Live
Danny Wimmer Presents Names Joe Litvag President Of Live Events
Leading independent live entertainment producer and promoter Danny Wimmer Presents has announced the addition of executive Joe Litvag as its president of live events. Litvag, an industry veteran, brings over 25 years of knowledge and experience in all aspects of the live events industry. In this newly created position, Litvag will oversee the operation of DWP festivals and concerts and will lead DWP’s growth into venue management, booking, national touring, event services and more. “Getting Joe on our team is a move we have wanted to make for a long, long time. Joe’s experience and leadership will be essential to our success as DWPcontinues to invest in new opportunities,” commented Danny Hayes, DWP’s chief executive officer. {“nid”:”9400321″,”type”...
Watch Jane’s Addiction’s Rockin’ Lollapalooza 2020 Reunion Set
Stop! Jane’s Addiction’s has reunited … for a brief set, anyway. Frontman Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, bassist Chris Chaney and drummer Stephen Perkins gathered together for a quick performance on a soundstage for Lollapalooza’s Lolla2020 livestream on Saturday (Aug. 1). The band was socially distanced for a two-song set on a brightly lit stage, kicking off with mellow “I Would for You” before launching into 1990’s high-energy hit “Stop!” off of their sophomore record, Ritual de lo Habitual. {“nid”:”9352532″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Watch Perry Farrell, Max Weinberg & More Celebrate Passover in City Winery's 'Downtown Seder'”,”relati...
AEG Partners With Resorts World for New Las Vegas Theater: Exclusive
The 5,000-capacity Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas will be used for concerts, residencies, conventions and sporting events. While all the world’s stages have been dark now for more than four months as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Las Vegas is plotting a course for the future. Come summer 2021, the city will welcome The Theatre at Resorts World Las Vegas, the first new-from-the-ground-up casino-resort in more than a decade. The Theatre is a joint development between Resorts World Las Vegas and AEG Presents — exclusively programmed and operated by Concerts West, a division of AEG Presents. Scott Sibella, president of Resorts World Las Vegas, and John Meglen, president and co-CEO of Concerts West, tell Billboard in an exclusive interview that The Theatre and its programming ...
Why NYC’s Entertainment Commissioner Sees Reopening Music Venues as a Chance to Rethink a ‘Flawed’ System
“It strengthens the argument that we really need to support our local venues, and for us to represent their needs at the table,” says Anne del Castillo. This week, New York City enters phase three of reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic, meaning the return of hair and nail salons, basketball courts and more spaces in addition to outdoor dining. But for local music venues from (Le) Poisson Rouge to Brooklyn’s Elsewhere — many of which faced rising rents, gentrification and other challenges even before the pandemic began — the road to reopening remains ongoing and uncertain. Anne del Castillo knows this struggle well. The New York City native took over as commissioner of Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) in April 2019, with a foc...
Music Venues Across the Country Can Reopen, But Is It Worth It?
Concerts are slowly starting again, but they’re looking considerably different in the pandemic and many clubs are unsure whether they’re worth the risks. On May 18, TempleLive in Fort Smith, Arkansas, hosted one of the nation’s first socially-distanced concerts with country rock artist Travis McCready of the band Bishop Gunn. In order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus promoters implemented extensive safety protocols: temperature checks at the door, masks on attendees and staff, limited bathroom occupancies and disinfecting fog sprayers, among them. The venue also had to keep each “fan pod” group of fans who arrived together at least six feet apart with one-way walkways and vigilant staff. It was an unusual sight for Getty Images photographer Kevin Mazur, who flew in from...
Live’s Ed Kowalczyk Talks Band Reunion and Planning a New Album in Quarantine
Since reuniting in 2016, Live hasn’t stopped touring. They had to be stopped. And from a logistical standpoint, quarantine couldn’t have happened at a better time for the group. While Live never quite had the iconic power of tourmates like Counting Crows and Bush, the passion of their performances (and inescapable hits like “I Alone”) has helped them steal the show on numerous occasions. Those loyal to classic alternative radio are widely familiar with 1994’s Throwing Copper, the record that landed a number of singles and topped the charts in 1995, but the band’s catalog runs deeper with more mature songs — particularly on 1997’s abrasive Secret Samadhi and 1999’s more melodic The Distance to Here. In 2018, they didn’t overthink things and surprised everyone with the Local 717 EP...
Little Richard Was a Quiet Civil Rights Pioneer Whose Concerts Helped Push Culture Past Segregation
“With Richard, although they still had the audiences segregated in the building, they were there together. And most times, before the end of the night, they would all be mixed together,” — producer H.B. Barnum in biography ‘The Life and Times of Little Richard.’ The early history of rock ‘n’ roll is a story of segregation — and Little Richard, who died of bone cancer at 87 on May 9, was a key player in the fight to destroy it. Because of Jim Crow laws, and racism in general, African-American musicians from Louis Armstrong to Charlie Parker to Motown revues traveling through the South spent much of the 20th century relegated to black hotels and black restaurants, denied entrance even to hotels where they were headlining. Ballrooms and auditoriums dr...
