The Montreal Canadiens may be off the ice due to the senseless NHL lockout, but owner Geoff Molson can still smile at the fact that his entertainment production arm, evenko, has just completed a solid 2012.
Here is their review:
First of all, it must be noted that in 2012 the Bell Centre was ranked third among the best arenas in the world, just behind London’s O2 Arena and the Staples Center in Los Angeles (Venues Today, November 2012). The Bell Centre was also the venue that obtained the highest number of Facebook check-ins in all of Canada for the year, leading the Rgers Centre and Canada’s Wonderland! (source:
http://www.facebookstories.
As far as production of shows and festivals, 2012 has been another record year for evenko: we presented 1003 events, nearly a third of which showcased Quebec artists! That’s almost 3 events for every day of the year.
Although evenko is often associated with the Bell Centre, it’s important to recognize that aside from the 141 events that were held there in 2012, we produced 484 events in other Montreal venues, another 310 throughout the province and 68 outside of the province of Quebec for a total of 2,220,334 tickets sold!
Another piece of great news: tomorrow, evenko and Virgin Mobile are officially inaugurating theVirgin Mobile Corona Theatre, with exclusive performances from Feist, Coeur de pirate and Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, who will be at the turntables keeping the guests dancing! Firmly committed to developing local talent, evenko has presented 21 Quebec artists (musicians and comedians) on the Corona Theatre stage since November 2011, all while contributing to the cultural life of the thriving South West borough.
Remaining in the context of diversifying its core competencies as promoter and producer of shows and festivals, evenko won the bid for exclusive manager of the future Place Bell in Laval, which will be inaugurated in the fall of 2015.
As far as production of shows and festivals, 2012 has been another record year for evenko: we presented 1003 events, nearly a third of which showcased Quebec artists! That’s almost 3 events for every day of the year.
Although evenko is often associated with the Bell Centre, it’s important to recognize that aside from the 141 events that were held there in 2012, we produced 484 events in other Montreal venues, another 310 throughout the province and 68 outside of the province of Quebec for a total of 2,220,334 tickets sold!
Another piece of great news: tomorrow, evenko and Virgin Mobile are officially inaugurating theVirgin Mobile Corona Theatre, with exclusive performances from Feist, Coeur de pirate and Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, who will be at the turntables keeping the guests dancing! Firmly committed to developing local talent, evenko has presented 21 Quebec artists (musicians and comedians) on the Corona Theatre stage since November 2011, all while contributing to the cultural life of the thriving South West borough.
Remaining in the context of diversifying its core competencies as promoter and producer of shows and festivals, evenko won the bid for exclusive manager of the future Place Bell in Laval, which will be inaugurated in the fall of 2015.
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| Peter Gabriel |
As a promoter, evenko was associated with 56 shows in Quebec City, including Bryan Adams, Pitbull, Star Académie, the Michael Jackson Immortal Tour of Cirque du Soleil, Peter Gabriel (as he launched started his North American) and the great Leonard Cohen at the Colisée Pepsi. At the Grand Théâtre, the performances of City and Colour, Queen Extravaganza and Loreenna McKennitt were presented to sold-out audiences, and Avenged Sevenfold gave an electrifying performance at the Agora.
It’s also noteworthy that evenko was associated with the Mondial Loto-Québec de Laval for the first time, to present three outdoor shows on an international scale on the enchanting site of the Centre de la nature, with Sarah McLachlan, LMFAO and Aerosmith.
OUR STARS OF THE YEAR:
* OSHEAGA Festival musique et arts: For the seventh edition of the festival at Parc Jean Drapeau – which was sold out for the first time – festival goers from here, Quebec, the United States and around the world had their eyes and ears full for three days of performances, including Justice, Snoop Dogg and The Black Keys!
* PHILIPPE BOND, who took home the “Olivier de l'année” and received a Platinum Ticket(over 100,000 tickets sold). He will make his first Bell Centre appearance on April 5th!
* COLDPLAY, who sold out the Bell Centre for 2 concerts on July 26th and 27th that were spectacular and sparkling (thanks to the thousands of glowing bracelets distributed to fans). These shows were also immortalized on their DVD Coldplay Live 2012!
* SALTIMBANCO of the Cirque du Soleil, which, after having been seen by fourteen million people around the world, has come home to complete its final lap at the Bell Centre from December 19th to 30th. This is a show you absolutely have to see – or re-see!
Other remarkable events at the Bell Centre
It’s also noteworthy that evenko was associated with the Mondial Loto-Québec de Laval for the first time, to present three outdoor shows on an international scale on the enchanting site of the Centre de la nature, with Sarah McLachlan, LMFAO and Aerosmith.
OUR STARS OF THE YEAR:
* OSHEAGA Festival musique et arts: For the seventh edition of the festival at Parc Jean Drapeau – which was sold out for the first time – festival goers from here, Quebec, the United States and around the world had their eyes and ears full for three days of performances, including Justice, Snoop Dogg and The Black Keys!
* PHILIPPE BOND, who took home the “Olivier de l'année” and received a Platinum Ticket(over 100,000 tickets sold). He will make his first Bell Centre appearance on April 5th!
* COLDPLAY, who sold out the Bell Centre for 2 concerts on July 26th and 27th that were spectacular and sparkling (thanks to the thousands of glowing bracelets distributed to fans). These shows were also immortalized on their DVD Coldplay Live 2012!
* SALTIMBANCO of the Cirque du Soleil, which, after having been seen by fourteen million people around the world, has come home to complete its final lap at the Bell Centre from December 19th to 30th. This is a show you absolutely have to see – or re-see!
Other remarkable events at the Bell Centre
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| Jennifer Lopez |
It’s hard to choose in such a prosperous year, but it’s impossible to forget Simple Plan, Bryan Adams, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead, Roger Waters – The Wall, Star Académie with 8 shows at the Bell Centre and 24 performances throughout Quebec, Enrique Iglesias and Jennifer Lopez who kicked off their North American tour in Montreal, the super-productionDragons which was presented for the first time in Montreal and in French, Madonna, Jason Mraz, Peter Gabriel, Rush, the divine Barbara Streisand, the legendary Leonard Cohen, who successfully created an intimate ambiance for his two concerts at the Bell Centre, and finally the sensation Justin Bieber – who, with his adoring fans in a complete frenzy – exploded the
decibel level at the Bell Centre!
Musical performances
This year brought the return of Don Juan, composed of a new line-up revolving around Jean-François Breau and Marie-Ève Janvier, and the Broadway musicals Wicked and Mary Poppins, presented for the very first time in Montreal at the Place des Arts.
Sports
Sports
evenko presented two highly anticipated boxing matches: Jean Pascal vs. Tavoris Cloud andLucian Bute vs. Dennis Grachev; the first Rendez-vous des Maîtres, which brought together the legendary tennis stars Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors on the court of the Bell Centre; a second pre-season NBA game, with the New York Knicks facing off against the Toronto Raptors in front of a sold-out crowd; and the unforgettable UFC 154, where Georges St-Pierre won back his welterweight world champion title after a battle of the titans against Carlos Condit.Overview of performances in other Montreal venues
City of Colour, Of Monsters and Men, Sum 41, The XX, Refused, Sonar Tour and The Weeknd took Metropolis by storm; Queen Extravaganza lit up the Théâtre St. Denis; Charlie Winston, Charles Bradley, A$AP Rocky, Steel Panther, Gotye, Young the Giant, MarthaWainwright, Malajube, Ariane Moffatt and Pierre Lapointe took the stage at the Théâtre Corona Virgin Mobile; Grizzly Bear, Slash, Jack White and Ed Sheeran rocked thousands of spectators at Olympia; Fun. sold out the Cabaret Mile End; and Death Cab for Cutie, David Byrne/St. Vincent and Rufus Wainwright put on great shows at the Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste.
Comedy
City of Colour, Of Monsters and Men, Sum 41, The XX, Refused, Sonar Tour and The Weeknd took Metropolis by storm; Queen Extravaganza lit up the Théâtre St. Denis; Charlie Winston, Charles Bradley, A$AP Rocky, Steel Panther, Gotye, Young the Giant, MarthaWainwright, Malajube, Ariane Moffatt and Pierre Lapointe took the stage at the Théâtre Corona Virgin Mobile; Grizzly Bear, Slash, Jack White and Ed Sheeran rocked thousands of spectators at Olympia; Fun. sold out the Cabaret Mile End; and Death Cab for Cutie, David Byrne/St. Vincent and Rufus Wainwright put on great shows at the Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste.
Comedy
Sugar Sammy received unanimous critical acclaim for both his bilingual show You’re Gonna Rire (45 shows at the Olympia in Montreal) and his entirely francophone show En français SVP(36 shows around the province of Quebec). Also in comedy, evenko launched their brand new series Comiques au Corona, hosted by François Morency, who invited the likes of Philippe Bond, Louis-José House, François Bellefeuille, Sugar Sammy, Maxim Martin and Dominic et Martin, among others, to test out their new material in front of a live audience at the Corona Theatre.
Osheaga Festival Musique et Arts – From August 3rd to 5th
Osheaga Festival Musique et Arts – From August 3rd to 5th
The Osheaga festival reached new heights in 2012! With an all-star lineup, an expanded and improved site at the heart of the magnificent Parc Jean-Drapeau, exceptional fans from around the world, and Mother Nature toying with our emotions every step of the way, it was a seventh edition that will long be remembered! 105 groups came out, 18 of which are Quebecois, in front of a crowd that totaled 120,000 spectators. The three-day festival completely sold out, a first in the history of Osheaga! More than half of the fans came from outside Quebec, the other Canadian provinces and more than 25 countries including England, France, Australia, Mexico and the United States. OSHEAGA is now more than ever a major tourist event for Montreal, with an estimated economic impact of nearly $50 million.
Heavy MTL – From August 10th to 12th
Heavy MTL – From August 10th to 12th
It was also a record year for the 4th Heavy MTL festival at Parc Jean-Drapeau. With System of a Down and Slipknot headlining, and 10 Quebecois groups performing, fans of heavy and intense music were spoiled! 44,360 fans (46% of which were tourists) came out to enjoy the festival which is constantly evolving. The economic impact of Heavy MTL on the Montreal tourism industry is an estimated $5.2 million.
In 2013, collaborating with its many partners, evenko will continue to pursue its mission of development in the world of entertainment and culture, while contributing to the tourism economy of the greater Montreal area and surrounding regions. Between 2002 and 2011, the number of performance at the Bell Centre that were part of the Top 25 largest tours in the world rose from 11 to 16; so evenko has contributed significantly to the image of Montreal as a city of major performances and festivals. More than 77,600 foreign tourists take part in evenko shows every year, spending $48.4 million in Quebec from 2010-2011.
Finally, a big thank you to all of our partners and customers, and especially you, the fans, who have made these events at the Bell Centre and all the other Quebec venues great highlights that we will remember for a long time to come.
In 2013, collaborating with its many partners, evenko will continue to pursue its mission of development in the world of entertainment and culture, while contributing to the tourism economy of the greater Montreal area and surrounding regions. Between 2002 and 2011, the number of performance at the Bell Centre that were part of the Top 25 largest tours in the world rose from 11 to 16; so evenko has contributed significantly to the image of Montreal as a city of major performances and festivals. More than 77,600 foreign tourists take part in evenko shows every year, spending $48.4 million in Quebec from 2010-2011.
Finally, a big thank you to all of our partners and customers, and especially you, the fans, who have made these events at the Bell Centre and all the other Quebec venues great highlights that we will remember for a long time to come.
