Sitting in an Athens hotel room on a humid summer day in early July, Will.i.am recalls the days when he and his fellow members of the Black Eyed Peas made a collective $150 per show -- and were ecstatic about it.
"We would jump up and down because we got paid, even though it meant we had to split it with each other and the band, meaning about $20 apiece," he says. “Then we got paid $2,000 for a show. And then I remember the first time we got paid a million bucks for an hour. I was like, ‘Wow!’ That was only four years ago.”
Today, Will.i.am, Fergie, Apl.de.ap and Taboo have much more to be excited about. While other marquee acts are canceling shows and suffering from poor ticket sales this summer, the Black Eyed Peas are in the midst of their most ambitious concert outing yet, the E.N.D. world tour, promoting the album of the same name. The tour is sponsored by partners Bacardi and BlackBerry, and promoted by AEG Live.
It was also important to partner with companies with which the Peas had relationships, such as AEG, or which fit their lifestyle, such as Bacardi and BlackBerry.
Bacardi Rum is the official spirit of the tour, served at parties staged in nightclubs in cities on the tour, which “are for consumers, invited guests, people we work with, and the club has a guest list too. We’ve had Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes and Slash from Guns N’ Roses come out to our parties,” Bacardi senior brand manager Billy Melnyk says.
To mark its touring partnership with the group, the company in February announced a new concoction, the Bacardi V.I. Pea, garnished with a black-eyed pea dropped in the bottom of a cocktail glass. Bacardi has served the drink at its nightclub events. In addition to promotions to consumers and parties with members of the Peas, Bacardi’s tour partnership includes support of the Peas’ charitable Peapod Foundation and such digital initiatives as videos, tweets and blogs on TheEndTour.com.
“We have all these crazy before and after parties which Bacardi is sponsoring,” says Wil.i.am. “It costs money to do meet and greets, host Web sites, download pictures, etc., so we hire people and Bacardi provides us with the funds to do so -- to provide jobs. Our goal is not to have a stale show. We want to have a party before the show and an after party and provide a whole night of fun. That’s what Bacardi helps us do, create this experience for our fans.”
The partnership with BlackBerry also reflects Will.i.am’s daily use of the device. In fact, he incorporates the BlackBerry Messenger feature into the show.
“I have people at the show BBM me, the BBMs show up on a big screen, and I read the BBMs and freestyle what’s up there,” Will.i.am says. “BlackBerry is perfect because it allows us to connect. Our music connects us to people, plus it’s a tool I use every day.”
What AEG sought to do “was offer them a big playground,” says John Meglen, president, co-CEO of Concerts West/AEG Live. “We wanted to show the ability we had on a worldwide basis, so we signed up for 100 shows and are hoping it keeps growing,” he says.
AEG Live CEO Randy Phillips notes other assets the promoter offered the group. AEG was involved in the upcoming Black Eyed Peas 3-D concert movie, directed by James Cameron of Avatar fame, set for release early next year. “We produced, shot and will put it in theaters with our sister company Regal and National CineMedia,” Phillips says.
The international tour helped further drive shipments of the album, which have reached 4 million outside the United States with a strong performance in key markets including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia and Italy, according to Tom Land, international marketing director at Universal Music Group International.
In a tough live climate, the Peas continue doing sellout business, and it’s mainly due to their attention to their fans, Interscope Geffen A&M vice chairman Steve Berman says. “There’s always such a vision inside the camp to do spectacular things and to give their fans an incredible artistic experience,” he says.
When it came to creating a concept for the tour, “Fergie was the one pushing everyone,” says William Derella, one-half of the Peas’ management team and producer of the concert outing. “When her solo [album] came out [2006’s “The Dutchess”] and it was her time to tour, she was worn out. She had been touring with the Peas for four years, and so instead she took a break -- got married, made a movie and worked with the Peas. But when it came down to this tour, she said, ‘I want to step this up. We should do a big production.”
According to Derella and partner David Sonenberg, a couple of important elements needed to be in place in order to avoid getting caught in the summer touring slump and to take the Peas’ live show to new heights. First, a set list was created that included a large portion of the new album.
“Usually you only incorporate four or five songs of the new album, but this album was so special we felt it had the ability to carry most of the tour even if the songs weren’t singles,” Derella says, adding that 10 of the 13 songs on “The E.N.D.” are performed during the shows.
Through the end of June, the E.N.D. tour has grossed $47.7 million and drawn 740,000 fans to 54 shows, including 53 sellouts, according to Billboard Boxscore. The North American summer shows will further boost those numbers, assuring that the E.N.D. run will rank as one of the most successful tours of this year. -- with Thom Duffy and Andre Paine
FYI: Ludacris was also apart of this tour but could not participate in afterparties, etc due to his relationship with Conjure Cognac and other brands.
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