State Champ Radio venues
When Co-op Live, the latest arena from developer Oak View Group (OVG), opens in Manchester, England, in April, it will look a bit different from most similarly sized British venues.
Inside, it will serve up an eminently modern offering: the United Kingdom’s largest arena concert capacity, an acoustically efficient infrastructure and a star-studded concert lineup including Stevie Nicks, Olivia Rodrigo and Nicki Minaj. But outside, the venue’s innovations will be most visible. Situated on the Manchester Ship Canal, Co-op Live is surrounded by a “biodiversity ring” — over 29,000 square feet of lush greenery offering a natural habitat for local wildlife and a surrounding green wall to attract bees. A mile-long pedestrian path partially along the water will encourage more environmentally friendly travel to and from the 23,500-capacity venue.
Since OVG broke ground on Co-op Live in 2021, chairman/CEO Tim Leiweke has frequently walked that route to the arena, which was built by local suppliers to reduce the transportation of materials, is entirely powered by electricity to eliminate the use of gas on site and even collects rain to water its plants and flush its toilets. “Co-op Live is going to be the most sustainable arena in the U.K. and one of the most in the world,” he tells Billboard. “It is our intent, our ambition and our commitment to be carbon neutral, but it takes a year to be certified” with an “excellent” rating from the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method, run by U.K. accreditation service BRE Global.
Trending on Billboard
A veteran of the live sector — and of innovation in arena construction, specifically — who once served as president of AEG, Leiweke is known for his enthusiasm for ambitious new projects like Co-op Live and Green Operations & Advanced Leadership (GOAL), a sustainability program developed by founding members OVG; State Farm Arena and its NBA sports tenant the Atlanta Hawks; Fenway Sports Group; and green building expert Jason F. McLennan for arenas, stadiums, convention centers and other venues. “I love GOAL. It’s the most important thing we’ve done toward sustainability,” Leiweke says. “It’s hugely important that we get other people in the industry committed to GOAL. That’s one of [OVG’s] highest priorities.”
Building Co-op Live is only the latest milestone in OVG’s commitment to creating more sustainable concert spaces that began with its billion-dollar, four-year renovation of Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena (formerly Key Arena), which reopened in late 2021. Now OVG is working to bring sustainability to each of the more than 400 buildings it owns, operates or partners with.
“As an industry, we are a lightning rod of attention,” Leiweke says. “Can we use that platform that has such a big profile to be an example of tackling this issue and doing the right thing?”
A rendering of U.K. venue Co-op Live, where a pedestrian path encourages foot travel to the arena.
Courtesy of Oak View Group
During Climate Pledge Arena’s renovation, OVG floated its iconic roof in the air for conservation — Seattle designated Key Arena’s exterior a municipal landmark in 2017 — and overhauled the 60-year-old building to consume zero fossil fuel, use solar panels for 100% renewable energy power and employ a “Rain to Rink” system harvesting water off the roof to help create the ice for NHL tenant the Seattle Kraken. Naming-rights partner Amazon chose the new arena’s moniker, basing it on its Climate Pledge with environmental advocacy group Global Optimism. Today, it’s a zero-waste venue without single-use plastics — and was the first arena to achieve International Living Future Institute Zero Carbon Certification, meaning it’s energy-efficient, combustion-free and powered entirely by renewable sources.
After working with OVG on Climate Pledge, Amazon provided its web services software to track venue performance for sustainability measures such as energy and water use, greenhouse gas emissions and waste management. In October 2021, OVG and fellow founding members launched GOAL to provide resources to venues exploring how to operate more sustainably.
“You don’t have to be Climate Pledge Arena and chances are you won’t be, at least not at first,” says Kristen Fulmer, OVG head of sustainability and director of GOAL. “It’s important that we meet operators where they are and make incremental improvements over time.”
Take OVG’s newly built Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif., as an example. It’s surrounded by drought-resistant plants, uses electric Zambonis to maintain the ice used by AHL team the Coachella Valley Firebirds, runs on solar panels covering its parking lot and is sunk 25 feet below grade to limit exposure of its exterior facade and thus reduce its HVAC dependence. Parking lot lights are on dusk-to-dawn sensors, the venue composts, and prepaid parking reduces the time cars spend idling.
“When you open a venue that has all these elements already designed into it, [sustainability] becomes part of your daily procedure,” Acrisure senior vp John Page says. And GOAL provides a “tracking system that allows us to evaluate on an ongoing basis how we can lower our carbon footprint” and reach a target of carbon neutrality by 2025.
As with Acrisure, GOAL’s approach to sustainability often utilizes creative solutions to regional issues, a practice made easier by the data it collects from its now 50 members. (Leiweke intends to double that number by the end of 2024.) “No one does a better job than State Farm Arena on recycling,” Leiweke says. “We brought them in and said, ‘Great, write the playbook.’ And then we bring in all of the other people in our industry that we see as best in class on green and sustainability and say, ‘Great, write that playbook.’ ”
Even with its collected best practices, Leiweke says, “Amazingly, many people turn down [GOAL] because they say it will cost too much money, which is ridiculous. How much do you think it’s going to cost to replace the Earth?” It’s true that upfront costs are higher at OVG’s tricked-out-for-sustainability venues — but, Leiweke insists, GOAL’s energy tracking and operational data will prove they’re saving money in the long term. “It’s usually about how long you’re looking at the budget,” Fulmer says, “and usually it will pay for itself.”
In the meantime, there are ways to defray costs. Corporate partners, Fulmer explains, are often eager to contribute funding for environmental causes, promote their own sustainability agendas or both. GOAL helps those that want to back specific measures — say, funding a venue’s switch from plastic to compostable cups — to team up with venues in exchange for on-site branding or activations.
As artists calculate their carbon footprint for upcoming tours, GOAL venues and partners can provide numbers, as well as initiatives and proposals, to lessen a tour’s impact.
“Do I think it makes a difference that Billie Eilish is going to play my venue when she has a choice because she knows how committed we are to sustainability? 100%,” Leiweke says. “But that’s not the only reason we did it. We did it because we should all be doing this.”
This story will appear in the March 30, 2024, issue of Billboard.
Saddle up: There’s a big anniversary in Asbury Park, N.J.
The Stone Pony, birthplace of Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, is celebrating 50 years. In February 1974, New York native Jack Roig opened the Ocean Avenue club, situated across from the Asbury Park boardwalk, and local superstar Bruce Springsteen soon brought it to national fame.
The Jukes started playing regularly at the Pony in 1974 as one of the venue’s first house bands — and early incarnations included future E Street Band member Little Steven Van Zandt. Springsteen began to hang around soon after.
The 1976 record release party for the Jukes’ debut, I Don’t Want To Go Home, helped put the club on the map. Springsteen, members of the E Street Band and legendary singers Ronnie Spector and Lee Dorsey made guest appearances at the concert, which was simulcast across the region including on major Philadelphia rock station WMMR-FM. The sound of Asbury Park — a merging of rock’n’roll and horn-fueled R&B and soul — was a hit.
The venue has had several owners since its ’70s heyday with Roig and his partner, Robert “Butch” Pielka, who sold the venue in 1991 before it became a short-lived dance club called Vinyl from 1998 to 1999. A year later, Domenic Santana reopened the club with a ballyhooed press conference that included an appearance by then-New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, only to move on by 2003 and leave real estate company Asbury Partners in charge. With the future of the Stone Pony in doubt, it hired Asbury Park local Caroline O’Toole, who left a nearby club to manage the venue. O’Toole stayed on when developer Madison Marquette took ownership in 2008. The company brought Live Nation on board that year.
Trending on Billboard
For more than 30 years, the city and oceanfront had been in a downward spiral that included riots in 1970, a desolate downtown and empty beaches on hot summer days. Springsteen spoke of Asbury Park’s “boarded-up windows, the empty streets” in “My City of Ruins.” These days, the city and its famed music venue are choice destinations.
“Shows were sold out at the Stone Pony,” President Barack Obama said on the city’s boardwalk, steps away from the venue, in 2013 after Superstorm Sandy. “I think a friend of mine from here once put it pretty well: ‘Down the shore, everything’s all right.’ ”
The modest- looking venue (shown here in 2005) has helped drive the revitalization of Asbury Park.
John Cavanaugh
The Stone Pony’s 850-capacity indoor stage and 4,500-capacity outdoor Summer Stage have hosted stars from Elvis Costello to Blondie, Green Day to Demi Lovato, as well as local favorites like Springsteen over its 50-year history. The modest building, painted white stucco on the outside with a simple rectangular floor plan, will continue its storied legacy with anniversary shows throughout the year. The Jukes played there Feb. 16 and Feb. 17 (although Southside Johnny left the second show early and was briefly hospitalized for dehydration, according to a band spokesman).
On the boardwalk overlooking the venue, O’Toole — whom Roig has called the Stone Pony’s “best manager” — discusses the venue today, its role in Asbury Park and the magic of a rock’n’roll night on the Jersey Shore.
Founding owner Jack Roig is still a familiar sight at the Stone Pony.
One of the things that makes the venue so special is that we’ve never tried to erase the past. We embrace the past. And Jack, it doesn’t get any earlier than him and Butch [Pielka], and his spirit is always there.
When you’re in the club off-hours, what do the walls talk to you about?
Probably most of the things I can’t tell you. (Laughs.) But I think it speaks volumes about customers’ experiences and band experiences and history that was being made when we didn’t even know it was being made. A lot of E Street members meeting their wives there; Bruce [Springsteen], especially, meeting Patti [Scialfa] there. All of these things were happening in addition to the music being played. It’s amazing to hear those stories and know that the Stone Pony was part of that.
Why do you think people make such a strong connection with the Stone Pony?
People come there for the music and the vibe. It’s like perfect conditions for meeting somebody, and you’re meeting somebody with the same interest, same ideology that you have. That music is a source for the good things in your life.
The Stone Pony Summer Stage, adjacent to the club, has hosted scores of national acts such as Asking Alexandria in 2019.
Chris Spiegel/Blue Revision
What were the venue and the city like when you first started working here?
It was 2003, and the boardwalk was still very much a desolate area. The redevelopment company at the time, Asbury Partners, was here, but everything was still in the very early stages. What I noticed the most [as someone] coming from the Belmar community [where O’Toole lived at the time] was that Memorial Day weekend in Belmar was a big deal. I remember being here in the summer thinking, “This is nothing like Belmar,” and it’s only three towns away. I couldn’t get over that. I just couldn’t believe what Asbury was like [in the midst of its decadeslong economic decline] in the summer. It took every bit of effort on my part, on a couple of other people’s parts, to keep [the Stone Pony] there because there were so many times in that five years [it] could have gone out of business.
What shows does Live Nation book at the Stone Pony? How does that work?
They book 99% of the outside shows [on the Summer Stage, adjacent to the club]. Once in a while, I’ll throw in one, or there will be a special rental or something like that. They book a lot of our inside shows, mostly all the national acts, and it’s probably well over 100 a year inside alone. Outside, we average 35 shows.
What happened in 2008 when the current owner, developer Madison Marquette, came in?
2008 was the turning point. Gary Mottola, who’s with Madison [as president of property investments], just when the real estate market tanked, he said to the company, “Let’s go, let’s do this.” They threw $90 million at the boardwalk [after the crash], and that’s what turned Asbury Park around.
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes’ 1976 live broadcast really put the Stone Pony on the map.
No doubt about that, and it’s why he gets a lot of credit for the Pony being here. Not only is he a part of the history, but he has created moments for other people to create history. He’s a special guy; they’re a special band.
One thing that people get wrong is Springsteen did not get his start here — though he obviously helped put the Stone Pony on the map, too.
I always say Southside and Bruce made the Pony famous, not the other way around.
Springsteen’s a familiar face, too. He’ll play private benefits from time to time, he danced with Scialfa at a Quincy Mumford sound check in 2019, and he came to the memorial for longtime club fan Kerry Layton, whom many called “the Ambassador of the Stone Pony.”
Every time he’s there, it’s special. Especially when it’s just a regular moment, like him wanting to show Patti the new back bar, and that’s when the dance happened because Quincy Mumford was onstage sound-checking. Something that simple, like him wanting to show his wife how nice it looks in there, that was really cool.
A benefit show in 2003 for the Light of Day Foundation (which raises money to research cures for Parkinson’s disease and related illnesses) that featured (from left) Joe Grushecky, Bob Benjamin, Michael J. Fox and Bruce Springsteen.
John Cavanaugh
What do musicians playing the Stone Pony for the first time say to you or want to know about the venue?
It’s funny. During sound check, I’ll [sometimes] hear them doing a Bruce song that they don’t normally do. There’s nothing else they need or want to know. They’re here because of the history, and they want to be part of it. Every act that comes in here and adds to the history just keeps the legacy going.
The area has experienced two really tough times in recent years: Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and the coronavirus pandemic. The club helped build a sense of community in the aftermath of those two events.
It’s being a beacon of hope, a beacon of light in our town and on our shore. People say, “Is the Pony OK? OK! The Pony’s OK, I’m OK, we’ll get through it OK.” It mattered to a lot of people that it was still here after both terrible events.
What’s the Stone Pony’s role with the big festivals that come through?
We’re glad to be included. Stacie George, vp of Live Nation New York, was determined from the beginning to really make [the annual New Jersey LGBTQ+ Pride Celebration in Asbury Park] something. Up until then, it was maybe a show here or there, but this year we will have three or four solid days of Pride shows, and that has never happened before. Again, it’s history in the making, and I’m very proud that’s what’s happening. I’m glad the community has embraced the acts that have come here. [For] Sea.Hear.Now, we’ve had some legendary aftershows, and I’m glad that a festival like that is here. The people who run it [including Asbury Park-based music photographer Danny Clinch] are friends of ours, and they’re incredible people.
What’s the role of the Stone Pony in Asbury Park in 2024?
The future of the community has gotten so much brighter with new things coming through. The Pony is a symbol that we don’t have to let go of our past to embrace our future. The Pony is a symbol of both those things.
Chris Jordan is the music writer for the Asbury Park Press, which is part of the USA Today Network.
This story will appear in the March 9, 2024, issue of Billboard.
As alcohol consumption declines among young adults and awareness about the mental health benefits of sobriety grows, nonalcoholic cocktails could prove key to finding new food and beverage revenue for the concert business.
In 2023, CMA Fest, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Danny Wimmer Presents’ Louder Than Life and Bourbon & Beyond were among a dozen festivals to include mocktails and sober spaces at their events; Live Nation introduced the “no-jito” to its venue menus; and Oak View Group launched an elevated nonalcoholic beverage program at its Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif. And while conventional wisdom held that nonalcoholic drinks beyond soda and water would diminish alcohol sales, venues are finding that’s not the case.
“Since launching the mocktail program, our alcohol sales have remained steady, and overall beverage sales have increased by a margin that we are very pleased with,” says Daniel Griffis, president of global partnerships at Oak View Group. It has gone so well that OVG plans to start rolling out the program at other venues.
After launching in October in the premium level and expanding to the entire arena in January, Acrisure has sold more than 2,000 mocktails at $14 each — including the Blackberry Smash and the Firebirds Spritz, which use Lyre’s nonalcoholic spirits — says John Page, senior vp of Acrisure Arena, AHL team Coachella Valley Firebirds and OVG360 Facilities. “There have been a lot of positive comments that we are recognizing people that want to really experience the live event and have something different in terms of the beverage space, not soda or water,” he says. “This is one way that we can continue to show that we are aware and we have something for everyone in the venue.”
These activations were all launched in partnership with the nonprofit Stand Together and its 1 Million Strong initiative founded with sober community The Phoenix. They follow an open letter published in Billboard in January 2023 that featured 50 music industry leaders pledging support to 1 Million Strong.
“What I am excited to see, a year after, are those people actually doing it,” says Colette Weintraub, head of Stand Together Music, Sports & Entertainment.
At Live Nation, the initiative has brought a new corporate focus as well. Last May, the concert giant launched its Sober Nation program focused on fostering sober-inclusivity and destigmatizing addiction at their venues and offices. On Jan. 30 the company will host a Grammy-week brunch with 1 Million Strong and DMC of Run-DMC to raise awareness among staff and connect employees to available recovery and mental health resources.
On Jan. 30 the company will host a Grammy-week brunch with 1 Million Strong and DMC to raise awareness among staff and connect employees to available recovery and mental health resources.
For an industry that places a lot of emphasis on alcohol — from beverage sales to alcohol sponsors — Weintraub says the initiative has received a warm welcome so far. “We’re not saying ‘sober music industry,’ ” she says. “We’re saying this is an opportunity to expand and open the doors to more people and let more people participate in what’s important in life and supporting more people in achieving their full potential.”
Nonprofit organization Live Music Society is continuing its efforts to support small venues and listening rooms across the country. Today, the organization announced more than $200,000 in additional grants distributed to 31 independent venues, which brings its annual granted funds to over $800,000 so far.
The so-called Toolbox grants are designed for uses including regulatory compliance, enhanced accessibility and upgrading crucial systems such as ticketing and sales. This month’s recipients include xBk in Des Moines, Iowa, which will be installing a portable wheelchair ramp and ADA-compliant stage to better serve artists with disabilities; and The Hideout in Chicago, which will be hiring a social media consultant to improve its understanding of audience metrics and social media management systems and marketing practices. Another recipient, Moe’s Alley in Santa Cruz, Calif., will be installing a large flatscreen behind the stage to serve bands with visual elements in a space that cannot accommodate projection.
“These grants go beyond just supporting performance spaces; they foster a vibrant community where venues exchange knowledge, evolve together, and weave a richer cultural tapestry for our nation,” said Live Music Society founder Pete Muller in a release. “This expansion isn’t just about financial assistance; it’s about helping to create an ecosystem where artists and audiences flourish hand in hand.”
Additional venues assisted by this month’s grants include Alex’s Bar, Roots Music Project, Jalopy Theatre, One Longfellow Square, 20 Front Street, Beat Kitchen, Belltown Yacht Club, Cafe Colonial, Casbah, Drkmttr, Floyd Country Store, Hoosier Dome, La Peña Cultural Center, Moe’s Alley, Natalie’s Grandview, Next Stage Arts, New Deal Café, No Class, Opolis, PAUSA art house, Portland House of Music, Rambling House Music Bar, Real Art Tacoma, ShapeShifter Lab, The Egremont Barn, The Goodfoot, The Hideout, The Lost Church, The Parlor Room and The Venue.
“Small venues are the heartbeat of musical growth — they’re where artists learn, make mistakes, and connect with communities,” added Live Music Society board member and singer/activist Nona Hendryx. “Our commitment lies in supporting these venues and understanding that they’re vital launchpads for artists, where songs transform from garage or bedroom creations to stage sensations. Without them, stepping stones in the artist’s journey are missing.”
Live Music Society has continued to expand its programming since its inception in 2020 in response to mass gathering bans that impacted music venues during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier in 2023, it provided $100,000 in Toolbox grants and an additional $500,000 for its Music in Action initiative, which helps venues develop and implement creative ideas to engage their communities, expand audiences and generate new revenue sources.
The Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado has long been a must-play venue for touring artists and a top destination for music fans thanks to its natural beauty and geologically driven acoustics. Now, a recent economic impact report commissioned by Denver Arts and Venues [DAV], which owns and operates Red Rocks on behalf of the city of Denver, quantifies the financial power of the red sandstone venue first opened in 1941, estimating that the 9,525-capacity amphitheater is responsible for generating $717 million annually in the Denver metro area and the state of Colorado.
The first-ever economic impact study of Red Rocks Amphitheatre’s role in local economies, by BBC Research & Consulting (BBC), evaluated data from the 2022 Red Rocks concert season in hopes of quantifying the ripple effects of dollars spent in the region by fans, tourists and crews who bring shows to the 83-year-old venue’s iconic stage.
“Red Rocks is the most amazing concert venue in the world,” said Denver Mayor Mike Johnston in a statement. “This study proves what Denverites have known for years: Red Rocks, and Denver’s creative community, are powerful economic and cultural forces for our city.”
The report found that Red Rocks was responsible for 7,300 full- and part-time jobs last year, generating $216 million in payroll in the Denver metro area and an additional $6 million statewide. Last year, Red Rocks clocked in $186 million in ticket sales from an attendance of 1,747,465 at 217 ticketed events — an increase of nearly 300% from 75 events just a decade ago.
“From performers and stagehands to box office staff and maintenance crews, 1.5 million Red Rocks fans means a big boost for the local concert industry,” said Tad Bowman, venue manager at Red Rocks. “There will be 400 people working on-site each show, but there are literally thousands of jobs across the region supported by what happens at Red Rocks.”
The report found that 30 percent of fans, on an average night, travel to Red Rocks from from outside the Denver Metro Area, with the top visitor markets being Chicago, New York/New Jersey, Los Angeles, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Minneapolis-St. Paul and San Francisco.
Last year, Red Rocks recorded almost $40 million in gross concessions revenue and is the top on-premise location in the United States for sales of White Claw Hard. Overall, the venue sells more than 1 million malted beverages annually, including more than 400,000 seltzers.
“Every Coke or Coors sold has a long line of people who’ve gotten that beverage into a fan’s hands,” said Brian Kitts, who oversees Red Rocks’ corporate partnerships and marketing.
For its part, the city-owned venue spends $8.5 million on annual maintenance and notes that money spent at Red Rocks supports government and city arts and cultural programs, including $6 million in tax revenue to the city of Denver as well as money spent to enhance venue security and fan experience.
“The study makes it clear that regular re-investment back into the venues managed by DAV are crucial in ensuring Red Rocks is and continues to be a destination for visitors and an important piece of Colorado’s economic puzzle for years to come,” added Bowman.
More information, including the full study, can be found at RedRocksOnline.com/Impact.
A “groundbreaking” scheme that gives concertgoers the chance to own a share of their favorite grassroots music venues has acquired its first property in the United Kingdom, delivering a much-needed boost to a struggling sector that’s still yet to fully recover from the pandemic.
The 100-capacity The Snug, located in the town of Atherton, just a few miles outside Manchester, is the first grassroots venue to be purchased as part of the “Own Our Venues” initiative by U.K. charity Music Venue Trust (MVT).
The scheme was launched last May and offers music fans the chance to become investors in small U.K. grassroots venues by purchasing community shares that are then used to buy out commercial landlords, effectively transferring ownership to the trust and local patrons.
To date, more than 1,250 investors have backed the pilot project, raising around £1.5 million ($1.8 million), with Ed Sheeran among its high-profile supporters. Funding has also come from Arts Council England and Arts & Culture Finance, who both contributed an additional £500,000 ($606,000) to the member-owned Music Venue Properties fund.
Share options begin at £200 ($250), although investors under the age of 25 can buy single shares at a discounted rate of £100 ($125). In return, investors receive 3% annual interest, generated through rent returns and more efficient running of the businesses, say organizers. To prevent big companies or corporations from becoming majority owners, shares are non-transferable and cannot be sold or traded with other investors.
Venue properties bought by the Music Venue Properties fund, such as The Snug, are leased back to the current operators at a reduced below-market rate, with venue managers also receiving financial support around maintenance, insurance and repairs.
The Snug’s managing director Rachael Flaszczak said the purchase of the seven-year-old venue “serves as a light of hope that the preservation of grassroots music venues can be done when people pull together to make things happen.”
Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Dayvd tells Billboard the acquisition represents “an amazing step forward” for a grassroots live industry that’s “currently in the middle of a crisis.”
According to the trust, 127 grassroots venues have closed or stopped putting on live music concerts in the United Kingdom in the past 12 months, representing around 16% of its members and depriving new acts of vital spaces to develop their craft in front of live audiences.
In the last 20 years, more than 500 grassroots music venues have shuttered in the United Kingdom, reports the trust, with notable closures including London’s The Marquee, Astoria, 12 Bar Club and Madame Jojos. Contributing factors include rising rents and costs, long-term lack of investment and the gentrification of surrounding areas leading to noise complaints and restrictive licensing conditions.
The pandemic and accompanying shutdown of the live music industry saw the United Kingdom’s grassroots music scene acquire £90 million ($110 million) of new debt, says Dayvd. Underpinning the fragility of the sector, 93% of small-capacity music spaces in the United Kingdom are run by tenants, with most having less than 18 months left on their tenancy agreements, according to MVT’s research.
To try and stop further closures, the trust has identified a further eight venues in U.K. towns and cities that it plans to purchase under what it calls a “world first” public ownership model and is in advanced talks with the landlords of two of those properties, says Dayvd. The trust’s long-term goal is to have a nationwide network of publicly owned properties whose status as music venues is protected for the long-term future.
“Many of the most pressing challenges faced by the sector are solvable by this issue of ownership,” says Dayvd, who wants to grow the number of fund investors to boost its buying power. He’s also keen to see the “Own Our Properties” scheme roll out to other countries where grassroots venue operators are under similar financial pressures.
“We have to accept that grassroots venues, wherever they are in the world, are doing the job of research and development — giving the stage to a young artist who’s written their first song or playing for the first time in front an audience,” says Dayvd. “It’s what pushes the industry forward, and we need to protect that pipeline.”
Amid the sports memorabilia in Tim Leiweke’s office, there’s a small framed quote with the word “Motivation” at the top. Leiweke, the chairman/CEO of Oak View Group (OVG), is a 45-year veteran of the estimated global $25 billion concert industry who spent the pandemic building seven new arenas — five of which his company owns and operates — so he’s not one to hang inspirational thoughts from Wikiquotes on his wall. “Motivation” is followed by a question: “How does ASM differentiate itself from its main competitor, Oak View Group?”
The answer comes from Ron Bension, president/CEO of ASM Global, and the most salient part reads: “There are other companies that are noisier, but we’re managing more buildings, with more content from Live Nation and AEG than anywhere else in the world.”
Oak View Group and ASM are indeed competitors in managing facilities around the globe, and it’s important to know that ASM is co-owned by sports/live-entertainment company AEG, where Leiweke was CEO until his “mutually agreed upon departure” in 2013 from the company owned by billionaire Philip Anschutz. Leiweke, 66, says he wishes Anschutz “nothing but luck,” but he also says he carries a copy of Bension’s quote in his backpack and reads it before every presentation he makes. “Never piss off your competitor,” he says with a broad smile. “I thank Ron daily that he has decided it’s me that causes him success. Maybe that motivates me as much as it motivates him.”
In 2015, Leiweke partnered with multisector music magnate Irving Azoff to build a company that now manages approximately 500 facilities. OVG employs 5,000 people full-time (including Leiweke’s daughter, Francesca Bodie, who is president of business development), with another 35,000 part-time staffers.
The arenas OVG has built in the last 18 months include Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle; Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs, Calif.; CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore; and UBS Arena on New York’s Long Island. “We did it in the middle of COVID, inflation, rising interest rates, labor issues, political issues,” he says.
OVG is working on multibillion-dollar projects in Las Vegas; Manchester, England; and, in partnership with Live Nation, São Paulo, and Leiweke says it’s time for the music industry to recognize the crucial role companies like his play in fan satisfaction. “Everyone talks about the promoters, the agents and the managers,” he says. “The brick-and-mortars and the fan experience are equally important. We’re spending tens of millions on acoustics and air-handling systems that deal with things like COVID. And yet people underestimate our passion for how important that is to the live experience.”
“We did a lot of boxing in the AEG days,” Leiweke says. “I’ve got signed globes by Wladimir Klitschko, Lennox Lewis, Oscar De La Hoya. I don’t know how many gloves I have.”
Joel Barhamand
How did you get the Long Island Railroad to open a station at your UBS Arena?
Paid for it. Our landlord and our partner is the state of New York. We went through two governors and a lot of politics to get the deal done. If you look at all the other facilities in the New York area, except for [Madison Square] Garden, Citi Field was built with bonds issued by state and city authorities. The Meadowlands [in New Jersey] was paid for mostly by taxpayers’ dollars. Barclays Center [in Brooklyn] involved bonds. That’s the nature of many of these projects. We were private. Us and [New York] Islanders [co-owner] Scott Malkin put up $1 billion privately to build that arena. Of that billion, roughly $75 million was a cash contribution toward that light rail station. It’s about developing a private-public partnership that works for everybody, which enabled us to get a lot more done there than most anyone else.
The opening of that station has made going to UBS convenient and environmentally friendly. Did sustainability play a part?
We happen to be very sustainable around here. UBS is LEED-certified. Our goal is to make that a carbon-neutral venue within the next couple of years. Obviously, we had the first carbon-neutral arena ever in Seattle. You cannot be carbon-neutral if everyone is driving there for every event. So mass transportation was highly important to us, to get somebody from Penn Station or Grand Central [in Manhattan] in a 30-minute train ride. It was also highly important for the viability of that building in a very competitive marketplace for arenas. You’ve got Prudential Center [in New Jersey], Barclays, the Garden and you’ve got us. We’ve got to find a way to get people in and out without it having to be about the Long Island Expressway.
What is the strategy behind building in secondary and tertiary markets like Palm Springs, Calif.?
There are small markets and big markets, and a combination of those deals is smart. Partially because in North America, the majority of big arenas are owned or controlled by an NBA or NHL tenant. They’re greedy, and they have a strategic value within that market that we don’t have, which is, if you want me to keep this team here, you’ve got to help me build or take over this arena. We’re going to get a few of those — Seattle and New York are examples — but we also have to find either A markets that don’t have an anchor tenant, which are few and far between, or B markets. The business proposition in a B market is just as good as an A market because we can build an arena there for between $200 million and $300 million. I’m not going to get the 86 nights of music that I’m getting in Seattle, but Irving and I can live with 40 nights of music in Palm Springs. And then, we happen to have probably the most financially successful American Hockey League team there this year with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The mix of those two means we get just as good a rate of return on every dollar I invested at Acrisure as we will in Seattle. We love these B markets because there’s 20 of them out there compared with half a dozen of the A markets.
You’re seeing a lot of growth right now. When does what you do plateau?
It won’t be in my lifetime. There are 50 markets in the world today that need new arenas, but only 20 of them will make sense. I’m very driven by the rate of return that we get on our investment. Irving, the employees and I own the majority of this company. I have an investment partner in Silver Lake, and I’m very driven to get them a healthy valuation on this asset one day because they put a lot of money into it.
Memorabilia from the arenas that OVG has built and the sports teams associated with them. From left: hockey pucks from Climate Pledge Arena and the Seattle Kraken; a plaque from Baltimore’s CVG Bank Arena; a shovel from the groundbreaking for UBS Arena.
Joel Barhamand
You talk a lot about the importance of “alignment” with partners before the work starts. How has that benefited OVG beyond the seven arenas you’ve built?
In Seattle, Climate Pledge Arena was a 50-50 joint venture between us, [Seattle’s NHL team] the Kraken, and [the team’s majority co-owner] David Bonderman. David and I were aligned on that vision for the arena from day one — before he got the team.
That is a city-owned facility, and we continue to be good partners and good neighbors with Mayor Bruce Harrell, Governor Jay Inslee, and county commissioner Dowe Constantine. My brother deals with them every day on our behalf. We’re jumping into Memorial Stadium there because it’s the right thing to do for the city and the county and the school district. And so that alignment with the people I just mentioned has created a hell of an asset. Even though we privatized it, they own it. It has also created all kinds of other opportunities, including our new restaurant, event center and the bid we’re making on Memorial Stadium. And we’re just getting started.
How much of an advantage is it for you that, once you build these venues, you can then bring in Harry Styles or the Eagles because of your partnership with Irving Azoff?
At the end of the day, we’ve got no chips with anybody out there. We’re not promoters, which means we get along with everyone. Louis Messina is one of my best friends. We have known each other most of our adult lives. I have a great relationship with Michael Rapino and everybody else at Live Nation. I like Jay Marciano. I hired Jay. I should be able to get along better with Jay, but there are other relationships at play there. As great as it is to have Irving as my partner, he’s only part of the equation.
Arena builds are not your only business.
We do 16 different services. I probably have 40 people in this company that work with every promoter, including some that route Irving’s tours for him. What makes us dangerous is, we are everybody that wants us to come in and bid because we’ve spent $4 billion building arenas. We’re going to do it better because we’ve got real skin in the game. We raise the debt on each of these buildings through my daughter Francesca and her division. We do the food and beverage, parking. We have a division called GOAL where we learn how to operate buildings more sustainably each year and rate them annually. We have 150 people selling naming rights and sponsorships every day.
How important are VIP packages and services?
We sell premium — suites and club seats. Premium and hospitality are still a huge growth opportunity. We’re just closing a deal on Rhubarb Hospitality Collection, RHC. They’re a high-end catering, food and beverage company based in London, New York and Berlin. They have one of the top restaurants in New York, Peak at Hudson Yards. We’ve also brought on Christian Navarro from Wally’s Wine and Spirits [in Beverly Hills]. When people come into our VIP areas, we want to create a whole different level for them. RHC is my fourth food and beverage company.
You’ve got a massive development in Las Vegas.
The biggest bet we’ve ever made is our project in Las Vegas. You could add New York and L.A. together, and they don’t do as much live entertainment as Vegas. It’s the live-entertainment capital of the world. But let’s look at the venues. There must be 10 nice theaters on the Strip. You need good arenas, too. T-Mobile was my last deal at AEG. It’s a nice arena, but it pales in comparison to what we just built in Seattle, New York and Austin. How do you have the No. 1 live-entertainment marketplace in the world and its arena is not one of the 30 nicest arenas in the country? You’ll hear about this soon, but we have a lot of world-class partners, brands and entrepreneurs who have come together to build out a 100-acre campus that will be the destination for live entertainment, culture, the arts and hospitality.
What does your overseas strategy look like?
The majority of projects we’re working on are overseas, like São Paulo with Live Nation. Thirty million people live in São Paulo. It’s a great music market. Latin music and K-pop are the biggest industry influencers now. We are also highly focused on Singapore and Asia; Lagos, because look at the artists coming from Nigeria. That’s where you’ve got to go for live music and culture and arts. We have a partner from Nigeria to build the single best arena in all of Africa.
You’ve also got Co-op Live opening in Manchester.
That is the capital of the U.K. for live events. That arena is going to be a top five arena in the world. When I opened up Staples Center in 1999, Bruce Springsteen was my opening artist for two nights, and the first night he told everyone, “Why don’t you come out of those corporate boxes and join us.” He didn’t have a great experience. I was like, goddamn it, the Boss just ripped me a new one from the stage. What he told me after the Staples concert is, “Tim, I like hot, sweaty halls.” When he opened up the CFG Bank arena for us in April, I said to him, “You’ve been running around my brain for 25 years because I failed you miserably.” Co-op Live is going to be the first music-only arena that is a hot, sweaty hall, and yet it will have 32 points of destination — restaurants, clubs and VIP spaces. It’s the first time we said, make it about music — make the bowl perfect — and then we’ll shoehorn in whatever else is important outside the bowl. Make all of the people right on the artist so it’s a hot, sweaty hall. I think that arena is going to change our industry. We’re sniffing around in Barcelona and Madrid. We want to go to the great cultural markets of the world where they have arenas that are 30, 40 years old and make those the next flags for the company. We have $2 billion to $3 billion of additional investment coming outside of Vegas and the projects we’re building in the U.S.
What’s your perspective on the Taylor Swift ticketing issue that Live Nation encountered? What could it have done better?
Ticketmaster did nothing wrong on Taylor Swift except for handling the demand, and we all knew that was coming. In a perfect world Taylor, Louis Messina and Ticketmaster would go back, take those dates and spread out the on sales. But at the end of the day it’s the bots and the scalpers that broke that system down. Did Taylor get any money from all of those secondary companies? Not a penny. Did the arenas or stadiums? I’ve spent $4 billion. Why is it that I let a secondary company come into my arena and resell my tickets and keep those fees? It’s a crime.
What are you doing to solve scalping and secondary-market issues?
I’ve got some ideas. In Seattle, we cleansed our season ticket list, our premium list and our club seat list. We got rid of anyone that was a scalper or secondary company so they couldn’t use the right of first refusal on concerts to tie those tickets up. Second is the bots. If an artist wants to be protected, we have to create smart tickets. And one day, your tickets are going to be here. (Holds up his hand.) We use the Amazon “grab and go” using your hand system. It’s not perfected yet, but within two years, it’s going to be phenomenal. Then we’ll be able to put the ticket in there and work a deal between Ticketmaster and Amazon. Just as technology has created the problem, so technology will solve the problem.
There’s also an outcry against fees.
They want to come in and say get rid of fees, but the reality is the fees are split by everybody in the pool. The artist gets some of the fees. Yes, they do. The building gets some of the fees and the promoter gets some of the fees. The fees are shared. There is an economic universe out there of rebates and waiving rent and giving artists free nights in the arena. That’s all part of this ecosystem of sharing fees. Everyone tends to forget about that. Ticketmaster does not even make the majority of fees. It’s not the fees. Should we tell people what the fees are in advance? That’s a good idea. But at the end of the day, if we want to attack what ultimately creates the majority of problems that people like The Cure or Taylor Swift feels strongly about, then attack the secondary companies who have no skin in the game.
“Shaq is our partner,” Leiweke says of NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, whose Big Chicken franchise is among the concessions found at OVG venues.
Joel Barhamand
Do you think Congress is focusing on the right players then?
Congress can’t even get a budget passed. Can they please just go run the country. Do I think they could solve the ticketing problem? No. These are the people saying it’s all Ticketmaster’s fault. No. Come learn the business, and what we’ll tell you is that the very same lobbyists you’re listening to that wrote that bill that you want to pass — they’re the problem.
The lion’s share of an act’s income comes from live shows. How much longer can we look at the live business as this sort of unlimited resource for artists, and whose responsibility is it to foster new arena and stadium acts?
How long can we maintain this ratio? I think forever because as I said music is the essence of our life. The economics have shifted, but the demand for music, recorded music, hasn’t shifted. It’s streaming now, and the economics are different. But we now have more ability to get more music from more artists than ever before. That’s who’s developing the emerging artists, god bless them — those streaming services. Ironically, they took some of the economics out of what an artist makes but they’ve created tens of thousands of more artists now, and who would have ever guessed that today we’d be seeing these K-pop and Latino artists? I’m looking at some of the numbers we did for Grupo Firme and Rauw Alejandro. The amount of tickets that Latino artists sell is unheard of. The same with K-pop. We just did four nights of K-pop including Suga, and UBS sold out everything. We had record merchandise sales. We’re going to continue to see that, and I give a lot of credit to the streaming industry. That’s going to be the live pipeline. So, maybe the economics ultimately got kind of turned a little bit against the artist, but it’s created far more artists that can now go sell out arenas.
Will they come up through the clubs or go straight to arenas?
We have the theater alliance because I think that’s highly important. Clubs are highly important. Both Live Nation and AEG are doing a great job on clubs. I’m a huge fan of Bowery Presents, and we’d like to have a better relationship with them. We will one day when the personalities get shifted. Will we keep going at the rate we’ve been going the last two years? Probably not. We’re seeing record rates, and we see it again next year. Our bookings are very, very strong for next year. But this is going to continue for a while because people have pent-up demand and discretionary income. I also think people went through Covid and said I’m going to go live life. Well, music happens to be something that relates to everybody. So, this isn’t going to stop. We’ll continue to develop smaller venues like Acrisure, which is a huge stepping stone for a lot of Latino bands. Everyone was scared of that marketplace except for Paul Tollett. I’m like, Paul’s pretty smart. I’ll follow his lead.
The same goes for sustainability when it comes to venues and festivals. You seem to be doing a lot on that front, but whose responsibility is it?
Sustainability is the overriding factor of this company. We spent $150 million on sustainability in Seattle saving the roof. I floated that roof in the air for three years. Everyone thought build a new arena, but that is the greatest waste of our planet — new steel, new glass, new everything. I thought, what if we reuse stuff? The arena’s roof is historic. It was originally part of the Washington State Pavilion at the 1962 World’s Fair. We figured out how to float it in the air with temporary steel supports, and I reused the steel. Then we took the front of the building and built an atrium system and a people-moving system to get everyone up and down. Take the existing arena, tear it down, build a hole three times as large, go down, not up because I use less energy below ground level. I don’t have to spend as much money on heating or cooling. Then drop the roof back on. Everyone says, “Oh, the renovation.” I’m like renovation? This is $1.15 billion. Renovate my ass. The only thing that stayed was the roof, and then three of the four sides is the original glass from the 1962 World’s Fair. I preserved it, packed it, stored it for two years and then put it back on. Then I had to retrofit the glass with fiber for earthquakes because the earthquake standard has changed since 1962.
You and Irving Azoff were once rivals and now you’re partners. What does that say about the music industry?
Yo-yos. It’s up and down, up ad down. We were partners, then enemies, then partners. I’m hoping that cycle has played itself out completely. Michael Rapino and I fought aggressively against each other. We’re not best of friends, but I’d say in our business he’s one of the greatest partners I have. The music business is a unique business because everyone thinks they’ve got to be either best of friends or fighting each other. There’s no in-between. The drama in the music business is crazy. We’re drama free around here. Our job is to get along with everybody. That’s the good thing about being private. People say, “Do you get along with Phil?” I wish him nothing but the best of luck. Whatever AEG does, I’m proud that I hired the majority of those people. And guess what, whether they succeed or fail, it will have little impact on my company. The greatest drama I had in my life is when Irving and I were fighting each other because he’s formidable. I’m very happy he’s on my side of the equation.
The United Kingdom-based Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) is expanding its San Antonio venue portfolio from two facilities to three with the opening of The Espee, a 3,175-capacity outdoor boutique amphitheater and special event venue located in the city’s historic St. Paul Square entertainment district.
ATG’s GM, Emily Smith, says the venue will service “musical performances to community gatherings and everything in between,” noting that the name Espee originates from the initials S.P., short for Southern Pacific Railroad Network. The Espee is located on the site of San Antonio’s Sunset Station, the city’s first train station and one of five stops on the Sunset Limited passenger train route that began in 1894, connecting Los Angeles to New Orleans.
The Spanish Mission Revival-style complex first opened in 1905 and was purchased and redeveloped in 2019 by two private ownership groups that operated a nightclub on the Espee site for about a year. In 2022, ATG signed on to renovate and operate the space. Improvements include enhanced in-house sound and lighting, renovated artist accommodations and refreshed restroom facilities.
Paying tribute to its past, the Espee will open March 4 with the daylong All Aboard festival featuring Head and the Heart, Danielle Ponder, Grupo Fantasma and more.
ATG also operates San Antonios Majestic and Empire theatres as part of its 58-venue worldwide portfolio across the U.K., the United States and Germany, including the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco, the Playhouse Theatre in London’s West End and the Capitol Theater in Düsseldorf.
For more information and to buy tickets for All Aboard festival, visit www.theespee.com.
LONDON — Madison Square Garden’s plan for a “next generation” 21,500-capacity concert venue in London won another key endorsement this week when a planning committee approved the development, despite strong objections from residents and rival live events company AEG.
On Tuesday, the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) granted MSG a 25-year advertising license subject to a five-year review. Now, London Mayor Sadiq Khan needs to approve the project — called MSG Sphere London — before work can begin. In rare instances, government ministers can also intervene and suspend planning applications.
New York-based Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSG) first submitted plans for the venue in March of 2019. Since then, the company has encountered sustained opposition from councilors and residents who are concerned it will blight the area with noise and light pollution.
MSG is proposing to build the arena on a five-acre plot of land in Stratford, East London, adjacent to the Olympic Park and would be located just five miles away from the 20,000-capacity The O2 arena, the U.K.’s top grossing venue, which is operated by AEG.
The MSG Sphere in Las Vegas, under construction.
Courtesy Photo
The design of the MSG Sphere London mirrors the spherical crystal ball design of the MSG Sphere at The Venetian in Las Vegas — due to open later this year at a cost of $1.8 billion — and measures 90 meters (295 feet) tall by 120 meters (394 feet) wide. Its exterior will be covered in a programmable skin of more than one million LED lights, which will primarily be used for showing videos and advertising.
The LLDC had provisionally approved the venue last March, but the committee still needed to sign off on several aspects of the planning process, including MSG’s strategy for managing the Sphere’s controversial advertising display.
The proposed arena still doesn’t have a price tag, and MSG said in its most-recent quarterly earnings, filed in November, that there is no “definitive timeline” for its construction.
Opponents of the venue are calling on Khan to block the development. AEG says it was “dismayed” by the committee’s decision to give MSG Sphere London the go ahead.
“We call on the Mayor of London to uphold his election promise to do what’s best for Londoners, including the residents of [the London Borough of] Newham who are having this huge development forced on them, by directing refusal of the planning application,” AEG says in a statement.
AEG says MSG Sphere London’s LED illuminated exterior “was conceived for the heart of Las Vegas” and is “at a wholly unprecedented scale for London and totally out of keeping with the surrounding area.”
Campaign group StopMSGSphere, who spoke at Tuesday’s meeting, and several local councilors have urged the Khan to quash the development, which would be MSG’s first venue outside of the United States.
Following the ruling, a spokesperson for MSG — whose portfolio includes New York’s Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall and the Forum in California — said the company ”remains committed to bringing MSG Sphere to London” and promised the venue would create “thousands of jobs and [generate] billions of pounds for the local, London and U.K. economy.”
MSG says it will provide blackout blinds to homes located within 150 meters (492 feet) of the new London arena and will run a telephone line for residents to register any complaints.
Should it get the go ahead, MSG Sphere London will be one of the U.K.’s biggest indoor concert venues with a scalable capacity of up to 17,500 seated, or 21,500 with a mixture of seated and standing. That exceeds the U.K.’s two biggest existing arenas, London’s The O2, which has a maximum capacity of 20,000, and Manchester’s AO Arena, which holds up to 21,000 people.
Construction is currently underway in Manchester on what will be the U.K.’s biggest indoor music venue, the 23,500-capacity Co-op Live being developed by the Oak View Group, which counts Harry Styles as an investor. It is set to open in December.
The Knitting Factory brand is returning to Los Angeles after more than a decade.
The new venue, Knitting Factory NoHo, will open on the second floor of the Federal Bar in North Hollywood. The venue is a 300-plus-capacity room that offers a patio and expansive local views from the historic building. Formerly a bank, the Federal Bar building was built in 1929 and has high-beamed ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows.
Since Knitting Factory Hollywood closed in 2009, Knitting Factory Entertainment (KFE) CEO Morgan Margolis has developed a hospitality division of the company. In Los Angeles alone, this includes The Federal Bar, El Tejano, Thirsty Merchant, Cantiki and Boomtown Brewery partnerships. KFE is also behind the Desert Daze festival with partner Phil Pirrone. Additionally, the company remains a longtime partner with local promoter and Spaceland Presents CEO Mitchell Frank on the Regent Theatre in Downtown L.A.
“While this is a more intimate venue than our partner venue, Regent Theatre (1,000 cap.), our team plans to bring incredible live experiences for musicians, comedians, artists, and fans alike, as our company has been doing for decades,” said Margolis in a statement. “In North Hollywood specifically, we’ve been in the area since The Federal Bar opened with a private performance from jazz legend Stanley Clarke in January 2011, and there is an appetite for more music-based programming as the neighborhood continues to grow into a distinct residential and entertainment district.”
Knitting Factory
Morgan Margolis
The space above the Federal Bar previously hosted private events and live shows from artists including John Doe, Kurt Vile, Big Thief, Ducktails, Cayucas, Sea Wolf, Chuck Prophet, Jenny O. and Motopony. Existing facilities are currently undergoing major renovations, including raising and widening the stage, improving sightlines, and upgrading audio-visual production. The new venue also hides a classic speakeasy, which will operate as a private VIP bar and green room.
Veteran music curator Chris Diaz will serve as Knitting Factory Noho’s consultant talent booker. Diaz got his start as a sound engineer and local booker at Knitting Factory Hollywood. Diaz moved from sound engineer to senior talent booker, moving to New York after Knitting Factory Hollywood closed to program the newly opened Knitting Factory Brooklyn. He returned to Los Angeles in 2013 to book two venues for California promoter Goldenvoice — The Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip and The Glass House Concert Hall in Pomona — before booking for Spaceland Presents at The Regent Theatre.
“Working with Knitting Factory Entertainment again, and specifically with Morgan, is like being reunited with a long-lost family member,” said Diaz. “It is very exciting to be a part of bringing this legendary brand back to Los Angeles, to help ensure its future legacy.”
Programming for the new L.A. venue is set to begin later this year. The news of the new North Hollywood location comes after the closure of Knitting Factory Brooklyn and the announcement of a new Knitting Factory venue that will open in New York’s East Village neighborhood in early 2023.
-
Pages
