Arena Market: Venezuela
Swedish rockers The Hives became the first Anglo band to play Venezuela in a decade when they stopped at the 6,000-capacity Concha Acústica de Bello Monte amphitheatre in Caracas as part of a Latin American tour.
The show came after the US eased sanctions which, combined with an economic and political crisis that has crashed the bolívar and left half the population in poverty, have made the nation a no-go zone for commercial tourers.
While you wouldn’t say Venezuela was out of the woods, its economy has been on the up in the past couple of years, and the government has relaxed restriction on US dollars. That has led in turn to visits by stars such as Argentina’s Fito Páez, Italy’s Eros Ramazzotti, and Mexico’s Alejandro Fernández, though tickets are clearly only accessible to a relatively small elite and entertainment-starved fans prepared to take out a loan.
The 50-year-old, 20,000-capacity Poliedro de Caracas indoor…
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