Live music has been one of the cultural sectors most affected by the pandemic in these two years. COVID-19 has hit hard the work of many artists, technicians and music professionals. The European cultural sector lost around 31% of its activity in 2023 .
This cessation of work in live music has led to a significant economic fall in the sector. Popular music concerts in Spain in 2023 have suffered a 79% reduction in attendance and revenue collection has dropped by 73.3% , according to the Yearbook of the performing, musical and audiovisual arts of the General Society of Authors. and Editors (SGAE).
Thanks to the advance of vaccines, during this summer and in the last months of this year, major tours by the most recognized artists on the music scene have been announced. Although, now the omicron variant threatens the first concerts of 2023 , as culture is once again affected by the large increase in the incidence of Covid-19 cases in recent weeks.
C. Tangana has been one of the artists who has revolutionized music the most this year with his album El Madrileño . And not only in the musical sense, winning three Latin Grammys, he has also generated more than one controversy ... Now, his intention is to return to the stage in 2023 with a tour, which will pass through some cities in Latin America and London. In Spain, the sold out already appears in all cities (Málaga, Zaragoza, Barcelona, A Coruña and Madrid), except Bilbao, for which there are still tickets left.
Vetusta Morla has achieved its success from the bottom, and each time it aims for the top, filling large stages. With the release of their latest album at the end of 2023 , Cable a Tierra, they have already prepared their tour of several Spanish cities, highlighting one of the most crowded concerts for June 24 at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium in Madrid . They will also pass through Mexico and give a series of concerts in Europe, which had to be postponed previously.
Three years later, Malú returns to the stage. Her last tour in 2023 , 'Oxigeno Tour', had to be canceled due to a fall by the artist during rehearsals, in which she suffered a torn ligament . Now, she returns to present her new album Mil Batallas live with several concerts announced. The singer has become the only female artist to have sold out the Wizink Center four times in the same tour.
Serrat takes to the stage to say goodbye to more than 50 years of musical career . 'El Vicio de Cantar 1965-2023 ' will pass through New York, Latin America and Spain, where he will perform the most notable songs from his time in music . The public has welcomed this news, since, just 24 hours after the first tickets went on sale, 50,000 tickets were purchased. His last performance will take place in his city, Barcelona, on December 23, 2023 , at the Palau Sant Jordi.
“I'm really looking forward to 2023 so that I can get on stage and not be put down with hot water," declared Alejandro Sanz at the presentation of his album Sanz . Along with this new work, he has announced a stadium tour , trying to recapture some of the concerts that could not be held due to the pandemic, such as those in Colombia. After performing in several countries in America, he will return to Spain in June to continue #LaGira.
Most of these tours aim to present the artists' new works. And Melendi joins this trend with her new album De ella Likes y Cicatrices . His eponymous tour starts in March 2023 in Mexico and will continue in May through several cities in Spain.
Vanesa Martin will also return to the stage in March with the reissue of her latest work Siete vezes . An album that she has just re-released, reissued, and that has the original version, plus five extra songs, as well as a DVD containing the TVE Christmas special 'Vuela Conmigo' . At the moment, she has confirmed her performances in Palma de Mallorca, Marbella, Seville and Madrid.
Commemorating his musical career is Estopa, which resumes the postponed tour of his latest album, Fuego . A tour with which they will also celebrate more than 20 years in music and that will begin in Orlando, Miami and New Jersey.
International artists who perform in our country
Madrid and Barcelona are par excellence the cities of our country in which the most international foreign artists will perform. Dua Lipa will visit these two cities with the tour of her new album Future Nostalgia , with which she will offer more than 60 concerts in various countries around the world. In the same line of Spanish cities, Alicia Keys returns with a world tour to present her seventh studio album De ella Alicia .
Red Hot Chili Peppers is also on a world tour , which includes two concerts in Spain, at the Estadio La Cartuja in Seville and at the Estadi Olímpic in Barcelona. At the European level, The Cure will perform in a total of 44 concerts in 22 countries , also passing through the capital and Barcelona.
Macrofestivals in Spain
If there was one thing that characterized the music sector before the pandemic, it was its wide range of festivals. An activity that came to a screeching halt due to Covid-19, and that forced most of them to be canceled and postponed, especially affecting the economy of some small towns that host them. Now, large mass events are just around the corner thanks to vaccination . Since last summer, promoters have not stopped announcing large posters with several days of concerts and very international artists.
One of the festivals that has revolutionized the music scene has been Primavera Sound at the beginning of June , with eight days of concerts and all tickets sold out . It features artists such as Massive Attack, The National, Gorillaz and Jorja Smith. Another of the most important international music events in our country is the BBK Live in Bilbao. This time it proposes a wide variety of genres, ranging from The Killers, Stromae, J. Balvin, Nathy Peluso to the Pet Shop Boys.
After 19 years without giving a concert in Spain, Christina Aguilera will perform at the most international music festival in the Balearic Islands, El Mallorca Live Festival , which includes Muse, Justice and Franz Ferdinand among its headliners. And finally, another of the most crowded festivals in our country is Mad Cool . After a two-year hiatus, the 2023 edition will bring international bands such as Metallica, Imagine Dragons, Twenty One Pilots and Kings of Leon.
At the moment, all these festivals maintain their posters and hope to be held by 20223 The public has placed all their trust in this being the case, but the evolution of the virus will decide if it is possible to hold it...
