The FINANCIAL — “World famous DJs Benny Benassi, Maurizio Gubelini and Andra Bertoliny will come to Georgia in March and host a festival of Italian DJs,” says DJ Future, the producer of Mix Group Promotion.
“In the first half of 2010 we are going to have a festival with a mixture of new and old music. We are inviting bands that incorporate Jazz and Funk with Electro Music, the new trend for 2010 club life,” says Lasha Oqromchedlishvili, the founder of Boom Box Promotion. “Moreover, we are working on opening a new club that will have a capacity of 300 people.”
“In 2010 Night Office will probably continue arranging themed events as this practice has proven to be quite successful in 2009, more so than inviting foreign DJs,” says Tato Kharchilava, PR and Art Manager of Night Office.
“The newly-renovated Cubic opened in the middle of September so at present we are just familiarising ourselves with the market and preparing some interesting events for the future,” says Zhenka Todua, the Manager of Cubic.
“In 2010 we are planning to invite world famous DJs to come and perform. However we cannot yet give out names,” says Levan Qoqiashvili, Manager of Bambarooms.
On average 32,000 people visit clubs, according to Night Office, Bambarooms and Cubic. The age range of people is between 19 and 40. Cubic sees a larger number of women as opposed to Night Office which is visited by more boys.
There were approximately 130 events held by Boom Box Promotion, Mix Group Promotion, Cubic, Bambarooms and Night Office in the last year.
In 2009 Night Office had on average 60-70 events. This year the club is focused more on arranging themed events. “We had a ‘Madonna Night’ which was dedicated to the queen of Pop herself, Madona; the decorations, music and everything else was connected to Madonna in some way. We even had an Anti-Swine Flu party where we had live pigs,” says Kharchilava.
“In 2009 we invited DJ Milana (from Ukraine), Far Too Loud (London/ UK), DJ Mevoli (Ukraine), DJ Napht (London), and Claudia Kozasu (London),” says DJ Future.
From September Cubic has organized approximately ten events. The Georgian DJs Bakanidze, Toma, Nika Jafaridze and Baba participated in them.
“Coolio, Xzibit, Ja Rule, Jim Johns and Timati all hosted events in Bambarooms. As a rule we usually hold an event once a month. However in 2009 demand was slightly increased so we held on average 25 events,” says Qoqiashvili.
“In 2009 we had less events compared with 2008 when we invited Luca Bacchetti, Format B, Ta-Yo and Linus. This year we were more focused on holding private events,” says Oqromchedlishvili. “The number of people visiting clubs decreased slightly compared to 2008 when club life was flourishing in the country. The reasons were probably a combination of both the crisis and the prevailing Georgian mentality whereby parents do not let their daughters go to clubs consequently there are less boys also. Moreover to hold a public event you need a sponsor and recently it has become quite difficult to find a company that will finance you.”
“Only 2% of Tbilisi’s populations visit clubs on average. The clubbing market decreased by 50% and as a result demand decreased in the second half of 2008. This is not only due to the financial factor but also the fact that the club-goers are seeking something new and are bored with the present situation,” says Kharchilava.
“Following the 2008 August war the crisis had a slight effect on club life, however it was a general shortage of money that had a greater impact. There were some events held in 2009 however their quality was not high. This is simply not enough for the development of club life,” says Todua.
Clubs have said that on average the starting price for foreign DJs payment starts from 1,000 EUR, the costs of plane tickets and hotel are additional. Georgian DJs are usually paid 200 USD.
“On average a person spends approximately 70 GEL per event, including the ticket price,” says Oqromchedlishvili.
“Compared to European prices, where you need approximately 50 EURO to enter and additional money for drinks, we offer fairly reasonable prices. For most events the tickets cost 20-30 GEL,” says Todua.
“We don’t usually charge an entrance fee as that would be quite expensive for most clubbers. However we do sometimes have an entrance fee, for example when Xzibit came we charged 200 USD and for Timati – 300 USD,” says Qoqiashvili.
At Night Office it’s free for girls to enter the club before 12:00. The price for tickets at events varies from 30-40 GEL.
Drinks at clubs are of a standard price, usually starting from 5 GEL, fruit juice – 3 GEL, XL – 5 GEL, vodka – 5 GEL.
Almost all clubs are open on a Saturday.
Bambarooms is open three days a week. “At first we worked only on Friday and Saturday, however we have now added Thursday as there were never any events being held on a Thursday in Tbilisi despite demand, so as a result at present we are actively involved in promoting Thursdays,” says Qoqiashvili.
Night Office is open on Saturdays only. Cubic works 2 days a week – Friday and Saturday.
