A periodic peek at faces and places from across the venues universe
SUMMER IN MILWAUKEE: The first weekend of Summerfest, which runs over three long weekends (June 22-24, June 29-July 1 and July 6-9) attracted a huge crowd to the 75-acre festival grounds along Lake Michigan with performances by Eric Church, Elle King, Zac Brown Band, Marcus King, The Avett Brothers, James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello and others. The independent music festival produced by the nonprofit Milwaukee World Festival, Inc., is celebrating its 55th anniversary. The remaining Summerfest lineup includes Dave Matthews Band, ODESZA, Zach Brown, Imagine Dragons, Santa Fe. Klan, Smokey Robinson and other acts across 12 stages. (Summerfest/Polk Imaging)
GLASTONBURY DEBUT: CMAT, aka Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, performs on Glastonbury‘s \\Woodsies stage. CMAT joined her musical hero, fellow Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan, on the acoustic stage. (Courtesy Shore Fire Media)
TIXR TAKER: Irene Hedges has been named chief strategy officer at Santa Monica, California-based ticketing company Tixr, where she will lead the company’s strategic growth initiatives including new business verticals, corporate development, and international expansion efforts. Hedges most recently served as senior vice president of corporate business development and strategy at Warner Bros. Her appointment comes on the heels of a number of new executive appointments and promotions at Tixr over the past several months. Matt Baca was named vice president of finance after serving in finance leadership roles at Verve, Paradigm, Windish, and Live Nation. Acacia Diaz, née Newlon, joined Tixr as vice president of marketing after serving in similar roles at Eventbrite and Ticketfly. Nate Liberman joined Tixr from Oak View Group and Kroenke Sports as vice president of sports. Sara Mertz was promoted to vice president of music partnerships – venues. Tixr clients include LIV Golf, Wynn Nightlife, Riot Fest, Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Riot Games Arena, Playa Luna Presents, Sturgis Buffalo Chip, Lightning in a Bottle and the Portland Trail Blazers’ new G League affiliate Rip City Remix. (Courtesy vendor)
KEEP LIVE ALIVE: Live Music Society announced the 17 small venue recipients of its new grant initiative, called Music in Action. The grant recipients are: Big Room Bar, Columbus, Ohio; Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, New York; Cafe CODA, Madison, Wisconsin; The Chocolate Church Arts Center, Bath, Maine; Club Passim, Cambridge, Massachusetts; DazzleJazzle Inc., Denver; Drom, New York; Elastic Arts Foundation, Chicago; The Happy Dog; Cleveland; Hey Nonny, Arlington Heights, Illinois; The Ivy Room, Albany, California; The Muse Performance Space, Lafayette, Colorado; The Parlour Providence, Providence, Rhode Island; The Rebel Lounge, Phoenix; The Stone Church; Brattleboro, Vermont; Sunset Tavern, Seattle; and Temescal Art Center, Oakland, California.
¡BESO!: Kiss performs June 25 at the Rock Imperium Festival in Cartagena, Spain. The festival is dedicated to rock and heavy metal. (Photo by Martin C/Europa Press via Getty Images)
