Touring
US Music Venues Will Light Up Red on Sept. 1 to Demand Passage of The Restart Act
Music venues across the U.S. will bathe their facilities in red light on Tuesday evening to encourage Congress to pass the Restart Act, which would provide much-needed assistance for millions of Americans who have lost income due to the pandemic. Spearheaded by the #WeMakeEvents coalition, the #RedAlertRESTART campaign seeks to bring awareness to the dire situation live music faces if Capitol Hill does not supply support for venues that have been shuttered since mid-March in order to slow the spread of COVID-19. From 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. PST on Tuesday night, music venues nationwide will be lit red to highlight that the live events industry is on red alert for its survival. The campaign is also coming out in support of ExtendPUA.org, which is lobbying for the continuation ...
ICM Models, Bella Hadid, Hailey Bieber & More to Return Fraction of $1.7M Fyre Fest Promo Fees
A dozen of the agency’s models appeared in a video promoting the disastrous event that defrauded attendees and investors. ICM Models and its clients Bella Hadid, Hailey Bieber, Alessandra Ambrosio, Chanel Iman, Elsa Hosk, Shanina Shaik, Nadine Leopold, Hannah Ferguson, Alyssah Ali, Rose Bertram, Daniela Lopez and Gizele Oliveira have reached a settlement over a combined $1.7 million fee they received for promoting the disastrous Fyre Festival in 2017. In total, they will have to repay $150,000 to a settlement account set up for the festival victims. Baldwin, Bieber, Iman and the other IMG models appeared in bathing suits in a promotional video that announced the festival, promising two “transformative” weekends that “would exceed all expectations.” While the models, along with social...
Australia’s Falls Festival Will ‘Raincheck’ Due to COVID-19
The 2020/2021 edition of Australia’s Falls Festival has been shelved due to the pandemic. Falls Festival, one of Australia’s biggest annual touring fests, was meant to go ahead with multiple dates on either side of New Year’s, featuring an all-Australian lineup. Those plans, however, proved too optimistic. “Falls Festival will no longer be taking place this year,” reads a statement from Falls Festival producers Jess Ducrou and Paul Piticco. “In May, as the nation seemed to be moving into recovery mode, we were optimistic about forging ahead and supporting our local industry with an all Aussie edition of Falls Festival,” the message continues. “We were especially excited to reunite many live music fans, get industry crew back on the job, and contribute to the economies of the co...
Nashville Venues Encourage Fans to #MaskNowPartyLater to Speed Concerts’ Return
Promoters in the city have launched a new social media awareness campaign, asking the touring industry to step up and spread the word. Venues and event creators in Nashville have banded together to encourage Americans to wear a mask and take safety precautions to help slow the spread of COVID-19 through a new campaign. The #MaskNowPartyLater campaign officially launched Wednesday (Aug. 19) with the incentive of bringing awareness to the live music sector and how slowing the spread of the virus now will bring live music back sooner. The collective of event creators, vendors, sports teams, venues, athletes and artists in Nashville began educating the public on what it’s going to take to get live events back sooner with the hashtag and are now calling upon the entire sector to step up and sha...
Ozuna, J Balvin and Anuel AA Sell Out Baja Beach Fest 2021 in Rosarito, Mexico
The three-day event is the first Latin festival to sell out during the pandemic. A Latin and Reggaeton festival in South Baja is giving hope to festival promoters following a strong sell out. Earlier today, organizers of the Baja Beach Fest announced that they had sold all available tickets for the festival — slated to run Aug. 13-15, 2021 — in its first year as an expanded three-day event. In total, 35,000 three-day passes starting at $329 were sold in about four weeks thanks to a strong lineup headlined by Ozuna, Anuel AA and J Balvin. That makes it one of the first sellouts of a 2021 festival during the pandemic. Launched in 2018 by Aaron Ampudia and Chris Den Uijl and held at Papas and Beer in Rosarito, Mexico — a small beach to...
As Britain Starts Socially-Distanced Gigs, Many Venues Face Closure Amid Pandemic
When Keiron Marshall was 15, he found his way out of a desperate situation with help from an unexpected source: Eric Clapton. The guitar great was host at the first gig Marshall ever went to, and he was joined on stage by Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, The Who’s Pete Townshend and Beatle Ringo Starr. Since then, London’s music scene has been a liferaft for Marshall, a musician who now runs a group of small concert venues with his wife. Growing up in south London, he’d endured racial slurs and regular beatings because of his Pakistani heritage. His uncle was killed in a racially motivated attack; his mother was a heroin addict. But the music scene they know and love may soon be unrecognizable because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has plunged the U.K. economy into its worst recession on ...
Four Takeaways From MSG Entertainment’s Near-Zero Revenue Debut Quarter as a Standalone Company
Crippled by venue closures, concert promoter MSG Entertainment’s fiscal fourth quarter revenue fell 96% to $9 million from $215.2 million for the same period a year earlier, according to financial results released Friday (Aug. 14). These aren’t the sort of numbers investors might have hoped for in the first full earnings report since MSGE spun off from the Madison Square Garden Company on April 20, but amid a pandemic that has shut down concerts since March perhaps there is some solace that this decline in revenue was still slightly better than the 98% drop Live Nation announced Aug. 5. Shares of MSGE dipped 4.7% to $67.99 at the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. In all, MSGE’s revenue for the full fiscal year, from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020, fell 27% to $762.9 million from $1 billio...
Yucaipa Companies Forms Joint Venture With London-Based K2 Agency
Private equity firm the Yucaipa Companies have entered into a joint venture with K2 Agency, bringing renowned music agent John Jackson’s London-based booking outfit into the same company as the Yucaipa-owned Artist Group International. The partnership follows a recent announcement Yuciapa — the American firm founded in 1986 by Ronald Burkle — was partnering with Danny Wimmer Presents, North America’s largest independent festival producer. That deal came with the exchange for a minority stake in the concert promotion company. Yuicapa also operates booking agency X-Ray Touring as a joint venture with Paradigm Talent Agency and holds a minority stake in Primavera Sound and Primavera Pro. {“nid”:”8551642″,”type”:”post”,...
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”...
How Struggling Indie Venues Are Lobbying Local Governments for Support — And Getting Some
As Congress debated the next federal coronavirus aid package this week in Washington, independent music venues across the country have been waiting in anticipation for what will either be a saving grace or a devastating blow to their businesses. Now, as Capitol Hill heads into the weekend with a planned recess days away, there’s still no clarity whether proposed legislation supporting these businesses that have been shuttered since mid-March will make their way into a final package and save an estimated 90% of them from closure by the end of the year. The Save Our Stages Act, introduced by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on July 22, would establish a $10 billion grant program exclusively for live venue operators, promoters, producers and talent representatives. The Restar...
Digital Media Company LiveXLive Had an OK Quarter, But It’s Got a Long Way to Go
What three letters best explain the modest gains LiveXLive unveiled during its quarterly earnings call Thursday? The would be P-P-P as in the Paycheck Protection Program. Nearly all of the company’s $3.5 million reduction in spending for the quarter appeared to have come from the almost $2 million federal loan it received in March, coupled with $1.4 million in reductions of employee salaries and other expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. That helped LiveXLive achieve its “best quarter in the history of the company,” according to CEO and chairman Rob Ellin, who reported a 11% increase in revenue and a quarterly loss of $7.5 million, or $0.13 per share. That missed the consensus estimate of a loss of $0.12, but marked a significant improvement from a loss of $0.21 per share a year ago (tot...
Foo Fighters Cancel 2020 Van Tour Dates Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
Update (Aug. 7): The dates for the Foo Fighters’ 2020 Van Tour, which had previously been rescheduled, have been cancelled altogether. “Foo Fighters have cancelled the Van Tour 2020,” a statement read. “All shows listed below will be automatically refunded…we look forward to seeing you all as soon as it is safe for everyone to do so.” “Playing a gig with a sock full of broken bones is one thing, but playing a show when YOUR health and safety is in jeopardy is another,” Frontman Dave Grohl said a in an earlier statement when originally announcing a postponement, referencing the time he fell off a stage and broke his leg in June 2015 but still performed. “We f—-n’ love you guys. So let do this right and rain check s–t.&#...
