do with the darker colors and the red velvet, that you really don’t know how many people are in there most of the time. It’s much bigger than it feels, compared to some venues. And you get it, when you go there and you watch somebody perform, it seems to bring out the best in people.

Speaking to artists who have performed there, what do they say?

Christie Goodwin – Florence + The Machine
Florence + The Machine performing during the Teenage Cancer Trust Concert Series at the Royal Albert Hall.

I’ve had every reaction to it, there are some people that go through life, and it’s just another venue. And that’s fair enough. There are others that are completely awed by the scale and the grandeur, and also the history of the building. And there are others for whom it could be the most terrifying experience ever. I think those that are daunted by it, once they actually get on stage, find it far cozier than they may have thought. The majority of people that have performed there I know are just super excited to be there. It’s a mark of quality, you’ve achieved something when you play the Royal Albert Hall. It’s not somewhere that every artist plays, it’s hard to get a booking at the Albert Hall. And there are many acts that could sell it 567 times over, but for whatever reason, they’ve never played it. And I think the scarcity, as well, makes it that bit more special. If you ever have a conversation with a client about the Albert Hall, you’re normally talking about a tour that’s quite a long way in the future. And you’re hoping that you’ll be able to get the date. And you have to be prepared to work around the Albert Hall. You know, the Albert Hall is a bit of a diva, really. And that’s not a criticism of it, but it’s just it’s so in demand that you have to accommodate it, rather than it accommodating you, because the Albert Hall is bigger than everybody.

Have you come across any venue like it during your travels around the world?

There’s nothing quite the same, just because it’s such a unique shape. Obviously, the Budokan [in Tokyo] is sort of circular, but it’s much more functional, because it’s a sports venue, really. It’s got washable seats, etc., so while it’s a special room, it doesn’t have the luxurious plush feel that the Albert Hall has. And there are other beautiful theaters in the world. There are beautiful theaters in Italy, in the U.K., in France, there’s magnificent old theaters, but they’re all smaller. Most theaters are maybe a maximum of 2,500-capacity, and lots of them are more likely 1,500. A venue like the Albert Hall, which when you add all of the seats in is about 5,500 capacity, is quite unique.

Would you share one memorable anecdote from your experience with the Hall?

Most shows that I’ve seen there have been special, that’s for sure. It was years ago now, around Easter time, I think. A Finn Brothers tour. They had just landed in the UK when we heard the really tragic news that Paul Hester, who was the drummer in [Neil Finn’s band] Crowded House, had died. It was an incredibly awful time, because Paul had taken his own life. Everybody felt terrible. After lots of discussions, Neil decided he was going to play the show at the Albert Hall. Nick Seymour, the bass player of Crowded House, who lives in Ireland, flew over. I remember watching that gig. I was sitting in a box with a few people, Carl Leighton-Pope was there, my parents came to the gig. And it was so poignant and heartfelt and heart-rending, really sad, but incredibly uplifting. I was laughing and crying, and then crying a bit more, because it made it so real. It was an incredibly special day, and a tribute to Paul. Neil did just such an amazing job that day, the humanity that oozed out of him was quite spectacular. I will never ever forget that. There’s been other people that have been incredible. Feist did a show there which was just beautiful, the sort of stripped back simplicity of her music in somewhere like the Albert Hall was really special. I could go on and on, you know. Florence’s played there, Jason Mraz played there. So many artists, and each one of them, there’s just something magical about it.

What else comes to mind when you think Royal Albert Hall?

There’s also something magical about getting lost in the backstage area, it seems to go round and round in circles. Every time I go there, somebody knows a new secret passageway to get to the bar or the other side of the Hall. You need to have some kind of ordinance survey map to get around the place.

Sounds a bit like Hogwarts.

Yeah, exactly. It’d be incredible to be able to really have a full-on wander around the Albert Hall when nobody’s stopping you and be able to open every door. There must be some great things in some cupboards.

Anything you would like to tell the team in light of the building’s 150th anniversary?

To the Albert Hall, long may it reign. Congratulations on keeping it in such good shape, keeping it as such a vibrant and relevant venue, because that’s what’s great about the Albert Hall. It’s relevant. It’s not elitist. It could be, but it’s not. It is a venue for the people. It there for everybody and will remain there for everybody for a long time. s