Peru Concerts

The South American country of Peru continues to attract some big name USA artists for live concerts. KISS just did a concert and had 30,000 people attend. They played at the National Stadium in Lima. 30,000 people!

I’ve written many times about the large Rock n Roll culture in Peru and how there is a huge portion of the population that listens to 80′s & 90′s rock music from the USA. Typically, bands from the USA have not traveled down to South America for concerts. In the 80′s, Lima wasn’t exactly the safest city in the world and per capita income didn’t allow for ticket sales to be enough to be lucrative for the band.

Well, that is changing in Peru. In just the first part of this year alone, average income in Peru has increased 8.9%. Another change is that the Peruvian government has relaxed taxes on incoming performers. So, more disposable income amongst Peruvians and more money to be made by the band (and not paid to the Peruvian government.

This has led to some big names already this year (Peter Gabriel, Marc Anthony, Iron Maiden, KISS) and some others coming up later this year (Cypress Hill, 50-Cent, Daddy Yankee).

When I lived in Peru last year, I didn’t see much of a rap culture. The 80′s/90′s rock music fans were prevalent, but rap fans were not. So, a rap concert with Cypress Hill & 50-Cent is very intriguing to me. It just goes to show that times are rapidly changing and opportunities abound for USA bands to perform overseas.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com