Last year was considered a banner year for concert fans in Thailand. We had One Direction, Jason Mraz, Katy Perry, The Script, Big Bang, Muse and Bon Jovi, all brought in by BEC-Tero.
For 2016, the most anticipated performance will definitely be Madonna's, who will perform two shows in Bangkok for the first time, on Feb 9 and 10.
But the Queen of Pop is just one of many in the line-up. BEC-Tero signed a partnership agreement last year with Live Nation -- an international live-events company -- which means that the Thai organiser will be connected with other promoters, working as a network that improves the chances of bringing in many more concerts into the country.
Madonna plays Zurich, Switzerland, last year.
Some of the confirmed international concerts in 2016 include Santana, 5 Seconds of Summer and Tom Jones. BEC will also throw at least two international music festivals, the Sonic Bang and TofuPop, which will delight J-pop and K-pop fans.
Also, Thai performers will have their headline gigs, from old-hand Gran Ex to popular performers Slot Machine, Thanachai "Pod" Uchin, Rhythm and BoyD, Thanakrit "Wan" Pannichwit, Saksit "Tor+" Vejsupaporn and more. There is another based-on-concept-concert, "Pager in Love", which is a working title and a retro style concert featuring songs from the "pager era", meaning the mid-1990s.
"We're growing and learning," said Raksit Rakkandee, Concert and Event director of BEC Tero Entertainment. "We're partnering with more artists to run concerts for various target markets that are segmented by age."
Artists are an obvious pull, but BEC-Tero is also working on themed concerts based on style, with the aim to reach niche consumers: Sound Box, for instance, will take place every quarter. The concert features a collection of new and upcoming bands from Asia and elsewhere and will be about discovering new music and artists.
"Concerts are now developing in a fashion whereby the people who choose to attend them don't have to know in advance what they should expect to see; they just go along anyway. They can enjoy them even when they are not true fans of the artists," said Raksit. "Probably just like how people nowadays just pop into cinemas and pick movies there and then, unlike before when watching movies was more of a big and planned ritual."
Besides concerts, 2016's events and family shows are also planned to expand. Some of the headline acts are Disney On Ice's Frozen, Bubble Legendary, Blue Man Group and DreamWork's Shrek The Musical. New this year is Teamlab, an international edutainment exhibition where visitors' imagination becomes tangible through digital technology.
So keep an eye on updates as there may well be more surprising concerts and events to come.
Bubble Legendary.
Teamlab, an international edutainment exhibition.
