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All Things Go, an independent US-hailing festival renowned for its female-dominated lineups, is expanding to Canada.
Additionally, its existing editions in Washington D.C. and New York will each expand from two to three days, taking place concurrently between 26–28 September 2025.
The inaugural Canada edition will take place a week after (4–5 October) at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage (cap. 17,000), in partnership with Live Nation Women. The lineup will be announced in the coming weeks.
“Live Nation Women is proud to support the growth of the All Things Go festival brand,” says Ali Harnell, Live Nation Women president and chief strategy officer.
“We remain committed to championing women and expanding opportunities for emerging talent across the live music landscape”
“We remain committed to championing women and expanding opportunities for emerging talent across the live music landscape. This partnership goes beyond the festival—it’s about creating platforms where a wide range of artists and stories can be seen and heard.”
All Things Go launched in Washington D.C. in 2014 with a mission to counteract gender inequality on festival lineups. In the last decade, acts such as Billie Eilish, boygenius, Lana Del Rey, Maggie Rogers, Lorde, Laufey, Mitski, HAIM, Janelle Monáe, Charli XCX, MUNA, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Tove Lo have appeared on the festival’s female-heavy lineups.
The 40,000-capacity event, which expanded to two days in 2023, has sold out for four consecutive years.
In celebration of the flagship’s 10th anniversary in 2024, organisers launched a second edition in New York at the 13,000-capacity Forest Hills Stadium.
This year, All Things Go is set to host acts including Doechii, Lucy Dacus, Remi Wolf, Clairo, Dojo, Kesha, The Last Dinner Party and Noah Kahan.
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Haim have announced they are returning to the road later this year for live dates in the UK and North America.
The rock trio, who perform at Primavera Sound Barcelona on 6 June and Porto on 14 June, will play a one-off show at Margate’s Dreamland Summer Series on 27 June – their first UK show since headlining All Points East in London in 2023.
Following a slot at Japan’s Fuji Rock (25-27 July), the siblings will head out on a lengthy tour of the US and Canada in September, visiting venues including New York’s Madison Square Garden, Chicago’s United Center and Kia Forum in Inglewood.
The band, who are booked by UTA in North America and CAA for the rest of the world, will then return to the UK for an arena tour, starting at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham on 24 October
The shows are in support of their upcoming fourth album I Quit, which will be released on 20 June via Polydor Records. The tour kicks off in Nottingham on October 24th and includes a show at London’s The O2 on October 28th.
The full list of tour dates for 2025 is as follows:
June 27 – Margate, UK (Dreamland Summer Series)
September 4 – Philadelphia, PA – TD Pavilion at the Mann
September 5 – Boston, MA – The Stage at Suffolk Downs
September 6 – Toronto, Ontario – Scotiabank Arena
September 8 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
September 9 – New Haven, CT – Westville Music Bowl
September 10 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion
September 12 – Chicago, IL – United Center
September 13 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
September 14 – Minneapolis, MN – The Armory
September 17 – Portland, OR – Edgefield
September 18 – Seattle, WA – WAMU Theater
September 20 – Vancouver, BC – Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre
September 23 – Phoenix, AZ – Mesa Amphitheatre
September 25 – Dallas, TX – The Bomb Factory
September 26 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
September 28 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall – Lawn
September 30 – Nashville, TN – The Pinnacle
October 3 – Greenwood Village, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre
October 4 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Great Saltair
October 7 – San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
October 9 – Inglewood, CA – Kia Forum
October 10 – San Diego, CA – The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park
October 11 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl
Oct 24 – Nottingham, UK (Motorpoint Arena)
Oct 25 – Cardiff, UK (Utilita Arena)
Oct 26 – Brighton, UK (Brighton Centre)
Oct 28 – London, UK (The O2)
Oct 30 – Manchester, UK (Co-op Live)
Oct 31 – Glasgow, UK (OVO Hydro)
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The Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA) is appealing to the country’s government to create more opportunities for domestic artists to perform at home.
In an open letter, the trade body references the current global instability, saying the world is “witnessing seismic shifts in political climates, social tensions, growing concerns over safety, and dramatically escalating costs of living”.
Moreover, it warns that Canadian artists are “caught in the crosshairs” relating to touring complications.
“Every day brings another headline of an artist cancelling a US tour, tough decisions that trigger a cascade of lost opportunities for career development and revenue generation (for artists, their teams, musicians, and crew) that help to sustain livelihoods and families,” says the CLMA.
“Touring and live performance fees, along with sale of merchandise at shows, can equal – or exceed – upwards of 75% of an artist’s annual income. Any reduction in live performance will have an immediate and catastrophic impact on an artist’s ability to earn a living. If swift action isn’t taken, we will watch our artists work and earn less.
“To counteract this, some may choose to leave the business entirely. Others may decide to permanently relocate to Europe or other artist-friendly countries, exacerbating our cultural brain drain.”
The CLMA is calling on the government to make an “immediate investment” to increase the number of performance opportunities available for Canadian artists through programming support to Canadian venues, festivals and promoters.
“We can build a future where Canada is not only a home for all Canadian artists but also a growing destination for international talent”
It is also encouraging support for international marketplace activities on Canadian soil such as conferences, award shows and showcases.
“As dire as this moment is, we have the chance, right now, to reimagine Canadian opportunities – to become as competitive with, and as desirable to, the US – to leverage the growing global music tourism industry, and to protect our treasured artists,” it continues.
“An expedited coordinated effort will help to offset and minimise lost or cancelled performance revenues. In doing so, we should also recognise that we have a generational opportunity, right in front of us, to position Canada as a global music hub — a place where artists from around the world will come to succeed.
“With quick action, we can build a future where Canada is not only a home for all Canadian artists but also a growing destination for international talent. We can offer a safe, thriving environment for musicians from every corner of the globe, while helping to cultivate a vibrant cultural ecosystem that will attract worldwide audiences and elevate Canada’s standing in the global music scene.”
Back in February, the Ottawa-based CLMA released the findings of its economic impact study Here and Now: understanding the economic power and potential of Canada’s live music industry. The benchmark report found that the country’s live music industry supports more than 100,000 jobs and attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists each year.
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Canada’s BC Place Stadium has recorded the highest annual attendance in its 42-year history, driven by increased music programming.
The 54,500-capacity venue in Vancouver, British Columbia, has enjoyed an upward trajectory in attendance, economic impact and revenue in the last three years, reaching a peak of 1.2 million attendees in 2024.
At the same time, BC Place’s music programming has quadrupled since before the pandemic to eight concerts per year – reflecting a wider trend of sports stadiums capitalising on the stadium show boom.
Last year’s slate included the three-night finale of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, the record-breaking opening of Diljit Dosanjh’s Dil-Luminati Tour, The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds Tour and the two-day Coast City Country festival.
“A big part of our success last year comes down to the relationships we’ve built within the industry,” BC Place general manager Chris May tells IQ.
“One of the biggest benefits of being the last stop on the Eras Tour is that we got to learn from fifty cities who hosted before us”
“For example, we built a great relationship with Messina Touring Group during Ed Sheeran’s Mathematics Tour [2023], which was our highest-attended concert in history. The results from that show helped bring Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to BC Place.”
May says the stadium was committed to giving Swift’s $2bn juggernaut tour “the finale it deserved” on 6–8 December 2024 and that, based on the feedback from fans and the star’s team, they hit the mark.
“One of the biggest benefits of being the last stop on the tour is that we got to learn from fifty cities who hosted before us,” he says. “Our goal was to ensure when the Eras Tour left Vancouver, that they would say ‘BC Place was the right place to end, the right place to honour the journey we’ve been on’.
“With a building of our size, having a tour come and sell the place out is when our venue truly shines. We’re proud to play a role in bringing world-class music to Vancouver, and it’s a win for the city too.”
The Eras Tour had an estimated $157 million economic impact on Vancouver, accounting for almost 40% of the stadium’s total economic impact in 2024. Last year, the stadium injected $405m into the local economy, up from $135m in 2022.
“Diljit Dosanjh’s show was a cultural and generational moment for many in the community”
Another 2024 highlight for BC Place was a sold-out show on Diljit Dosanjh’s Dil-Luminati Tour, which made history as the largest-ever Punjabi music concert outside of India.
“Once again it comes down to our focus on community,” says May. “It started with our team having a strong relationship and open conversations with Live Nation about how we can better serve the many diverse cultural diasporas in British Columbia.
“With our province being home to one of the largest South Asian populations outside of India we saw a gap in the market, and along with the folks at Live Nation, we filled it,” says May. “Once we decided to move forward with the show, we knew right away it was going to be a huge success, the reception from fans was incredible and tickets sold out immediately. It wasn’t just another gig, this show was a cultural and generational moment for many in the community, and for Diljit to then announce his world tour from Vancouver…it was an unforgettable experience.”
Community engagement has been a top priority for BC Place as it welcomes more music fans, May adds.
“There’s our BC Place Community Benefit Programme, which raised $2 million for charities last year, and our collaborations with local Nations on initiatives like the Indigenous welcome during Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres tour. We always try to create special moments for people here, and I think that mentality has helped attract people to our stadium.
“It’s a big priority of ours to keep this momentum going [with concerts]”
While concerts have become an increasingly important part of BC Place’s business, May reiterates that the venue is first and foremost a sports stadium and home to the BC Lions and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
“It’s a big priority of ours to keep this momentum going [with concerts] however, we are a multi-purpose venue. So, it’s about balancing the needs of both sides of the business,” he says.
“But it’s not just about bringing in big concerts and sporting events,” he continues. “Diversifying our event lineup is extremely important to us,” he continues. “Last year, we hosted the World Supercross Championship, Diner en Blanc on our field.
“This year we have quite a few renovations and upgrades underway, which has led us to get creative and explore new ways to utilise the building while certain areas are under construction. All that’s to say – we are always looking for unique event ideas and love to think outside the box.”
Looking to the future, May says he expects BC Place’s programme to go from strength to strength – especially as the venue prepares to host the FIFA World Cup next summer.
“There’s definitely no slowing down for us,” he says. “In the next couple of years, we’re set to host some of our biggest events yet, like the Gold Cup this June and of course the FIFA World Cup. We’re also working on upgrades and renovations to get BC Place ready for the World Cup, which will help us attract even more exciting events. Like I always say – there’s no finish line. We’re always looking for the next big thing.”
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Live music executives in Canada have warned the touring industry faces a “climate of uncertainty” due to Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.
The US president imposed sweeping tariff hikes on Canada and Mexico last week, although some have been paused until 2 April. He also raised levies on Chinese imports to 20%.
Trump, who has called for Canada to become America’s 51st state, previously said he was taking action “to hold Mexico, Canada, and China accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country”.
A 25% tax on steel and aluminium products from all countries was imposed last week, with Canada and the EU both announcing retaliatory tariffs in the developing trade war.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said 2 April would be a “liberating day” for the US, with a new wave of levies to be introduced.
“It’s going to be reciprocal — in other words, whatever they’re charging, we’re charging,” he said. “Then in addition to that, on autos, on steel, on aluminium, we’re going to have some additional tariffs.”
“The current tariff war will create a climate of uncertainty for venues in the United States who hire artists”
Amid the ever-changing situation, Robert Baird, president of Toronto-based BAM! Baird Artists Management Consulting, advises on the likely consequences for live music.
“The current tariff war will create a climate of uncertainty for venues in the United States who hire artists: their funding may be in jeopardy and their clientele may be diminished simply because people will have less discretionary income,” he tells IQ. “A depressed economy due to the tariff will not allow for the flourishing of live performing arts.”
A former president of North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents (NAPAMA), Baird also points to potential additional hurdles for international touring acts.
“I am concerned that there may be additional rules coming which would limit the entry of foreign artists into the United States, whether by increasing the costs of work permits or putting increasing impediments on the entry visa process,” he adds.
“We could see increased costs for goods and materials such as building materials, technology, food and beverage, and merchandise”
Chris May, general manager of Vancouver’s BC Place stadium, which has hosted acts such as Coldplay, Ed Sheeran and U2, as well as the finale of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, breaks down some of the more granular implications.
“The potential impacts of tariffs on the live events industry will depend on each venue or company’s specific operations,” he says. “However, as with many industries, we could see increased costs for goods and materials such as building materials, technology, food and beverage, and merchandise.
“Fortunately, BC Place has always prioritised working with Canadian suppliers whenever possible, which puts us in a strong position to mitigate the effects of tariffs and limit any associated cost increases.”
May offers his thoughts on how the situation could play out from here – both for better and for worse.
“BC Place is thankful to have strong relationships with many Canadian partners and suppliers, and we remain committed to supporting the local economy,” he notes. “However, the worst-case scenario would involve a decline in tourism to British Columbia, which could result in fewer visitors for events, especially those travelling from the US. Depending on the event, many of our attendees come from south of the border, contributing not only to our ticket sales but also to the local economy.
“While it’s difficult to predict how things will unfold, we remain optimistic and committed to maintaining BC Place as an open, inclusive space. We look forward to continuing to welcome our friends from the US and showcasing the beauty of our province.”
“The past few years have shown us how resilient and adaptable our industry can be in the face of global uncertainty”
BC Place is gearing up to welcome AC/DC next month in advance of a multi-night run by Canadian homegrown hero The Weeknd this July, and May is determined not the let the outside issues distract from the venue’s core focus.
“Our goal of providing exceptional experiences for our guests and continuing to host world-class events remains the same,” he tells IQ. “While tariffs may present some challenges, our team is proactively working on solutions to ensure we continue delivering value for both our fans and partners.
“The past few years have shown us how resilient and adaptable our industry can be in the face of global uncertainty, and we have come out the other side stronger. BC Place’s commitment to overcoming challenges and evolving with the changing landscape has always been key to our success, and we’re confident that we’ll continue to thrive despite any external challenges.”
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) today (17 March) published its latest Interim Economic Outlook. It projects the tariffs will lead to global growth slowing to 3.1% in 2025 and 3% in 2026, while revising its inflation forecast upwards by 0.3 percentage points to 3.8%, compared to its Economic Outlook in December.
Due to being hardest hit by the tariffs, the impact on Canada and Mexico is expected to be the most substantial, with the OECD now predicting Canada’s economy to expand by 0.7% this year and next, down from the previous forecast of 2% for both years.
Meanwhile, Mexico is projected to contract by 1.3% this year and a further 0.6% in 2026, having previously been expected to grow by 1.2% and 1.6%, respectively.
The US’ forecast has also been downgraded to 2.2% for 2025 and 1.6% for 2026, compared to 2.4% and 2.1% in the last outlook.
“The global economy has shown some real resilience, with growth remaining steady and inflation moving downwards. However, some signs of weakness have emerged, driven by heightened policy uncertainty,” says OECD secretary-general Mathias Cormann. “Increasing trade restrictions will contribute to higher costs both for production and consumption. It remains essential to ensure a well-functioning, rules-based international trading system and to keep markets open.”
“Today’s political reality creates an opportunity for our industry to help lead through these turbulent times”
Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA) president and CEO Erin Benjamin says the trade war is quickly raising significant concerns within Canada’s live music industry.
“Tariffs are expected to have multiple direct and indirect impacts on live music businesses and organisations, including increased operational costs,” she says.
“Today, one of the greatest worries – which has broad economic implications – is that the trade war will lead to decreased overall consumer spending on entertainment, affecting ticket sales and attendance at live events.”
However, Benjamin is keen to accentuate the positives amid the ongoing uncertainty.
“These three things are as true today as they ever have been – Canada’s live music industry is a cultural and economic powerhouse, our incredible home-grown artists embody the essence of Canadian identity, and, concerts have always meant positive impact for tourism, job creation, artist development, and economic growth,” she says.
Benjamin references the CLMA’s public awareness campaign, #CanadaIsLiveMusic, which was recently launched “to better highlight the potential for growth our sector represents”.
“Today’s political reality creates an opportunity for our industry to help lead through these turbulent times,” she continues. “With new, compelling economic data in hand, #CanadaIsLiveMusic sends a strong signal that our industry is more than ready to be an even stronger catalyst for, and champion of, a resilient Canadian economy.”
In closing, Benjamin extends a warm welcome to Canada’s new prime minister and Liberal Party leader Mark Carney, who succeeded Justin Trudeau as PM earlier this month.
“The CLMA welcomes Mr Mark Carney as the new leader of the Liberal Party, and looks forward to working with all political parties to harness the true power of live music, creating a legacy of cultural vibrancy, increasing jobs, economic resilience, and community connection for generations to come,” she finishes.
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The grand opening of Kai Tak Sports Park, a $3.84bn multipurpose complex in Hong Kong, took place at the beginning of this month.
The ASM Global-operated venue includes a 50,000-capacity main stadium with a retractable roof and a 10,000-capacity indoor arena.
“With the completion and opening of Kai Tak Sports Park, Hong Kong is better positioned to actively attract large-scale international events, drawing more visitors and investments, injecting new vitality into the development of sports and performing arts culture industries,” says John Sharkey, CEO of Kai Tak Sports Park.
“We will make full use of the park’s international standard advanced sports facilities to assist the Hong Kong Government in realising the vision of an international sports platform, developing the sports industry’s home court economy, and welcoming entertainment events to shine on the international stage at Kai Tak!”
AEG, meanwhile, opened its flagship Nashville venue, The Pinnacle, at the end of last month with a sold-out show headlined by Kacey Musgraves.
“Hong Kong is better positioned to actively attract large-scale international events”
Located in the heart of the Nashville Yards development, the 4,500-capacity venue is a partnership between entertainment giant AEG and developer Southwest Value Partners.
The opening week included concerts by ILLENIUM, Killswitch Engage, Fit for a King, DEADMAU5 and The Turnpike Troubadours. Acts including Journey T-PAIN and Jason Isbell are lined up for later this month.
Elsewhere in North America, Live Nation Canada and Canadian rapper Drake have announced plans to open a second History music venue.
Following the launch of History Toronto in 2021, the partners intend to open a 2,000-capacity, two-story live music venue in Ottawa in early 2026.
The venue is being built in collaboration with the National Capital Commission (NCC), which announced the purchase of the former Chapters building on the corner of Rideau Street and George Street in January 2024.
“I have been promoting shows in Dundee for over 30 years and see a gap in the market for a venue of this size”
Meanwhile, in Dundee, Scotland, one of the city’s most experienced promoters is helping to transform a former cinema and bingo hall into one of the country’s largest new venues, with a proposed final capacity of about 3,500.
Due to open mid-year, LiveHouse will be located in the heart of the city centre and will provide touring acts with a welcome destination between Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Glasgow.
Company director, and former owner of the city’s legendary Fat Sams venue, Angus Robb says, “I have been promoting shows in Dundee for over 30 years and see a gap in the market for a venue of this size. I am still an avid gig goer myself and the cost and inconvenience of travelling to shows in Glasgow or Edinburgh is off-putting for many. Whilst people will travel from Aberdeen or Dundee to events in the Central belt, Dundee has a great musical history and it’s our intention to add LiveHouse to the long list of great gig venues seen in Dundee over the years.”
Venue owner and operator TDI (Dundee Arena) Limited has a track record of delivering multi-million-pound ventures, and a spokesperson for the developer comments, “It’s great to start work on another iconic property in Dundee, the quirky exterior of the building has been a feature on the High Street for generations and we can’t wait to breathe new life into it.”
Speaking of the type of events and acts that visitors can expect, Robb adds, “The space is very flexible and can be adapted on an event-by-event basis, meaning we will attract a broad scope of events from live international bands to large corporate events or awards dinners. We’re also seeing a resurgence in the dance music scene across Scotland, fuelled by the meteoric rise of local DJ Hannah Laing, and the venue will be ideal for these types of events too.”
The iconic Margate Winter Gardens is on the path to reopening after being shuttered for three years
In southeast England, the iconic Margate Winter Gardens is on the path to reopening after being shuttered for three years.
Originally opened in 1911, the 3,000-capacity venue has hosted acts such as The Beatles, Bastille, The Libertines, McFly, Blur, The Specials, Razorlight, Jimmy Carr and Michael McIntyre.
Now, the local council has announced Westwood One Theatre as its proposed preferred partner for the refurbishment and reopening.
Under Westwood One Theatre’s vision, the venue would primarily operate as a theatre and live music venue, with the scope to accommodate conferences, corporate events and weddings.
Plans for the future of the Winter Gardens also include increasing the venue’s capacity and transforming it into a year-round location that offers services and events 365 days a year, the council added.
See more arenas and large-scale venues due to come online in 2025 here.
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Legendary US singer-songwriter Paul Simon is coming out of retirement after announcing a North American tour.
The 83-year-old retired from touring in 2018, with his headline performance at London’s BST Hyde Park that July billed as his final ever European show.
But Simon, who continued to record music during his live exile – releasing acoustic album Seven Psalms in 2023 – performed alongside Sabrina Carpenter for last week’s televised SNL50: The Homecoming Concert broadcast from New York’s Radio City Music Hall.
He has now taken to social media to confirm his return to the road for a run of dates at concert halls across the United States and Canada later this year.
Paul Simon in Concert: A Quiet Celebration begins at New Orleans’ Saenger Theatre on 4-5 April and includes five-night residencies at both Beacon Theater in New York and Disney Hall in Los Angeles.
The outing finishes with three concerts at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall in Seattle on 31 July & 2-3 August. Tickets go on sale this Friday, 21 February.
Simon’s longtime booking agent, ITB co-founder Barry Dickins, is profiled in the latest issue of IQ Magazine, launching our new series The Architects, which celebrates the work of some of the international live music industry’s pioneers.
The full list of A Quiet Celebration tour dates is as follows:
4-5 April: Saenger Theatre, New Orleans
8, 10-11 April: Bass Concert Hall, Austin
14, 16-17 April: Paramount Theatre, Denver
20, 22-23 April: Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis
26 April: Midland Theatre, Kansas City
28-29 April: Stifel Theatre, St. Louis
7-8 May: AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas
11, 13-14 May: Ryman Auditorium, Nashville
17-18 May: Riverside Theater, Milwaukee
21, 23-24 May: Symphony Center, Chicago
27, 29-30 May: Massey Hall, Toronto
6-7 June: Wolf Trap, Vienna, Washington
10, 12-13 June: Boch Center, Wang Theatre, Boston
16, 18, 20-21 & 23 June: Beacon Theater, New York
26, 28-29 June: Academy of Music, Philadelphia
7 July: Terrace Theater, Long Beach Performing Arts Center, California
9, 11-12, 14 & 16 July: Disney Hall, Los Angeles
19, 21-22 July: Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco
25-26 & 28 July: The Orpheum, Vancouver
31 July, 2-3 August: Benaroya Hall, Seattle
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The Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA) says it is monitoring the conversation around Donald Trump’s tariff threat “very closely” amid the potential implications for Canada’s touring business.
The US president has agreed to pause his proposed 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico for 30 days after reaching temporary deals with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum.
Trump previously said he was taking action “to hold Mexico, Canada, and China accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country”. He has imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese imports.
“We are obviously monitoring the tariff conversation very closely,” CLMA president and CEO Erin Benjamin tells IQ. “Whether directly or indirectly, should tariffs come into place, the live music and entertainment sectors will be impacted. We are quickly aligning with the broader tourism industry, and working in close collaboration with others to plan, monitor, and respond/react, as necessary.”
Meanwhile, Ottawa-based CLMA this week released the findings of its economic impact study Here and Now: understanding the economic power and potential of Canada’s live music industry.
The benchmark report found that the country’s live music industry supports more than 100,000 jobs and attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists year over year.
“The numbers in it have been achieved largely in the absence of any dedicated fiscal policy frameworks aimed at incentivising growth”
In 2023, festivals and concerts in Canada together brought in 19.69 million visitors, with live music operations contributing €2 billion (€1.3bn) to GDP. Furthermore, it says the combined impact of live music company operations and tourism spending amounted to an economic contribution of $10.92bn (€7.34bn).
“The incredible small, medium, and large venues, clubs, concert halls, festivals, arenas, and other live music spaces that connect artists with their fans form a vast, complex, indoor and outdoor ecosystem,” says Benjamin. “This is the system that facilitates live music–and its massive supply chain across Canada, be it a national arena tour, or a one-off local show in a 120-cap independent venue and everything in-between.
“Understanding and harnessing this system creates a significant and scalable competitive advantage for Canadians and for all levels of government and is essential for our artists so that they can continue to share the music we love and need. And why wouldn’t we? This study is a benchmark, the numbers in it have been achieved largely in the absence of any dedicated fiscal policy frameworks aimed at incentivising growth. $10.92bn in combined impact from live music and tourism spending – without trying.”
5X Festival co-founder and CLMA board chair Tarun Nayar says the report’s findings “make it clear that protecting and growing Canada’s live music infrastructure directly results in more jobs, major economic impact for cities and towns, and more performance opportunities for Canadian artists”.
“It means more fans choosing Canada when deciding where to spend their (billions of, as it turns out) music tourism dollars,” adds Nayar. “It means sold out hotels, fully booked flights, bustling shops, and restaurants. It means togetherness and social cohesion. It means better mental health. It means thriving downtowns. It means attracting and retaining other industries and talent to our cities. It means more revenue for artists and musicians. It means more music and memories with family and friends that change our lives.”
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Hozier is set to play stadiums in the US for the first time after announcing a fresh run of North American dates for 2025.
The Irish singer-songwriter attracted more than one million fans to his 2023/24 Unreal Unearth Tour of the territory, which saw him deliver 83 performances across 72 cities.
As well as headlining stadiums such as Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio and Rogers Stadium in Toronto, Canada, the 34-year-old will return to amphitheatres and festivals around the region.
Promoted by Live Nation, rescheduled dates have also been announced for his previously postponed shows in Casper, Wyoming and Billings, Montana. Special guests will include Gigi Perez and Amble.
Hozier, who is represented by WME’s Kirk Sommer in North America and CAA’s Emma Banks for the rest of the world, will also headline European festivals Reading & Leeds (21-24 August) in the UK and Superbloom (30-31 August) in Munich, Germany.
The full list of additional dates is as follows:
Sun Jun 8 – New York, NY – Governors Ball Music Festival
Tue Jun 10 – Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
Thu Jun 12 – Ridgedale, MO – Thunder Ridge Nature Arena
Sun Jun 15 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
Wed Jun 18 – Columbus, OH – Historic Crew Stadium
Fri Jun 20 – Milwaukee, WI – Summerfest
Mon Jun 23 – Boston, MA – Fenway Park
Mon Jun 30 – Casper, WY – Ford Wyoming Center
Wed Jul 2 – Billings, MT – First Interstate Arena at MetraPark
Fri Jul 4 – Missoula, MT – Zootown Music Festival
Fri Jul 18 – St. Paul, MN – Minnesota Yacht Club Festival
Sun Jul 20 – Commerce City, CO – DICK’S Sporting Goods Park
Thu Jul 24 – Tinley Park, IL – Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre
Fri Aug 01 – Salt Lake City, UT – Utah First Credit Union Amphitheatre
Thu Aug 07 – South Lake Tahoe, NV – Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys
Tue Aug 12 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
Thu Aug 14 – Seattle, WA – T-Mobile Park
Wed Sep 10 – Toronto, ON – Rogers Stadium
Sun Sep 14 – Green Gables, PE – Sommo Music Festival
Tue Sep 16 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
Fri Sep 19 – Hershey, PA – HersheyPark Stadium
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Tenth grade, 1996. A fledgling high school band called Kaspir in Ontario, Canada decides to change their name, as their new music – mainly inspired by NOFX and hardcore punk – no longer suits their original moniker.
For various reasons, “Sum 41” is chosen; within two years, they release a mixtape called Rock Out with Your Cock Out and songs with catchy titles like Grab The Devil By The Horns And Fuck Him Up The Ass. These might not seem like sensible first steps on the path to longevity in the music business, and yet here Sum 41 still are (for a little while longer) – 28 years young, better than ever, still wowing fans young and old alike, on what’s so far been a celebratory, wildly successful world tour.
But this latest jaunt, Tour of the Setting Sum, is also bittersweet, marking as it does the band’s final chapter. It’s also in support of their last-ever album, the recently released Heaven :x: Hell. Announced alongside news of their impending breakup, the tour has taken on dual significance: a celebration of a stellar career that saw the band transition from skate-punk darlings to global rock mainstays and a farewell to fans and the music industry.
Spanning continents and featuring a carefully curated setlist that blends fan favourites with deeper cuts, the tour has also demonstrated the band’s wide appeal and ability to evolve musically while maintaining a distinct identity – all while staying true to the swagger and attitude that set them apart from their peers in the early 2000s punk-rock revival.
“A bit of a shock” is how Wasserman Music’s Geoff Meall, their long-standing agent (he booked one of their first international shows in April 2001, at The Garage in London) describes receiving the news that they were calling it quits, and even vocalist and guitarist Deryck Whibley, the only remaining founding member, has said in interviews that the decision was only taken once the most recent album was written and recorded.
“On the last European tour, in October 2022, I was actually chatting with Deryck in a dressing room about how long he’d keep this running for,” adds Meall. “We were laughing about [whether he could] keep it going as long as Jagger.”
“Being the final run afforded us the ability to go bigger and harder than we’d ever done before”
Who knows whether Whibley will still be rocking out in some form or other aged 81, but in the meantime, he and the band are doing a damn fine job of giving Sum 41 the send-off they deserve. “Being the final run afforded us the ability to go bigger and harder than we’d ever done before,” says Meall. “If this is indeed the last chance to ever see them…”
Outwardly at least, there weren’t many signs that Sum 41 was about to call time on their near 30-year career – after all, they were at the height of their powers, playing bigger and bigger shows on every tour. Read some of the many interviews Whibley has done over the last year or so, and you’ll discover the desire to end it was more a dawning realisation than an abrupt epiphany; he was tired, a little creatively burnt out, and yearned to do something different. In short, he just felt it was time.
But he kept these thoughts and discussions mainly to himself and to a very tightknit circle; most of the band’s crew had no idea. The news was officially announced in May 2023, two months after they’d announced Heaven :x: Hell, a double record that neatly summarises Sum 41’s two distinct eras: one side entirely All Killer No Filler–style pop-punk jams, the other full of the scorching metal headbangers that’ve become their latter-day staple.
And so, the tour had to fulfil two functions – showcase these new songs in the best way possible, and serve as a fitting farewell, with a setlist to match, for their (still growing) fanbase.
The creative brief was, however, relatively simple – it boiled down to bigger, better, more bombastic. Turn everything up to 11. “The show is a solid arena package – fire, confetti, thrust, pyro, and, of course, their long-time touring stage mascot, Bonesy,” says Meall.
“Deryck has a key influence in how the show looks – it’s his concept, cues, and moments,” says senior project manager Matt Heap of BPM SFX. “The band had a very specific idea in mind for the floor package,” adds lighting designer Lenny Sasso of Sonus Productions. “Their only request was that we slam them from the sides with beam fixtures. I took it from there and ran with it – I wanted to fill as much of the air as possible and send light everywhere.”
“Cities like Waukee, IA, can appear on the same tour route as major hubs like Los Angeles, CA”
By Sum distance
In terms of planning the actual route and which countries and cities to hit, the band’s team started by discussing key markets – as Live Nation’s Kelly Kapp, the band’s US promoter, says: “Sum 41 fans are as loyal as they come.” For the US, where they’ve toured five times over the last eight years, this has meant acknowledging the increasing importance of secondary and tertiary markets and building on momentum without rushing or skipping crucial stages.
“In their early days, there would be a major market tour followed by a secondary/tertiary tour,” says Kapp. “However, post-Covid, many of these secondary and tertiary markets have experienced significant population growth. Now, cities like Waukee, IA, can appear on the same tour route as major hubs like Los Angeles, CA.”
Kapp’s marketing team worked “each and every day” to ensure there was a wide-reaching national plan while also focusing on local engagement – as an example, she notes when walking into a record store in various cities, you’d immediately notice the tour’s presence. The fact that this was billed as a farewell tour also added to fans’ sense of urgency, not only from longtime fans but from younger fans who had yet to attend a show, meaning that extra shows could be added to the itinerary in confidence.
“We added second shows in Brooklyn, NY, and San Francisco, CA due to demand,” adds Kapp. “And while there was potential for a second show in LA, we decided that one big special night in Los Angeles was the best approach.”
In Australia, where they’ve toured six times, it’s a similar story – a strategic mix of headline festival slots, direct supports, and headline shows have shaped their fanbase to the point they are now headlining arena plays outside of festivals. “This tour is a little different as a farewell tour, as they are doing festival plays,” says Chris O’Brien of Destroy All Lines, their Australian promoter. “We have wrapped five headline plays around them but in slightly smaller arenas – if we were touring the band as a sole headline tour, it would have been in bigger scale arenas.”
“Once we’d made the decision to end the tour there, we built the tour backwards from there”
Sales have, says O’Brien, been “phenomenal,” and he expects all headline shows to sell out. In addition, he notes that fans of the band in B markets have remained very loyal and that their demographic has changed from “18-24-year-olds when they first toured in 2007 to 16-40+ on their most recent tours.”
When it came to Europe, a slightly different planning tactic was deployed. France has long since been the biggest live market for Sum 41 – formerly it was the UK, closely followed by Italy – and so the decision was made to end their European leg with their biggest-ever show, playing to 42,000 fans at the Paris La Défense Arena. “Once we’d made the decision to end the tour there, we built the tour backwards from there,” says Meall.
On top of that, they decided to announce – and put tickets on the market – well in advance. “Everything flowed from that decision,” adds Meall. “Props to Salomon [Hazot] at Saloni Production who drove us to go so early – it worked beautifully, selling 17,000 after just a few days and not stopping, which led to tons of pent-up demand across the rest of Europe, which we put up in June/July 2024 as we finished their last festival run ever.”
Hazot comments, “When Deryck told me they were going to stop, I said to him: ‘Let’s do something to make it really memorable for you and for the fans.’ I spoke to Geoff [Meall] about it, and he said, ‘The band has never done more than 10,000 – what do you think about a stadium?’ And I said, ‘A stadium is very optimistic, but why not? I want a Saturday night, and I want the last date of the European tour’ – and so we did a deal.”
With tickets going on sale so early and a desire to do “something really special,” Hazot hatched a clever and unique strategy: put 4,100 tickets on sale for 41 minutes at 10:41 and have them priced at just €41. “The media loved it, social media loved it – everyone thought it was hilarious!” recalls Hazot. Those tickets sold out in ten minutes; five days later, they put the rest of the tickets out at a regular price but still at 10.41 – they sold 10,000 in a day. “Crazy!” adds Hazot.
“They started in small clubs in Warsaw, and now they’re finishing in a big arena in Łódź”
The show itself – on Saturday, 23 November – was, says Hazot, “Honestly unbelievable. The fans wanted to get crazy, and the band wanted to get crazy – I’m sure everyone will remember it for a long time. Linkin Park played the same venue three weeks ago, and that was like a classical concert compared to this! I’m so proud to have been involved.”
With that date sold out so far in advance, demand also became evident in markets like Poland, an uncommon stop for previous Sum 41 tours. “They’ve been to Poland just a few times over the years; they started in small clubs in Warsaw, and now they’re finishing in a big arena in Łódź,” says Tomasz Masłowski, booking manager and head of promotion at Winiary Bookings. “So we’ve seen how their audience has grown.”
Masłowski’s focus was on finding the best place in central Poland with a great transport network. Atlas Arena in Łódź is a popular venue for big international artists and so was something of an obvious choice. “We were sure the last Polish Sum 41 show would be a huge event and lots of people would come,” says Masłowski, and so it proved; ticket demand was huge from the day the show was announced, with people travelling from all over the country, and even internationally, to attend.
In terms of promotion, Masłowski focused on online activities with influencers and targeted campaigns, but he also used what he terms “the old ways of promotion” – postering in and around the country’s biggest cities and advertising at pretty much every other Winiary show. “We promote about 250 shows per year, so that was a big promotional tool we could use,” he says.
In terms of this being a farewell tour, everyone IQ speaks to stresses how much effort everyone involved – Whibley, the rest of the band, and the whole crew – puts in to make each show as memorable as possible. “Magical” is how Campbell describes the band’s final bow after each show. “We see such emotional reactions from audience members, and you can really see the emotion that each band member is feeling at that moment written all over their faces.”
“We made all of the rigs as pre-rigged as possible, to make sure we had the smoothest load in we could”
He adds that the setlist is regularly switched up “to give everyone the hits they want to hear but also the deep cuts that they love,” and how everyone is trying to be very present and very humble. “The band and crew are just enjoying and making the most of every moment – no negative vibes in the Sum 41 camp!”
And then Sum
Spectacle was indeed the name of the game, particularly with the lighting and effects. “Sum 41 have their inflatables that they use upstage centre. I wanted to bring focus and attention to these, so I angled every flown truss to point back to the inflatable with the intention to make it look like the rig was exploding out from the inflatable,” says Sasso of his design. “Knowing how much Deryck runs around stage, I also added ramps and a catwalk to connect the two risers, giving him way more of a playground to work with. I lined the entire catwalk with LED battens (X4 Bars or Chauvet PXL 16s) to give that classic wall-of-light-curtain look.”
Sasso also utilised three mirror balls – upstage left, centre, and right behind the risers – and hit them with beams to blast a refracted mirror ball look through the band, an effect that proved somewhat challenging and required a custom solution. “We used 3’ mirror balls (1m in the EU) and inverted them so they’d sit on the floor behind the risers – essentially top-mounted on the motor, but we burned through the first set of motors we used,” says Sasso.
“Eventually, through trial and error, we had one of our shop fabricators custom-build a motor capable of supporting the weight of the ball and then spinning it. It was definitely a headache to make happen, but the end result was absolutely worth it.” Another important factor was the ease of loading in and out – and transportation – and keeping an eye on costs; with post-Covid inflation laying siege to many tours, the need to be efficient with optimised logistics has never been as critical. “We made all of the rigs as pre-rigged as possible, to make sure we had the smoothest load in we could – everything was designed with ease in mind,” says Jordan Dormer of Colour Sound Experiment.
To this end, they employed some custom touring dollies for the floor package fixtures and moved the lasers onto these dollies. “Even our floor tow- ers were out every night, no matter how big the stage was,” adds Dormer.
“We used the new-on-the-market Magic FX ECO2 Jet, which replaces the conventional CO2 Jet”
Greater than the Sum of its parts
The band’s touring audio system, as chosen and facilitated through Mike Adams of Clair Global, similarly helped deliver what was required in an economical way. Together with FOH engineer Bryan Campbell, they settled on using Cohesion equipment – specifically CO-12 and 218 subs, with a CO-10 front fill “to make up for the lack of stage volume coming off the deck.”
Continues Adams: “Cohesion has a very minimal footprint hanging in an arena or stadium, so design teams love it, the promoter loves the revenue they can pick up from less seat kills, and logistically, a full arena system including rigging can easily fit in one 53 foot x 102 inch wide trailer. That saved them an entire second truck throughout the course of the tour, and at the current rate, an artist can easily save $250,000 over the course of a tour cycle.”
Pyro was also an area where savings could be made without affecting the show’s visual impact. “We used the new-on-the-market Magic FX ECO2 Jet, which replaces the conventional CO2 Jet,” says Heap. “It’s a smoke jet with like-to-like properties of a CO2 jet, only without the need for a large number of CO2 bottles, which reduces costs by thousands of euros for the production. BPM have over seventy of these in stock and are the only ones in the UK with these – they’re already proving to be the go-to machine for touring and multi-act festival installs.”
The sheer number of flames included in the show initially “scared the crap out of both production and the band during rehearsals – it was hilarious!” laughs Heap. “So much heat was created we’d trigger the fire alarms in the rehearsal space multiple times. But they love the flames now.”
Indeed, so intense is all the pyro that the same issue occurred at the Paramount Theater in Brooklyn, where the band played two sold-out shows in May. “On the first night, during Fat Lip, our on-stage pyro set off the smoke alarm, which mutes the PA and turns on all the house lights in the venue,” says Bryan Campbell, front of house engineer. “The audience wasn’t having it – [Frank] Zummo kept the beat steady on the drumkit, and the crowd sang the whole song till the very end! Once the fire system was reset and we had control of the PA and lights again, the band hit replay and performed the song again.”
Of course, transporting all this equipment – plus the band and the crew – around the world is exceptionally expensive, especially considering they started out in Asia, hit America, came to Europe, went back to the US, back again to Europe, before seven dates in Australia, then the final leg in Canada. But the band’s team were careful to cost it all out and figure out the logistics first before even booking any shows.
“No doubt I’ll shed a tear come the final curtain in Paris”
“Preplanning is really important, so it helps that they brought us in early for this tour cycle and didn’t book any shows until they had run it by us to look at the cost and feasibility of getting whatever system they needed to their next show,” says Jason Bird, global head of music at EFM Global. In part, this has meant deploying an A and B system, which has allowed management to plan the routing ahead of time and figure out the smartest, most cost-effective way of moving the gear around the world. “A prime example of this was Asia and China earlier this year,” he adds. “The schedule was so tight that we needed both systems there to leapfrog from country to country.”
Summing up
“I don’t think it will really hit us until the very last show, and the tour officially ends in Canada,” adds tour manager Ivan Copelan. “Then I think everyone will look back and be both happy and sad – happy to have been part of such a great tour and sad that it’s all ending.”
He notes that they’ve seen a lot of the same fans coming to multiple shows and how aware the band are after each show that this is the last time they’ll play that particular city – many of which have been favourite stomping grounds over the years.
The fan tears being shed after each show are testament to what Sum 41 means to multiple generations of music fans, a deep connection that’s sustained the band since their breakout hits nearly 30 years ago. “Many of these fans have grown up alongside the band, continuing to attend their shows over the years,” says Kapp. “And with each tour, a new generation of listeners have discovered their music and joined the crowd, keeping the band’s legacy alive.”
With so much love, respect, and success, can this really be the end? Few bands get to bow out on their own terms; fewer still when they’re as popular and dynamic as ever. In the music industry, one can never say never, but it truly seems as though this is the end. “Sadly, I’d love to say they’ll be back, but this is a genuine goodbye,” says Meall. “No doubt I’ll shed a tear come the final curtain in Paris – it’s been a great ride.”
And so, a remarkable band calls time on a remarkable career with a fittingly brilliant tour. “I don’t wanna waste my time” goes one memorable line from Fat Lip, the song that saw them explode across MTV, the world, and a million teenage stereos. Safe to say that’s one ambition they more than fulfilled.
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