From internet sensation to global pop star in just five years, Shawn Mendes’ success is a combination of his natural talent and special relationship with his fans, finding good management, agent and promoter contacts early on, then following a strategy for organic growth and looking after the audiences. Mike Gartside reports …

Despite the government introducing tough new noise restrictions and a sharp rise in policing costs at events, the country’s leading players in the live music sector appear to be thriving in a steadily expanding industry, reports Christopher Barrett John Lennon famously said French rock is like English wine. The intervening decades…

UNITED STATES      MORE THAN 90 artistes will appear across five stages at this year’s Spring Awakening Music Festival in Chicago, Illinois, after the electronic music event announced a move to a new site. The festival switches to Poplar Creek, a Northwest Chicago suburb, which boasts 27 acres, which…

SWITZERLAND THE MULTI-venue Montreux Jazz Festival is to host Elton John this summer as part of the Rocket Man’s final tour, with shows upgraded from arena dates to a stadium. Part of the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, the concert will now take place on 29 June at the 15,000-capacity…

UNITED STATES Although staged in the 5,200-capacity MGM Park Theater in Las Vegas, Lady Gaga’s Enigma show, resident at the venue for two years, was designed to have the impact of an arena performance, according to show and lighting designer LeRoy Bennett. He designed the lighting around a 38ft (11.5m)…

WORLD      Lighting designer and creative director of Tears for Fears, Alex Reardon, proposed a look for the band which projected simplicity and sophistication without distracting from the music for their Rule The World tour. He says he aimed to create a feeling of depth on the stage with…