Black Sea Arena

Black Sea Arena is an indoor arena located on the coast of the Black Sea in Shekvetili, Guria, Georgia, some 45 km north of Batumi, the country's second largest city. The venue, designed by the architects from the German company Drei Architekten, is the largest open concert hall in the Caucasus. The auditorium has a capacity of 9,000 seats in circular grandstands.^[1]

Black Sea Arena

ბლექ სი არენა
Location	Shekvetili, Guria, Georgia
Coordinates	41°56′18.376″N 41°46′29.166″E
Capacity	10,000
Construction
Broke ground	2008
Opened	31 July 2016 (2016-07-31)
Construction cost	₾200 million GEL ($93 million USD)
Architect	Drei Architekten
Website
www.bsa.ge

The American singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera performed at the official opening of the Black Sea Arena on July 30, 2016. Since then it has hosted various events, including the concerts of rock bands Aerosmith and Scorpions, Elton John, The Black Eyed Peas, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Jessie J, Vanessa Mae, CeeLo Green, Ennio Morricone, The Killers, OneRepublic. Numerous concerts featuring Georgian stars were also held at Black Sea Arena.

Concerts

Concerts at Black Sea Arena
Date	Artist	Stage	Tour	Ref.
2016
July 31	Christina Aguilera	Main	—	[2]
August 6	Vanessa-Mae
August 20	Scorpions	50th Anniversary World Tour	[3]
2017
May 20	Aerosmith	Main	Aero-Vederci Baby! Tour Part of the Check in Georgia project	[4]
July 23	Katie Melua		Part of the Check in Georgia project
August 10	Eric Benét & CeeLo Green
August 18	Gipsy Kings
August 21	Nino Katamadze & Insight
August 26	Goran Bregović		—	[5]
2018
May 19	Ennio Morricone with Orchestra Roma Sinfonietta	Main	60 Years of Music Tour	[6]
June 30[lower-alpha 1]	Elton John		Wonderful Crazy Night Tour	[5][8]
July 1[lower-alpha 1]
July 19	Robert Plant & Sensational Space Shifters		Black Sea Jazz Festival	[9]
2019
June 16	The Black Eyed Peas	Main	Masters of the Sun Tour	[10]
August 6	Jessie J		The Lasty Tour	[11]
August 13	Thirty Seconds to Mars		Monolith Tour	[12]
2022
August 15	L'Impératrice	Front	—	[13]
2023
August 5[lower-alpha 2]	Nile Rodgers & Chic	Front	Part of Starring Georgia project	[15]
August 6	FKJ
August 15	The Killers	Main

Cancelled Concerts

Cancelled concerts at Black Sea Arena
Date	Artist	Tour	Reason for cancellation	Ref.
May 28, 2022[lower-alpha 3]	OneRepublic	The European Tour	Cancelled due to Russian invasion of Ukraine	[16][17]

Controversies

In June 2024, English group Massive Attack canceled a concert at the Black Sea Arena, originally scheduled for 28 July, in response to the Georgian government's repression of the nationwide civil protests against law proposals that could have restricted freedom of press and LGBT rights in the country. The venue's management initially attributed the cancellation to "unforeseen circumstances"; however, the band later explained their decision in a statement, writing quote, "At this moment, performing at the state-owned Black Sea Arena could be seen as an endorsement of their violent crackdown against peaceful protests and civil society".^[18][19]

Notes

1. The concert of 30 June and 1 July, 2018 were originally scheduled for 16 and 17 September 2016, but were postponed due to Davey Johnstone's illness.^[7]
2. The concert of August 5, 2023 was previously scheduled for July 18, 2020, but was postponed due to the situation caused by COVID-19 pandemic.^[14]
3. The concert of May 28, 2022 was previously scheduled for October 10, 2020, but was postponed due to the situation caused by COVID-19 pandemic.^[14]

References

1. "Black Sea Arena".
2. "Christina Aguilera performs hits at Black Sea Arena Pop star invites Georgian ensemble on stage". Agenda. August 1, 2016.
3. "Black Sea Arena: German band Scorpions rock Georgia". Agenda. August 22, 2016.
4. "AEROSMITH TO HOLD CONCERT IN BATUMI ON MAY 20". Tabula. November 14, 2016.
5. "Elton John coming to Georgia's Black Sea Arena". Agenda. May 30, 2017.
6. "Ennio Morricone Announces Concert at the Black Sea Arena". Caucasus Business Week. April 10, 2018.
7. "Elton John's concerts in Georgia postponed". Georgian Journal. September 8, 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
8. "Elton's First Concert in Shekvetili, Georgia Announced". Elton John. June 19, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2017.^{[permanent dead link]}
9. "Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant to perform in Georgia on July 19, this summer". Georgian Journal. March 26, 2018.
10. "Pop's Black Eyed Peas to Play at Black Sea Arena in June". Georgia Today. April 30, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
11. "Concert of Jessie J to be held at Black Sea Arena". Georgian Public Broadcasting. May 7, 2019. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
12. "30 Seconds to Mars to perform in Georgia". Georgian Journal. May 14, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
13. "Caucasus Business Week". Black Sea Arena Yard to host L'Impératrice Concert on August 15. April 22, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2022.
14. "Events of Black Sea Arena to Postpone Until the Summer of 2021". Caucasus Business Week. June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
15. "Black Sea Arena launches wide-scale campaign in Georgia branded as Starring Georgia". Georgia Today. April 21, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
16. "Black Sea Arena to Host OneRepublic". Georgian Journal. February 7, 2022. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
17. "OneRepublic Concert in Georgia Canceled Amid Russia-Ukraine War". Caucasus Business Week. March 31, 2022. Retrieved March 31, 2022.
18. "Massive Attack Cancels Show in Georgia in Protest of Government's Attack on Human Rights". Civil Georgia. 12 June 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
19. Boffey, Daniel (12 June 2024). "Massive Attack pull out of gig in Georgia in solidarity with protesters". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 June 2024.

External links

Media related to Black Sea Arena at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website