More proof, if it were needed, that heavy rock and metal will always be with us, comes with new stats from Live Nation that show that the genre is booming.
The group’s official Instagram account has stated that, “heavy rock and metal are bigger than ever in live music,” and shared key statistics that backs up that assertion.
Apparently heavy rock shows are up 14% this year, whilst metal now accounts for 13% of the total number of stadium and arena shows.
Live Nation cite names such as Bring Me The Horizon, Bad Omens, Pierce The Veil, Sleep Token, Ghost and Turnstile as new names that are 'blowing up in streams, tickets sales and fans snapping up arena tickets'.
Then there is the older generation - they mention Korn, Deftones, Linkin Park, Evanescence and Iron Maiden as 'anchoring festival line ups' as well as System Of a Down, probably a bigger live draw than they’ve ever been, who have added stadium dates, “after instant sellouts in New Jersey, Chicago and Toronto.”
Looking at the festival scene, they note that metal festivals such as Rockville, Aftershock and Inkarceration are, “bigger every year, fuelled by diverse line ups catering to even more fans.”
And lest us forget the genre has just witnessed its most unforgettable gathering of the tribes at Villa Park on July 5 when the rock and metal world said goodbye to Ozzy Osbourne.
The Live Nation post honours Ozzy, saying that he “didn’t just front Black Sabbath, he changed music forever. His legacy will live on in every riff.”
Live Nation don’t speculate on what has caused this upswing of interest in hard rock - but then they’re not sociologists.
But the streaming stats seem to back up what is happening in the live market. According to the data tracker Luminate hard rock streaming has gone up 12% in the US this year, compared to the 5% rise overall - this means it’s outpacing even growing genres such as Latin and country music.
Interestingly, a quote by Ghost frontman Tobias Forge in a Wall Street Journal article may provide a clue to the current metal boom.
The 44 year-old vocalist explained that when he started going to death metal shows in the 1990s the audience was almost exclusively young men in their 20s.
“Over the decades that have followed, that base has almost exclusively expanded,” he said. “Now you have people who are 70 years old down to seven years old, who are interested in this music, which I find really amazing.”
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