Tag Archives: Live Nation

MUSIC: How the Live Nation, Insomniac deal impacts I.E.

Fans dance at the National Orange Show at the Insomniac event Audiotistic. (2010/File Photo)

Electronic Dance Music promoter Insomniac Events finally revealed the long-rumored partnership with entertainment giant Live Nation Wednesday, June 19 just ahead of Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival festival in Las Vegas.

Insomniac’s CEO Pasquale Rotella made the announcement about the Live Nation/Insomniac partnership in a panel at his EDM Biz conference. Live Nation is purchasing half of Insomniac. Rotella promises the experiences for fans will stay the same, but that Live Nation is providing infrastructure for the company.

So what does this mean for the Inland Empire, home to some popular Insomniac-produced EDM events?

Expect more of them. Live Nation, which operates San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore, approached the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors earlier this year to get permission to run four EDM events at the site. Insomniac’s Beyond Wonderland was the first one at the venue. County officials called Beyond Wonderland a success.

I think we’ll also see multi-day festivals at that site. The Mumford & Sons campout/show on June 2 was a success at using the space at Glen Helen Pavilion and I think it showed Live Nation that the space is viable for larger-scale events. (I’ll go ahead and add weather permitting, because it’s not a great option for the dead heat of an I.E. summer).

The next Insomniac event on tap for the venue is Nocturnal Wonderland, which will be held Sept. 21 at San Manuel Amphitheater. Tickets go on sale June 27 at noon.

Furthermore, the big entertainment news in Riverside this week is that the city is in talks with Live Nation to operate a number of downtown venues, including the Fox Performing Arts Center, the Fox Entertainment Plaza and the Riverside Municipal Auditorium. Of those spaces, I think the Muni could be the right size to get some EDM solo shows.

EDM fans what do you think about the partnership? Does this bolster Insomniac’s ability to put on various events and expand? To use terrible punk terms, did Insomniac “sell out”?

RIVERSIDE FOX: City negotiating with Live Nation

The Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside. (2011/File Photo)

There’s big news coming out of the Riverside City Council meeting tonight–colleague Alicia Robinson is at the meeting, reporting that the city is in talks with mega-promoter LiveNation to run the Fox Performing Arts Center, the Riverside Municipal Auditorium and the Fox Entertainment Plaza, which includes the black box, exhibit and event space.

Alicia is Tweeting from the meeting that the city should have contract in 4-6 weeks for Fox operator. It will be a three-year-long contract. If the Live Nation deal falls through, the city may still talk with Comcast-Spectacor or VenuWorks.

She’s reporting that the four smaller operators were shut out from the interview process. They included McCoy Rigby Entertainment, which brought theatrical entertainment to the Fox for a season and books the La Mirada Theatre, Golden Crown Productions, which books a number of concerts in Temecula Valley Wine Country, Theatrical Arts International, which booked the California Theatre of the Performing Arts in San Bernardino, and Swanson and Associates.

Alicia also reported that the council directed city to negotiate at least one local person in management with the Live Nation deal.

Here’s what you need to know about Live Nation:

They’re HUGE. They bring in top entertainment around the world. They have deals with mega-artists, too, including Madonna and U2.
Live Nation operates San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore (formerly known as Glen Helen Pavilion, Blockbuster Pavilion, Hyundai Pavilion), the nation’s largest outdoor amphitheater. Like the Fox, the venue itself is owned by the local government. In this case, San Bernardino County. This year there have been four major concerts/music events that have happened so far (Paid Dues and Beyond Wonderland moved there from the NOS Events Center, Mumford & Sons and Tim McGraw were booked as concert events). There are four other events, spanning over five days (Rockstar Mayhem Festival, Brad Paisley, Iron Maiden and Rock the Bells’ two-day fest) already booked and announced for the venue. This makes it the busiest year at the amphitheater in the six years I’ve been covering music at The Press-Enterprise.
Live Nation books well-known music venues in the Southland, including the Hollywood Palladium, The Wiltern, the House of Blues and more. They have a variety of music going into their venues.
On a personal note, every time I’ve emailed or called Live Nation to inquire about covering a show at San Manuel Amphitheater, the folks there have always been responsive. They are also good about letting the media know about on-sale dates and upcoming shows.

So what do you think of the city trying to work a deal with Live Nation? Do you think this means more shows and big entertainment for the Fox? Any local musicians out there have experience working with Live Nation?

Who do you want Live Nation to book at the Riverside venues?

MUSIC: Gibson Amphitheatre to close in fall 2013

The Gibson Amphitheatre at universal CityWalk will close in the fall of 2013. (2012/FIle Photo)

Just in: The Gibson Amphitheatre is closing in September due to the end of the building’s lease agreement, according to a release from Live Nation.
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SAN BERNARDINO: Beyond Wonderland moves to San Manuel Amphitheater

David Guetta, shown here at Coachella 2012, will perform at Beyond Wonderland in Devore on March 16. (2012/File Photo)

After getting approval from the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to host electronic dance music events at San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore a few weeks back, the first EDM event will be Beyond Wonderland on Saturday, March 16.
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