Totally Stockholm 1
Andreas Sand Samuel Laulajainen, Foto: Karin Bern
hardsson attracted us to establish the collaboration. It was a very natural step and it has worked out very well. Now when the opportunity arose to reopen Kägelbanan as well, things became even better. It’s a classic venue with a history going back to 1879 which feels incredible. You almost have to pinch yourself when thinking about the acts that have been on stage here. Coldplay played here for 300 people on November 28, 2000. The Killers have played here. Ice Cube did a much-talked about gig here in 2008. What does it mean from an economic standpoint? Andreas: To us it’s first and foremost a positive that we can make a contribution to Stockholm’s cultural life, but other than that it can obviously make economic sense with a venue of this size. It’s the type of venue we have tremendous need for in Stockholm. Every gig here might be a bit smaller, but on the other hand we can have a great number of gigs. Kägelbanan originally shut because of complaints from the neighbours. How are you going to work to mitigate something similar this time? Samuel: It’s important to remember that the majority of the complaints were aimed at the night club [in Kägelbanan]. That’s a part of being open until 03:00, or even 05:00 in the morning. The actual music wasn’t the main problem, but rather doors opening and closing and people standing outside smoking. We won’t be working with any club nights down here at Kägelbanan now, the main activities will be concerts and events. Kägelbanan originally opened in 1887 and is, with a capacity of 750 people, the largest of Södra Teaten’s six stages. Ahead of the reopening the venue will get a whole new sound system plus some smaller renovation tweaks. Samuel: Compared to the main stage at Södra Teatern, where the capacity is 400 people, this is a substantial increase. Now we can really compete with places like Debaser Strand and Slaktkyrkan again. Over the last while we’ve seen more and more news about live music venues closing in the capital. Swedish radio station P3 reviewed the state of the Stockholm live scene in October, and concluded that one out of every three venues in Stockholm city centre had closed over the last decade. But there is hope. Stockholm Live have announced that the historic venue Kägelbanan, which originally closed three years ago, will once again reopen as a part of Södra Teatern. Apart from Södra Teatern, Stockholm Live also have the keys to venues like the Avicii Arena, Tele2 Arena, Friends Arena, Annexet and Hovet. I meet up with their CEO Andreas Sand and Södra Teatern head honcho Samuel Laulajainen at Kägelbanan. What role does Kägelbanan play among your other venues? Andreas: Södra Teatern was an important piece of the puzzle among our venues. Before, our smallest venue was Annexet, with a capacity of 3,500 people, all standing. So it was the size, as well as the city-centre location, that When do you think Kägelbanan can open its doors again? Samuel: We signed the contract on Friday so in theory we could open tonight. But we’re waiting for our alcohol license and realistically it will probably be February before we’re up and running. Has it been empty for these three years? Samuel: It has really been a warehouse. Södra Teatern has already decided to phase out the restaurant business and will now focus solely on concerts, events and their own nightclub. What made you close the restaurant? Samuel: The simple answer is that the nightclub was doing too well, and we had no way to switch gears for the next day. It was really one or the other, plus we wanted to use the terrace as a little live music stage. But it has to be said that we serve more food now than we ever did, it’s just in another format. We have a fantastic kitchen, but no a la carte restaurant. Is it more in this direction the establishment will go in the future? Samuel: We will work more with concerts, events, the night club and Mosebacketerassen. You can eat really good food in all these places, it just won’t be a white table cloth set-up. Samuel Laulajainen previously worked at Stockholm Live, and then took over the reins at Södra Teatern in the summer of 2021. How does the collaboration between yourself work? Andreas: The work with Södra Teatern differs somewhat from the work with our larger arenas, but it has to be allowed to be different. It has to live its own life. We can always come in and support with everything from help when it comes to the actual property and security to collaborations with other partners and such. How autonomous is Södra Teatern really, can you book whatever you want? Samuel: Absolutely. Why wouldn’t we? [Laughs]. Andreas: We try to find synergies of course. Like when Markus Krunegård played Annexet he had the after party here. And with Kägelbanan we also have the possibility to scale up or down events through, for example, moving a gig to or from one place or the other. Have you had the time to book anything for Kägelbanan’s 2023 season already? Samuel: We haven’t really made public that the possibility exists yet, but I’m quite certain that things will happen very quickly as soon as the news is out. How well does Södra Teatern actually do? Samuel: It’s going well. Really well actually. All our departments are doing better than ever now after the pandemic. We have found a good model, not least with the nightclubs, that do well regardless of what kind of weekend it is. Andreas: This last year has been one of the greatest ever for Södra Teatern, which is incredible since we haven’t even had a full year - we almost lost all of the first quarter. That we dare do this now is obviously partially due to that success. And how does the climate look for live gigs in general, now that we’re on the other side of the pandemic? Andreas: People have absolutely returned as concertgoers, but we can sense some changes in behaviour. For example, with ticket sales, people purchase tickets later, which has confounded the whole industry. We haven’t really recalibrated to that yet, so there are some nervous nights at times [laughs]. You also have to respect the fact that we are moving into a recession, but having said that the situation wasn’t optimal when we entered Södra Teatern in the midst of the pandemic either. 13