With the North American public eager for live entertainment in this pandemic-stricken year, artists, promoters and other concert industry professionals have had to look outside the box to create opportunities for live...
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MORE THAN FAIR: Sarah McLachlan (left) performs with the band Luscious Jackson during a Lilith Fair show in 1999. (Getty Images) Among the trails blazed by women in entertainment throughout the years, the late-90s all-female touring festival Lilith Fair stands out as a shining moment in live performance. It was the first time that only women or bands fronted by them made up a tour, in an era when conventional wisdom said putting more than one woman on the bill would kill ticket sales. Frustrated by the lack of opportunities for women on package tours and concert lineups, Canadian pop star Sarah McLachlan conceived the idea of a new touring endeavor featuring artists from various genres, multigenerational and fully female, crisscrossing North America with hopes of enough fan support to keep the bills paid. And, as it turned out, the fans came through. The payoffs were substantial, to say the… Continue Reading Lilith Fair Reset the Bar for Tours
Continue Reading Lilith Fair Reset the Bar for Tours
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BACK FOR MORE: MTV’s Video Music Awards stopped at Barclays Center in 2013. (Getty Images) MTV awards show, even without an audience, will be a milestone for NYC Echoing the spirit of the astronaut clutching the MTV flag on the iconic “moon person” trophies, the announcement that MTV’s Video Music Awards would return to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center felt like a giant leap for the city’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a promising moment for the live industry. “We’re elated to bring the 2020 VMAs back to NYC, the cultural mecca of the world where music and entertainment are woven into the DNA,” Bruce Gillmer, president of music, music talent, programming and events for ViacomCBS Media Networks, said in a statement. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the news in the middle of his June 29 press briefing with a one-line acknowledgment, saying, “A few additional announcements: the… Continue Reading Barclays Center Welcomes Return of Video Music Awards
Continue Reading Barclays Center Welcomes Return of Video Music Awards
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MAGIC KINGDOM: The Portland Timbers and Houston Dynamo played July 18 during the MLS Is Back Tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. (Getty Images) When the NBA and MLS needed to finish their seasons during the pandemic, they headed to Disney World With Major League Soccer already playing games and the NBA poised as of press time to restart its season in the bubble of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, some believe that if anyone can pull off a relatively safe return to action for the two leagues amid the coronavirus pandemic, The Walt Disney Co. can. Dubbed MLS Is Back, the league’s tournament format began on July 8 and will continue, albeit without fans, through Aug. 11. An eight-team knockout stage was scheduled to begin on July 25. All but two of the 26 MLS teams were participating as of late July, with… Continue Reading Welcome to the Bubble
Continue Reading Welcome to the Bubble
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Dustin Moore, head of strategy for Embarc, a cannabis events and retail company, said he expects the business will become increasingly legitimate at sporting and music events in the next five to 10 years.
Continue Reading First Dance With Mary Jane
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GRIN CITIES: Theaters in hot comedy markets, like the State Theatre in Minneapolis, are popular homes for comedy tapings. (Getty Images) How venues define comedy specials For comics, killer material matters – but so do the stages they present it on, especially when their sets are recorded for posterity. Selecting the proper venue for taping specials is “an intimate process, because this is the artist’s body of work, and they want it presented in the best possible way,” UTA head of comedy Nick Nuciforo told VenuesNow. “The specials can be meaningful in moving the needle on an artist’s career.” Live comedy – and its filmed documentation – has grown substantially in recent years, freed from the confines of broadcast television by the streaming platforms where hour-long comedy specials have become commonplace. In 2020 alone, Netflix has released more than 20 such features, ranging from heavyweights like Jerry Seinfeld to left-of-center… Continue Reading Comedy: Just for Laughs
Continue Reading Comedy: Just for Laughs
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Between his Rebel Lounge and other venues in the region booked through his company, local promoter and venue operator Stephen Chilton and his team booked more than 600 shows last year. This year looks like it will end with 75. “I’m not very optimistic we’ll do any more this year,” he said.
Continue Reading Southwest: Feeling the Heat
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TALL ORDER: Large loudspeaker systems are mounted on two 100-foot poles in center field at Dodger Stadium. (Getty Images) Team turns to Pro Media, Idibri, L-Acoustics as part of renovation project When the Los Angeles Dodgers set to work on $100 million in renovations to their storied ballpark for the 2020 MLB season, team brass took the opportunity to bring cutting-edge audio technology to Chavez Ravine. “We needed to fundamentally change the location and configuration of the sound system” for the renovations, said Derek O’Hara, Dodgers director of planning and development. “Our chief marketing officer, Lon Rosen, was adamant that this was an opportunity to get the best possible sound system we could.” Rosen issued marching orders that included consulting sound industry professionals and people at other venues in the area, O’Hara said. “I spent the better part of three months getting stories and advice from acousticians, integrators and speaker… Continue Reading A Sound Investment at Dodger Stadium
Continue Reading A Sound Investment at Dodger Stadium
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HAWKS VOTE YES: State Farm Arena showed off its voting setup at a media preview July 17. (Courtesy Fulton County) NBA venues and teams stepping up to take on Election Day responsibilities While arenas and, in some cities, polling stations are shut down as the 2020 primary and general elections ramp up, several venues and local governments have worked together to open up voting centers in at least five cities. State Farm Arena in Atlanta, the Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center in Detroit and Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, plus Charlotte’s Spectrum Center, Bank of America Stadium and Bojangles’ Coliseum, have confirmed they will open facilities for voting assistance while Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee is working out a plan with the help of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and his More Than a Vote advocacy group. In Atlanta, where would-be voters were reported to have stood in lines for… Continue Reading A New Arena Filler: Representative Democracy
Continue Reading A New Arena Filler: Representative Democracy
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LIGHTNING THE MOOD: Bill Powell (second from right) with wife Sherry, with Eric Hart of the Tampa Sports Authority and wife Beth. ‘A Wonderful Career’: Longtime Feld executive played a key part in international expansion Bill Powell bleeds grease paint. The former Feld Entertainment executive spent 45 years working in the family show sector. It took a global pandemic for the final curtain to drop on his illustrious career producing circuses, ice shows and action sports events. It’s capped by a prestigious milestone. The International Association of Venues Managers recognized Powell with the 2020 Joseph J. Anzivino Distinguished Allied Award. It’s given to members of the service industries tied to sports, entertainment, conventions and exhibitions. Powell, 68, was Feld’s vice president of entertainment and sales before being laid off in March as COVID-19 began to grip North America. He was among more than 3,000 Feld employees, about 95 percent of… Continue Reading IAVM Award Winner: Bill Powell
Continue Reading IAVM Award Winner: Bill Powell
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Sporty Jeralds: “I want to encourage other people who don’t look like me to just give people...
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“I’M HONORED”: Rick Haycock, shown at the Ottawa Civic Centre in 2009, is the recipient of the 2020 Charles A. McElreavy Award for extraordinary contributions to the industry. He’s no wallflower: Honoree came out of his shell at Landsdowne Park and in IAVM Rick Haycock spent 36 years working at Lansdowne Park, and the event that sticks out most in his mind had nothing to do with sports and entertainment. It was a memorial service for a fallen Ottawa, Ontario, police officer. On Dec. 29, 2009, Eric Czapnik was killed by a suspended member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He left behind a family and four children. The incident greatly affected the community, and his service was moved to the Ottawa Civic Centre, now TD Place Arena. The 10,000-capacity venue was full of mourners, including close to 3,000 police from across Canada and parts of the U.S. The arena is… Continue Reading IAVM Award Winner: Rick Haycock
Continue Reading IAVM Award Winner: Rick Haycock
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