Milano based promoters Barley Arts have seen a hugely successful summer season of concerts and tours and look forward to similar successes for the coming seasons.
Figures talk: on the Italian side of business LIGABUE sold out 2 SanSiro Stadium (110,000 altogether) July 5 and 6, before embarking in 15 more shows in sport arenas of large and medium capacities, such as Stadio Olimpico in Rome (52,000), Campo Fiera Conegliano (20,000), Palermo (20,000 sold out), Pescara (20,000 sold out), Lecce Cave del Duca (15,000 sold out), Stadio Neri Rimini (15,000 sold out), Stadio Franchi Florence (32,000 sold out),Arena Festa Unità Reggio Emilia (26,000 sold out), Napoli Curva San Paolo (22,000 sold out) and more. His summer tour ended with 2 packed nights at the 15,000 cap. Arena di Verona September 18 and 19 and with a total amount of nearly 400,000 tickets sold.
Just a little under that score was the stunning act made of the 4 Italian stars PINO DANIELE, FRANCESCO DE GREGORI, FIORELLA MANNOIA, RON: 200 minutes performance running through the successes of their long careers, 23 shows in selected open air venues all around Italy in capacity 5000 to 12.000, a total amount of over 200.000 tickets sold.
Apart from the two mentioned, more acts touring the country were LITFIBA, 50 shows, FRANCESCO RENGA, 35 shows, PATTY PRAVO, 25 shows, MISTONOCIVO (a brand new rock act) 40 shows, GIANNA NANNINI, 25 shows in Italy before going ahead with 20 more in Europe, TIMORIA, 50 shows and GIANLUCA GRIGNANI, 20 shows.
But that’s not much, compared with TIZIANO FERRO: almost 40 shows in Italy and selected one-off in Germany, The Netherlands, Luxemburg, France, Belgium and Switzerland, 1.500.000 records sold throughout Europe of his first album ROSSO RELATIVO and his singles published in 4 languages (Italian, French, Spanish, English), FERRO is for sure the real breakthrough of the year. As a matter of fact Barley & Friends are now working for his first European tour kicking off next year after the release of the second album.
One might think Italian acts are the new core business for the golden couple Trotta-Salzano. In fact last summer went through some astonishing tours. The start up was LENNY KRAVITZ who sold out Milan Filaforum 11,000 cap July 6 and Verona Arena, July 9 and opened in front of 25,000 people the CORNETTO FREE MUSIC FESTIVAL in Rome July 8, co-heading with ZUCCHERO a billing that included the one-off of Counting Crows, Francesco Renga and Mistonocivo. Then THE CURE of Mr. Robert Smith, in Conegliano Campo Fiera Treviso (12,000 tkts) and Rome Cornetto Free Music Festival (15.000 tkts).
While summer was getting hotter with tours of KYLIE, DREAM THEATER, CHEMICAL BROTHERS, SUPERTRAMP, DAVID JOHANSEN, RATDOG and THE BLUES BROTHERS BAND visiting Milan, Torino, Bologna and other towns, Rome got in the limelight with the CORNETTO FREE MUSIC FESTIVAL. Forty acts ranging among COLDPLAY, BRYAN FERRY, ANI DI FRANCO, REMY SHAND, JOE SATRIANI, JAMIROQUAI, SUPERTRAMP, UB 40, SONIC YOUTH, MOTORHEAD, DAVID JOHANSEN, LISA STANSFIELD, ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION, ELISA, NEGRITA, LAMB, THE ARK plus CLAUDE CHALLE, JOSE’ PADILLA and other celebrities from the Buddah Bar in Paris, collected more than 200.000 people at the Stadio Flaminio, Stadio Olimpico and Valle Giulia.
As rest is not a Barley & Friends’s fav, the indoor season opened Sept 20 with a smooth 1,500 tkts for Ronnie James Dio at Alcatraz, followed by 3 sold outs NOIR DESIR in Rome La Palma Club (800 cap), Bologna Estragon (800 cap.) and Milan Leonkavallo (7,000 cap), and burn up all of a sudden in a flabbergasting sold out with BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E-STREET BAND at the 13,000 cap PALAMALAGUTI in Bologna, October 18. For his fans’s sake, The Boss is awaited with more open-air shows in Milano and Roma in May-June 2003.
In the meanwhile, Trotta & Salzano entertain themselves with ZZ TOP (one off in Milan Palavobis Oct 27), PAUL WELLER (3 shows in November, Rimini, Milan and Venezia in clubs 2,000 cap), indoor tours of GIANLUCA GRIGNANI and FRANCESCO RENGA and above all with an awesome LIGABUE winter tour, split between 1 prestigious theater and 1 arena in every town, for a total amount of 46 shows so far, debuting in Torino Nov 14 (TEATRO REGIO) and 15 (PALASTAMPA) and going on until the end of March 2003.
