The country, located at the heart of the European Union, has recovered from the dark days of terrorist attacks in 2016 and its promoters and venue operators have a sense of optimism for the coming year, apart from facing all the usual challenges. Tom Ambrose reports If 2018 was unable…

Agents all have their own particular way of working and almost all learn by watching some veterans at work. But most of the job is learned through experience and rumour has it ITB’s Mike Dewdney likes to be seen as one who quietly and efficiently goes about his work, under…

SPAIN      Barcelona festival Primavera Sound (cap. 35,000) is promoting an equal gender line-up for this year’s event. Under the banner The New Normal, headliners include Solange, Tame Impala, Cardi B, J Balvin, Erykah Badu, Future, Janelle Monáe, Nas, and Rosalía. “Primavera Sound is the holy grail for artistes…

ICELAND                Forty-nine years since Led Zeppelin’s first performance in the country, founding member Robert Plant is returning to headline Secret Solstice, in the capital Reykjavik. Plant and his Sensational Shapeshifters band will be one of the headliners at the 12,000-capacity event, which takes…

EASTERN EUROPE    Touring with a 40-piece symphony orchestra in a range of venues, Smokie needed a sound system flexible enough to cover expansive arenas and smaller theatres. Playing venues including the Czech Republic’s Tipsport Arena (cap. 13,150) in Prague, Hungary’s Papp László Budapest Sportaréna (12,500) and Slovenia’s Hala Tivoli…

RUSSIA With an array of supporting musicians including guitarist Al Di Meola, provision for a live DVD and the need to record audience ambience, sound engineer Robert Boim needed an desk with unlimited mixing possibilities and ease of use, for the 50th anniversary concert by singer Leonid Agutin. He chose…