New St. Jakobshalle Switzerland Commences Concert Activity With The World Of Hans Zimmer

St. Jakobshalle – St. Jakobshalle
Wants to attract more concert tours to Basel

St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, which just underwent a $104 million renovation, is going to host its first concert in the brand-new 12,000 capacity auditorium, Nov. 7.

First up, The World Of Hans Zimmer tour, a selection of Hans Zimmer works, chosen by the composer himself, and rearranged for a live symphony orchestra.

Nov. 7 marks the beginning of the venue’s concert activity. The official opening took place Oct. 22, coinciding with the opening of the Swiss Indoors ATP tournament.

Increasing the buildings concert capacity from 9,000 to 12,000 as well as its capacity to host corporate events were the main reasons for the renovation, which was financed by the city of Basel, i.e. the tax payers.

It is the reason that the building’s sports facilities will remain open to anyone, from school children to amateur sports teams, but also the professional athletes in ice hockey, horse show jumping, tennis and more. 

A total surface area of 22,000 square meters contains ten different-sized event halls, dedicated sports halls and one swimming pool. There’s also ample space for Backstage areas and VIP receptions – which were especially in demand at the opening of the Swiss Indoors.

Pollstar was on site that day, to soak in the atmosphere in the new building, and meet CEO Thomas Kastl and event manager Oliver Pompetzki.

While sports will remain at the heart of the building, including major tournaments and world championships, corporate events and exhibitions like the Fitnessexpo 2018 will bring in the money.

As will the increased concert capacity of 12,400 standing and 8,000 seated. Kastl realized that major tours won’t even consider arena’s below 10,000 cap. And he hopes the new St. Jakobshalle will put Basel on the map as an alternative to Zurich, where the 15,000 capacity Hallenstadion has been the go-to destination for tours of that size.

The next concert after The World Of Hans Zimmer will be Austrian folk-rock singer Andreas Gabalier on Nov. 17. The new year kicks off with Andrea Bocelli on Jan. 19. Also confirmed in 2019: Mumford & Sons on May 5.

Frank Embacher – The World Of Hans Zimmer
The first concert to take place at the brand new St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland

Architects Jürg Berrel and Heinrich Degelo designed the $104 million project. The most prominent feature is a new foyer, brightly illuminated by hundreds of donut-shaped lights, which at the same time hide the air vents, half of which are inlets, the other half outlets.

The venue’s ventilation system wasn’t the only thing that got completely overhauled. Electrics, water pipes, lights and audio systems are all brand new.

St. Jakobshalle – St. Jakobshalle
The building layout

In theory, all of St. Jakobshalle’s ten event spaces could be used at the same time without visitors of different events noticing each other.

It is located right opposite St. Jakob Arena, the soccer stadium of FC Basel. Officially a capacity of 38,500 seats, the venue used to host up to 50,000 spectators at concerts by some of the greatest, including Elton John & Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Simon & Garfunkel, Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Michael Jackson, Metallica and many more.

The stadium’s main concert activity dates back to the late 80s and continued through the 90s, with only few gigs taking place in the 2000s. The biggest concerts in recent times were all performed by Helene Fischer, who visited St. Jakob Park in 2013, 2015 as well as this year, during her top-selling stadium tour. 30,000 people saw the show in Basel.

The main reason for the decline of concert activity is the FC Basel’s success on the international soccer stage, leading to more matches being played at St. Jakob Park. Since the entire pitch has to be renewed after concerts, it became impossible, at some point, to have both soccer and live music at the venue regularly.