Communion Presents

Ben Lovett‘s venue management firm tvg is opening its first venue in Los Angeles, unveiling plans today for the Pacific Electric, a 750-capacity open room in the city’s Chinatown neighborhood.
Located next to popular restaurant Majordomo, the venue is set in an old warehouse that was previously owned by Wasserman Music executive and booking agent Tom Windish. Its name is a nod to the trolley system that once crisscrossed downtown LA and beyond.

“For the last 10 years, I’ve kind of been obsessed with venues and the role that venues have in artists stories,” Lovett tells Billboard. “Everything from the air that you’re breathing, to the floor that you’re standing on that really matters. It’s not just a happenstance — it makes the show and for a lot of people the room can be so good that it can bring out transcendental performances.”

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Lovett said he has been working on the project for several years and adds that Pacific Electric will be managed by venue veteran Stacey Levine, who has managed the Wiltern, the Hollywood Palladium and most recently managed the Theater at the Ace Hotel. Lovett said his goal with Pacific Electric is to great a neighborhood room that combines hospitality with intimate sightlights and state-of-the-art audio and dynamic lighting. The venue will have its own bar and cocktail program, along with culinary offerings from a variety of vendors and chefs.

Pacific Electric

Courtesy of Pacific Electric

Lovett tells us that his company partnered with Live Nation on the project, which “was very much intentional on my behalf, given that it’s in LA and I’ve done a bunch of great work with them over the years.”

Pacific Electric will encourage “artists to choose which promoters they want to work with,” noting the club will be operated as an agnostic, open room.

“Artists should be able to elect who they work with every step of the way, and that keeps everyone honest and doing the best work,” Lovett says.

Lovett, a multi-platinum Grammy-winning recording artist with the group Mumford and Sons, has been in the concert promotion business for a number of years through his firm Communion and operated a number of venues the tvg including Omeara and the Social in London, and the award winning Orion Amphitheater in Huntsville, Alabama.

Lovett said his hope for Pacific Electric is to focus on community engagement and cultural events while cultivating ascendent local talent and ready to grow from 500 cap venues.

“I want it to have some grit under the fingernails. I want patrons to feel our honesty and passion and sweat and hard work. It will not feel like a glossy box by any stretch. It will be matte,” Lovett jokes. “I hope that the moment that the first lyric lands, fans will understand what we are working toward and embrace this spiritual experience in kind of an industrial way.”

Pacific Electric

Courtesy of Pacific Electric