Harry Styles and Billie Eilish, artists of undisputed popularity, preferred to cancel their planned concert in Montreal during the pandemic rather than postpone it. Tours by Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone, The Eagles, Kid Cudi, Lil Nas X, The 1975, Lizzo, Jack Harlow and Iron Maiden also bypass Montreal, but stop in Toronto. Should this phenomenon worry Montreal fans?
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
International artists are currently focusing on a handful of North American metropolises. André Guérette, from Paquin Artists Agency, confirms this. “We were all a little traumatized by the postponement of the tours, so in 2022, we wanted to try to mitigate the risks”, explains the vice-president of this agency which represents some 250 artists around the world, including Aya Nakamura, Damso and Christine and the Queens.
When planning tours, which are now done several months – even more than a year – in advance, “the teams said to themselves: ‟In order not to jeopardize a complete North American tour, instead of doing five cities in Canada, we will focus on Toronto, maybe Vancouver, ”he illustrates, recalling that the organization of a tour has cost much more since the pandemic.
But why Toronto? “We guess that at the moment, it is the short-term profit strategy that is favored by the industry, among other things because they have been on the kneecaps for two years”, notes Martin Lussier, professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), specialist in popular culture and music industry issues.
This strategy means that an artist will go to the big markets only, create a kind of rarity around the concerts and therefore ensure that the room will be full to maximize profits.
Martin Lussier, specialist in popular culture and music industry issues
This is the case of Harry Styles: the British singer’s 44-date North American tour stops in only five cities: Toronto, New York, Austin, Chicago and Los Angeles.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CBS
Harry Styles performing at the Grammys in March 2021
In this strategic context, Martin Lussier raises another possible explanation that could favor Toronto. In the Queen City, the company that runs most of the venues is Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promotion and organization conglomerate with subsidiaries in dozens of countries. And although the CH Group has had a partnership with this industry giant since 2019, “we can assume that Live Nation will first of all promote the concerts in its halls, where not only will it have a share of the revenue from the ticket sales [grâce à sa filiale Ticketmaster], but also parking, food kiosks, sale of t-shirts, etc. »
In Toronto, this is notably the case with the History, the Coca-Cola Coliseum and the Scotiabank Arena, the equivalent of our Bell Centre, where all the artists who have skipped Montreal.
No worries at evenko
In February 2021, the promoter evenko, which manages most performance halls in Montreal, expressed public concern that the uncertainty around changing health measures in our province would harm the “Montreal brand”.
Has the worst happened? Nick Farkas, vice-president, programming, concerts and events at evenko, assures that the vestiges of sanitary restrictions are no longer a hindrance for international artists. “We are as busy in 2022 as in 2019, we see the traffic in our rooms”, he assures. Among the big names who have walked the boards of the Bell Center since last March, we find Bad Bunny, Dua Lipa and Greta Van Fleet. We are expecting The Killers, Gorillaz, Stromae and Luke Combs soon.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Dua Lipa concert at the Bell Center in July
As for the other artists bypassing the metropolis, the reasons for their absence do not concern Mr. Farkas overmuch, although he admits that the list may seem large at the moment. It would be issues of dates for some and less popularity on the Montreal market for others. The “incredible volume of artists” who are touring at the moment, after two years of absence, makes it indeed complex to draw up a tour schedule, confirms André Guérette.
The vice-president of Paquin Artists Agency, however, wants to be reassuring: “Not badly all the artists are happy to come to Montreal. It’s a great city that everyone loves. There is nothing to worry about for the future. »
Nick Farkas says the metropolis is still considered a top city for touring. “There is nothing to fear, we are not losing our position, our prestige, not at all. Artists love coming to Montreal,” he insists.
For 2023, the vice-president of evenko says he is “very confident”, notably suggesting possible stops for Post Malone and Kendrick Lamar in the metropolis. During a new stage of tour or for a festival? To be continued…