TEXAS BY CHAD SWIATECKI THE LONE STAR STATE HAS FOUR BIGTIME CONCERT MARKETS, THANKS TO POPULATION GROWTH AND COMMITTED MUSIC FANS BYLINE PRODUKT SEMIBOLD PHOTO CREDIT HERE TK HERE CREDIT PHOTO 26 MARCH 2019 THE LONE STAR STATE HAS FOUR BIGTIME CONCERT MARKETS, THANKS TO POPULATION GROWTH AND COMMITTED MUSIC FANS The Austin City Limits Music Festival is a major festival in a state that’s full of them. There’s never been a better time to be in the live event business in Texas. With four cities that could anchor most states as routing magnets, and enough distance between them to keep from canni- balizing box oce, Texans get to enjoy visits from all the major tours on the road each year. Regional dynamism helps cultivate local avors and new promoters, and the dozens of small and midsize festivals every month of the year provide great variety. Grosses and ticket sales grew strongly in 2018, thanks to population growth all over the state, with new venues coming online to ll the few noticeable gaps in certain cities, giving hope that the growth will continue in 2019. PHOTO CREDIT HERE TK HERE CREDIT PHOTO MARCH 2019 27 THE CIRCUIT Arena Exhibit Hall Fields Midway Pavilion Foreigner, Alison Krauss, Bob keeping a consistent variety UFC 228. WE GET DEEP IN Dylan, Illuminate, Chad Prather, of programming. It is the best Darci Lynne Farmer. We had a lot compliment when someone says, Big shows of great shows in 2018. Our only “You really have something for Pink, Justin Timberlake, Bruno THE HEART OF HOW subscription opportunity is for our everyone.” Mars and Elton John were some Broadway in the Basin season. It of the biggest we saw in 2018. THINGS ARE had great titles this year, helping What went wrong All performing double nights, to increase our subscriber count, I can’t say that anything went with JT and Bruno performing a sitting now just under 1,000. For wrong. Not every event is a win, total of three shows in less than GOING IN TEXAS a venue with 1,827 seats, we are so when we don’t win we just a 12-month period. Michelle pretty proud of that. do our best to learn from that Obama was another big one experience for our market and a dierent Changes format of show than we are used WAGNER NOËL We wanted to work on creating to seeing. It was a fast sellout and PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, some new opportunities to AMERICAN AIRLINES large gross. MIDLAND engage with our communities CENTER, DALLAS Stepha- and help introduce them to all Dave Changes nie Rivas, that we have to oer. We held Brown, We launched our AAC app in the general three free movie days in the chief op- fall with the move to exclusive manager summer months of June, July erating of- mobile ticketing. The app has been and August that we tagged ­icer and a game changer to our guest experi- How did Cinema Under the Stars. The general ence, giving our guests one location you do in venue has a unique star eld manager to plan their whole experience. 2018? in the ceiling that makes it We had a great year. We had 191 feel like your sitting under the How did you do in 2018? What went right events with a total of 107,963 West Texas sky. Patrons were We hosted 47 concerts, besting The big shows are doing huge tickets sold. We are a great venue invited to get out of the sum- our previous best total of 45. And numbers in Dallas, not only in for routing but knowing that our mer heat, sit under our “stars” with more available dates, we ticket sales but also tour merchan- patrons will come out and support and enjoy the day watching would have easily broken the 50 dise. Dallas continues to be one these acts makes all the dierence. three free movies. mark. In addition, we also hosted of the fastest-growing cities in the marquee sporting events like the Big shows What went right NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Disney Live, Jerry Seinfeld, Jo Koy, For us doing it right means Championship Round 1 and 2 and CONTINUED ON PAGE 30 PREVIOUS PAGES: CHARLES REAGAN HACKELMAN; RAP PHOTO CO. PHOTO RAP HACKELMAN; REAGAN CHARLES PAGES: PREVIOUS Pink performs at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The Premier Entertainment Complex of Beaumont & Southeast Texas! 5115 IH - 10 South | Beaumont TX 77705 | 409 951 5400 | www.fordpark.com #fordparkbmt Arena Exhibit Hall Fields Midway Pavilion The Premier Entertainment Complex of Beaumont & Southeast Texas! 5115 IH - 10 South | Beaumont TX 77705 | 409 951 5400 | www.fordpark.com #fordparkbmt CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28 deepened our relationships with back of house. much from our partnership with a variety of outside promoters Live Nation and C3 Presents. Venue country, which has really acceler- in addition to a solid lineup of improvements are a constant for us ated demand for entertainment. in-house bookings. Variety and AUSTIN360 AMPHITHEATER, or doing things to tweak the sta - diversity of our programming AUSTIN ing and improving our operations. What went wrong has been a mission for us and I Glynn Wedgewood, gener- We literally started running out think we have shown that Smart al manager What went right of bookable dates in the fall when Financial Centre can be suc- We had a run in the middle of most tours were wrapping up. We cessful with a very wide range of How did you do in 2018? the season of ve shows back to are a two-team building, home shows that appeal to a wide range We’d been back, and that was part of a run of to the Mavericks and Stars, so we of audiences. in the range seven shows in nine days. When start the season with 80 unavail- of 22 to 25 you think about what that takes to able dates on the calendar. Big shows events per load in a band at 8 o’clock in the We had some huge shows in 2018, season with morning and then run for 20 hours from three sold-out shows with Live Nation so you only have a four-hour turn- SMART FINANCIAL CENTRE Dave Chappelle and Jon Stewart but last year around, it takes a lot to run those AT SUGAR LAND to sold-out shows with The Killers, we were up shows at a high standard. Getting David Skinner, general Khalid, Erasure, Slayer, Bad Bunny to 33. It was the busiest and most everybody working together for ve manager and many others. Our Christian successful season we’ve had so days straight on very little sleep was music shows also proved to be mas- far, with 270,000 attendees. something I was very proud of. How did sively successful with the Mercy you do in Me and Lauren Daigle tours. Big shows What went wrong 2018? Foo Fighters, Eric Church (which We’ve had Willie Nelson’s 4th of 2018 was Changes we rescheduled for 2018 after his July Picnic for a number of years our second As 2018 was just our second year, 2017 show was canceled because of and last year while we were expect- year open we didn’t have any major changes Hurricane Harvey), Post Malone, ing some weather it wound up get- for business, and we de nitely did or improvements. We learned and Imagine Dragons, Logic, Queens of ting a lot heavier. It came in so hard not have a sophomore slump. We implemented better ways to serve the Stone Age, and Slayer. we had to evacuate in the middle nished No. 9 (in Pollstar’s rank- our customers and how to better of the day, getting people out into ing) in the world in ticket sales for utilize our space not only for Changes their cars or our buildings to keep venues under 10,000 seats. We customers but for sponsors and None, really. We didn’t deviate too everyone safe. You have to have a HOME OF THE 20+ 277 2020 Venues Acres FOR BOOKING INFORMATION CONTACT PETER SULLIVAN - 214.670.8483 | [email protected] NOW MANAGED BY 30 MARCH 2019 Bass Con- cert Hall sold 15 percent plan for weather and sometimes it our security policies and infra- more tickets comes in worse, but you have to roll structure to ensure the safety of than any with it and do whatever it takes. everyone attending events in our other year building. on record in 2018. BASS CONCERT HALL, Big shows AUSTIN Two Steve Martin and Martin Will Shirey, talent buyer Short dates, which put up the high- est combined gross of any concert How did event in venue history, “Book of you do in Mormon,” David Byrne, Max 2018? Richter’s eight-hour overnight per- 2018 was a formance of “Sleep” during South very strong by Southwest to 200 sleeping fans year for on Beautyrest mattresses set out us on all on the Bass Concert Hall stage, fronts. We did more stand-alone and the Philip Glass Ensemble commercial events and sold 15 performing “Koyaanisqatsi” live. percent more tickets than any other year on record. We worked Changes with new partners, explored new We added magnetometers and programming opportunities with self-scanning ticket podiums at our Essential Series and had a the main entrance, implemented strong year of Broadway with a new clear bag policy and added every aspect of the business. house in Bass Concert Hall. He seven titles over seven weeks.