If Beyoncé or Orelsan fill stadiums and XXL halls in the blink of an eye, concerts by emerging artists on more modest stages have a harder time filling up in France.
The return of star shows after the health crisis has resulted in a rush. “Today, we have no difficulty filling, with Elton John, to speak of 2022, or Bruce Springsteen, P!nk, for 2023, with places sold in a few hours or a few days“explains to AFP Bathilde Lorenzetti, vice-president of Paris La Défense Arena, the largest closed concert hall in Europe (up to 40,000 seats).
Tickets for Beyoncé’s next French dates at the Stade de France (65,000 tickets on sale, the Stade de France can go up to 80,000 or 90,000 in concert version but not with the “Queen B” stage device) and at the Vélodrome de Marseille (55,000 tickets) also left in record time. “There is such a demand for Beyoncé, it’s phenomenal, we could have filled the Stade de France for a second date“, comments for AFP Angelo Gopee, boss of Live Nation France, production of concerts-blockbusters.
100,000 tickets sold in eight hours for Sardou
This appetite does not only concern American or British megastars filming in France. French-speaking stars, such as the Belgians Angèle (in 2022) and Stromae (2023), fill Paris La Défense Arena without worry. “I put a Bercy on all week“, sings the Norman rapper OrelSan in “Shonen”. He did even better in 2022, with five dates in one week in the Parisian room also called Accor Arena (up to 20,000 seats) and three evenings in Paris La Défense Arena .
Michel Sardou, 76, who had announced his musical retirement before changing his mind, even sold 100,000 tickets during the first eight hours of his return to France and neighboring countries for the end of 2023-beginning of 2024. current general enthusiasm, the manager of Paris La Défense Arena confides that her “priority is to work to increase the gauge, especially the pit, to try to reach 45-50,000“.
According to the latest live barometer from the National Syndicate of Musical and Variety Shows (Prodiss), “75% of French people believe that live shows fight against the atmosphere of crisis“, “figure up 18 points since 2014″Never “as high since the launch of the barometer“. But “we see on the gauges which go up to 1500-2000 places that the return of the public is relatively slow even if there is an improvement at the beginning of 2023“, analysis with AFP Laurent Decès, president of the Syndicate of current music (Sma).
The galley of young artists
In small and medium-sized rooms, there too, the headliners are full. It is not Beyoncé or Metallica but leading groups of the independent scene like Algiers, for example, programmed in the Petit Bain room (450 seats), in Paris, managed by Laurent Decès. On the other hand, “for the discoveries, it is still very complicated to attract the public“, develops the manager. “It’s always been complicated to fill up with young artists in development, but here we are downright in the ovens on this type of poster“.
From “motivations for going to the show” in the Prodiss live barometer (carried out by the Harris Interactive polling institute), “discover new artists” is only the 7th criterion out of 10 while “live something exceptional” is in 3rd place.
This results for small and medium-sized rooms – the large speakers are not clearing the way and rely on sure values - a “less risk taking” for programming, according to Laurent Decès. And evenings are blocked for “privatizations by companies“to the detriment of concerts, he develops. Either measures imposed by the context”which go against the defense of artistic diversity“, regrets the leader of the Sma.