A NUMBER of major acts are headed to Durban in the next few months.
In fact, tickets for a UB40 concert sold out within days of sales opening recently, resulting in an additional concert date being added for the city.
And while a Boyz II Men concert was initially not planned for Durban, the organisers had to add a date for the city after calls from local fans.
This is what the major tour list looks like for Durban in the coming months so far:
*In May, Showtime Promotions will bring Sanam - India's 'Fabulous Four' to Durban as part of their South African tour. The boy band will perform on May 27 at The Globe at Suncoast at 8pm. The band rose to fame after composing renditions of classic Bollywood hit songs. They have since recorded and performed songs in Hindi, English, Spanish and Gujarati. The songs include Main Hoon, which was featured in the Hollywood blockbuster, The Amazing Spiderman. Tickets via Ticketpro.
*Big Concerts International will bring UB40, featuring Ali Campbell, to South Africa in June. Campbell will be joined by his nine-piece band and will be honouring long time member Astro, who died in 2021. The organisers recently confirmed that due to demand, they had added an additional date to the Durban-leg of the tour. The band - popular for hits like Red Red Wine, I Got You Babe, (I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You, Cherry Oh Baby and Kingston Town - will now perform at the ICC in Durban on June 1 (sold out) and June 2. Tickets via www.ticketmaster.co.za
*Woodmark Events SA will bring Indian singing sensation Sid Sriram to the Durban ICC Arena on June 17. Sriram found worldwide fame after his song Adiye was featured in the film Kadal. Other hits include Yaar Azhaippadhu, Anthimaalai Neram, Kannaana Kanney, Maruvaarthai, Nee Nenacha, Srivalli, Kumkumala, Deva Koumala and Pinju Panji Mazhai. Tickets are available at Computicket.
*Entertainment company G Twenty One Live together with Vertex Events, are bringing the multi-Grammy-nominated international artist Tamia to Durban as part of a three-city tour. The Canadian born R&B singer/songwriter has released multiple albums, collaborated with several prominent international musical icons and is known for her philanthropic work within the music industry over the span of her career. Tamia will perform on July 7 at the Durban ICC. Tickets are available at Ticketpro.
*The same event organisers are also bringing Boyz II Men to Durban. The city was initially not on the stop over list, but the organisers recently announced that they have had to add a Durban leg to Boyz II Men’s South African Tour after Durban fans reached out. The group will perform at the ICC on November 5. Tickets are on sale via Ticketpro.
In an interview with POST, some of the organisers of these events commented on some of the factors driving shows to Durban.
Justin van Wyk, the CEO Big Concerts, who are bringing UB40, said it was not the lack of support that deterred tours from coming to Durban.
“The support is fantastic and we love coming to Durban. It’s the economics of travel days without revenue with 50 plus people on the road, and high local production costs that make it financially challenging to include additional shows outside of Gauteng and the Western Cape. But to be clear, when there is an opportunity to include Durban, we always do.”
Glen Netshipise, a spokesperson for G21 Live who are bringing Tamia and Boyz II Men, said : “Our diverse and experienced team are in tune with current trends and which artists are currently hot in the different regions. The Durban audience, though not as big as Joburg or Cape Town, has always been a win for us. G21 Live has been bringing live entertainment shows to Durban for over a decade now.
“We have done various international shows featuring R&B and hip hop artists. The Durban audience we target, prefer seated and more intimate shows. We are in talks with a few big names for next year and will keep the audience posted.”
Veesham Maharaj and Mike Narsey of Showtime Promotions, who are bringing SANAM down, said they've found one of the reasons for major concerts not coming to Durban is the costs of venue hire, compared to Johannesburg and Cape Town, which have larger venue options to host concerts within a casino complex.
Narsey said: "This helps to reduce the cost of production towards the concert, which makes it viable for any promoter. South Africa has the largest Indian population outside of India. With this in mind, we bring Bollywood international concerts to our shores. We allow local artists to showcase their talent on stage at these events, resulting in their growth among various international acts.
"We believe the key factors are the popularity of an artist, together with the expertise of executing a concert, and finally the correct ticket pricing which is affordable is what will sell out a concert..“
Maharaj said the poor rand/dollar exchange rate was also a factor affecting bringing international acts down. "Further to this, we have not, to date, ever received any government funding. Thus with the limited sponsors, larger Bollywood concerts will be very limited and difficult to secure."
POST