Phil Rodriguez: ‘I’m loving all the stadium tours’

Move Concerts founder Phil Rodriguez has hailed the stadium concert boom as the business gears up for another huge year.

Acts including Coldplay, Oasis, Dua Lipa, AC/DC, Lana Del Rey, Shakira, Ed Sheeran, Guns N’Roses, Linkin Park, Imagine Dragons, Billy Joel, My Chemical Romance, Olivia Rodrigo, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band are all set for next year’s outdoor circuit.

The list also includes the likes of Robbie Williams, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Stereophonics, System of a Down, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Stray Kids, Sam Fender and Iron Maiden.

“I’m loving all the stadium tours that are going on and coming up in 2025,” Rodriguez tells IQ. “I remember a few years ago one of the worries in our industry was who would be our future stadium headliners. That’s been answered.”

“We had some great shows in 2024, but I must highlight our tour dates with Iron Maiden – they’re bigger than ever in our markets”

Memorable concerts over the past 12 months for Florida-headquartered Move, which is Latin America’s largest independent promoter, include Iron Maiden’s The Future Past Tour.

Rodriguez marvels at the legendary metal band’s enduring appeal in the region, as well as the growing popularity of another British group, Keane, who played arena headline dates in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Chile and Uruguay.

“We had some great shows in 2024, but I must highlight our tour dates with Iron Maiden – they’re bigger than ever in our markets,” he says. “We had stadium dates selling out in 30 minutes. We’ve worked together for decades, but the speed and volume of sales for this tour were totally unexpected.

“Also, our dates with Keane were not only all sellouts, they doubled the attendance from their last tour – very impressive.”

Move also has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru and Puerto Rico, and Rodriguez notes the “rapid devaluation” of the Brazilian currency, the Real, has provided some cause for consternation.

“We did not expect it to drop as much as it did,” he says. “At the start of 2024 the exchange rate was R$4.85/US$. This month, it is at R$ 6.08/US$ – a 20% devaluation – and it is expected to continue dropping in 2025.”

“Latin music is unquestionably in growth phase. The media ‘hype’ may have settled down, but it is solid and growing”

Nevertheless, Rodriguez insists the market for Latin music remains robust.

“It is unquestionably in growth phase,” he says. “The media ‘hype’ may have settled down, but it is solid and growing.”

Speaking in IQ‘s end-of-year issue, Rodriguez also expressed his admiration for Adele’s “historic” August concert residency in Germany, which saw the singer perform 10 nights at a bespoke 73,000-capacity pop-up stadium in Munich.

“The whole concept of a temporary venue and residency was ambitious, but the execution was flawless,” he says. “I have no doubt this will be a model that may be duplicated in different ways and/or scale in the future.”

Looking ahead to next year, Rodriguez says 2025 is “looking good” for the firm, adding his ambitions are simply “for our Move Concerts family to enjoy good health, continue to have fun doing what we do and to keep our numbers growing”.

“So far, we have a solid number of shows lined up,” he concludes. “Those announced include Katy Perry dates – that kicked off strong – and we’re also partnering on Ado with Concerts West, who quite frankly, convinced us to take the risk with them, and sales kicked off beyond our expectations.”

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.

Read More Like This

News|20 Nov 2024

Indie Champs 2024: Mercury Concerts, Move Concerts & more

The third part of IQ’s debut indie celebration also features LS Events, Marauder and MCT Agentur

News|10 Dec 2024

Tours update: Guns N’ Roses add to stadium show boom

System Of A Down, The Corrs, Nelly, Jack White and Damiano David are also set to hit the road in 2025

News|12 Dec 2024

Stadium tours: Why 2025 could be biggest year yet

As an unprecedented array of superstars line up for outdoor headline shows next summer, IQ analyses the stadium concert boom