ED SHEERAN EDSHEERAN.COM
It’s only the first quarter of the year and already Manila’s concert calendar is fast shaping up to be the busiest in recent memory.
More remarkable is that three of the hottest young music acts are performing here in the next few months: Ed Sheeran, March 12; Sam Smith, May 10, both at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena; and One Direction, March 21 and 22, at the MOA Open Grounds within the same complex.
A couple more artists are returning to play: Michael Bublé, Jan. 31; Incubus, March 13; and The Script, April 17—also at the MOA Arena.
Take note that British singer-songwriter Sheeran’s 2014 record “X” has topped the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200, and is nominated for Album of the Year at the 57th Grammy Awards.
One Direction, the pop vocal quintet based in London, became the first group in US Billboard 200 history to have its first four albums—“Up All Night” (2011), “Take Me Home” (2012), “Midnight Memories” (2013) and “Four” (2014)—debut at No. 1.
Meanwhile, British singer-songwriter Smith’s 2014 debut album, “In the Lonely Hour,” contains two singles, “Money on My Mind” and “Stay with Me,” which have both topped the UK Singles Chart. He has six nominations in the 57th Grammy Awards to be held Feb. 8 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
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But perhaps the most significant development here, at least for the local concert industry, is that the promoters of these major acts have booked their gigs all at MOA Arena.
Why so? What makes the MOA Arena more attractive than other concert venues?
No rental fee
A veteran concert promoter tells us that the SM Group, which operates the MOA Arena, does not charge a specific rental fee for the venue but is entitled to a percentage of gross ticket sales from concerts.
“But we also pay for the venue’s facilities like the dressing rooms, etc.,” adds the promoter.
Although he says that total venue fees would not be a lot different whether a concert is held at MOA Arena or its main competitor, Smart Araneta Coliseum, what matters most right now is that a major talent buyer like Music Management International (MMI), and the country’s biggest concert promoter, Ovation Productions, have been booking most, if not all, their gigs at MOA Arena.
‘Concert of Dreams’
The website of Manila’s newest resort-hotel-casino City of Dreams (cityofdreams.com.ph) has announced a gig dubbed “Concert of Dreams,” to coincide with its grand opening on Feb. 2, with the following performers: Gary Valenciano, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Kyla, Jed Madela and “foreign artists.”
As to who these “foreign artists” are, well, they better be good enough to at least stir one’s imagination.
City of Dreams Manila, Asean Avenue cor. Roxas Boulevard, Entertainment City, Parañaque; tel. no. 8008080