Aerosmith, Elton John, Noel Gallagher, Lady Gaga And More: Live In Bangkok?
INTER CONCERTS
Music gets massive
Manta Klangboonkrong,
Kitchana Lersakvanitchakul
The Nation
We're going to need a bigger budget - for concert tickets - with Lady Gaga, Aerosmith, Elton John and more heading our way
BANGKOK: -- Lady Gaga and Aerosmith alone ought to make up for all those cancelled concerts last year, and Elton John looks likely to perform in Thailand too. Coldplay is a possibility. Bangkok seems to have hit the big-name jackpot for 2012.
Gaga and Aerosmith will be onstage in town this year along with top-ranked British acts Suede and Noel Gallagher, formerly of Oasis and now leading the High Flying Birds. The world's favourite Swedish pop band, the Cardigans, is also coming, and so is sensational Canadian jazz crooner Diana Krall.
"We are very excited with the line-up we've confirmed for 2012 and what will be confirmed soon for the remainder of the year," says Neil Thompson, deputy managing director of BEC Tero Entertainment, which has Earth, Wind & Fire booked for Monday and Lady Gaga in May.
You might have heard of Lady Gaga: She's currently the planet's biggest music star.
"It's a real coup that we managed to get her to perform in Bangkok as part of her global tour," Thompson says. "This will be the biggest show this country has seen since Michael Jackson."
BEC-Tero is in talks with Sir Elton,
trio Green Day, 1990s chart-toppers the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Jason Mraz. And a new date will be announced soon for David Foster & Friends, another of the shows washed out by last year's flooding.
Then there's "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition" set for June to coincide with the release of the 3D version of James Cameron's movie, all part of the 100th anniversary of the ship's sinking.
BEC-Tero also promises "the most visually stunning Disney on Ice show yet", with more than 50 cartoon characters donning skates, and later this year Les Ballets Trocadero de Monte Carlo. Next year we'll get to see the mega-musical "The Phantom of the Opera" onstage.
Noel Gallagher and the High Flying Birds on September 25, Diana Krall in November and Aerosmith in December are all coming courtesy of Rock N' Rolla, the promotional firm founded by Santi "Freddy" Samithisawad.
Its 2012 series of concerts begins on August 4 with "Sonic Attack 2", a festival that Freddy wants to prove is about more than just metal music. "For its second year the theme will be alternative rock, with Suede as the headliners and including the Cardigans."
Meanwhile there'll be more on offer from Click-VR One radio, which organised the Olivia Newton-John concert at Bitec in Bang Na this month. Managing director Wassanaphong Vichaiya is keen on "retro" acts.
"We don't want to be a serious rival to the bigger promoters, forcing down ticket prices," he says. "We just want fans of an older generation to relive the good old days. Olivia was aimed at people 40 to 60 years old."
Click-VR One - which runs 102.5 Get FM, where foreign music gets heavy rotation, and 101 FM for the older crowd - plans to put three or four more foreign artists on Bangkok stages this year and host a string of Thai shows and a music festival as well.
As for Coldplay, the British hitmakers who routinely sell out stadiums are the rumoured headliners for the second Silverlake Music Festival, which is expected to take place following the rainy season at the Silverlake Vineyard in Pattaya.
New on the promotion scene but solidly financed, Silverlake Entertainment is pondering involvement in sports events too and perhaps the Thai Premier League.
Managing director Siripol "Bob" Samithisawad, who also oversees JSS Production, doesn't want to say which music acts the firm is negotiating with for the Silverlake Festival.
THE LIST SO FAR
Monday - Earth, Wind & Fire at Impact Arena in Muang Thong Thani
Thursday - LMFAO and Lil Jon at the Together Festival at Bitec in Bang Na
April 24 - Avenged Sevenfold at the Impact Arena Thunder Dome
May 8 - Dream Theatre at the Thunder Dome
May 25 - Lady Gaga at Rajamangala Stadium in Hua Mark
August 4 - Sonic Attack 2 festival with Suede and the Cardigans
September 25 - Noel Gallagher and High Flying Birds
Late 2012 - Diana Krall, Aerosmith, David Foster & Friends, Green Day, Jason Mraz, Elton John and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers
The Nation 2012-03-31
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