Mark Sutherland The Hives have been around for 30 years now, but they could end 2023 as Venezuela’s new favorite band. According to their British management company, ATC Management, the Swedish group will become the first major international rock band to appear in the South American territory for a decade, when they headline Caracas’ Concha Acústica de Bello Monte venue on December 7.
U.S. sanctions against the country were finally eased earlier this year. “Because of the sanctions, it became an unviable market [for international rock bands],” ATC’s Matthew Greer tells Variety. “We just happened to have the good timing to be the first ones in.
Hopefully, The Hives can be part of the journey to re-open the country and have bigger artists go down there. “Venezuela is such a huge country, but it’s been isolated from the benefits of the music industry boom in Latin America over the last 10 years.
It’s definitely overdue for Western artists to go there.” The visit will be filmed by a local production crew for a documentary and ATC’s Brian Message expects there to be some “spicy” moments on the visit to one of the few territories the Hives have never played before.
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