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Festival Friday: Lineups, newbies & cancellations

It has been a week of ups and downs in the world of festivals, with new events announced, alongside further cancellations and lineup confirmations.

In the US, Connecticut’s biggest music festival Sound On Sound has been rechristened as Soundside Music Festival under C3 Presents. Noah Kahan and Foo Fighters will headline the event – known for its unique rotating single-stage set up – at Seaside Park in Bridgeport from 28-29 September.

Queens of the Stone Age, Goo Goo Dolls, Teddy Swims, Fleet Foxes, Norah Jones, Boyz II Men, Gregory Alan Isakov, Grace Potter, The Kills, Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories will also appear.

“In past years, this festival has drawn in over 50,000 visitors,” says Bridgeport, CT mayor Joe Ganim. “I am sure this year it will again draw tens of thousands who will get to experience all that Bridgeport has to offer. This is another example of how Bridgeport is ‘on the move’ as we strengthen our legacy of being the music and entertainment capital of Connecticut.”

Nine-stage, two weekend music celebration Austin City Limits will welcome headliners Dua Lipa, Tyler, The Creator, Chris Stapleton, Blink-182, Sturgill Simpson and Pretty Lights to Zilker Park over the weekends of 4-6 & 13-15 October. The lineup will also feature performances from Khruangbin, Leon Bridges, Carin León, Norah Jones, Reneé Rapp, Foster The People, Kehlani, Teddy Swims, Benson Boone, CAAMP, Dominic Fike, The Marías, Jungle, Dom Dolla, Chappell Roan, Porter Robinson, Fletcher, Something Corporate and David Shaw.

More than 30 Texas artists will grace this year’s ACL Fest stages, including Khruangbin, Leon Bridges, Norah Jones, Kevin Abstract, That Mexican OT, Mickey Guyton, Penny & Sparrow, Chance Peña, Dexter And The Moonrocks, Bob Schneider, Asleep At The Wheel, whookilledkenny, Kalu & The Electric Joint, The Droptines, Jon Muq, Daiistar, Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Late Night Drive Home, Theo Lawrence, Chief Cleopatra, West 22nd and Chaparelle.

C3 Presents’ Sudden Little Thrills festival, due to be headlined by SZA and The Killers, has been cancelled less than a month after being announced

However, C3’s Sudden Little Thrills festival, which was slated to debut at Hazelwood Green, Pittsburgh, between 7-8 September with headliners SZA and The Killers, has been abruptly cancelled less than a month after being announced. In a short statement, organisers say it will no longer take place “due to circumstances beyond our control”.

The Killers will top the bill at Mexico’s Festival Pulso GNP, which will be held at Autódromo de Querétaro on 12 October, with a supporting cast including Belanova, Franz Ferdinand, Los Auténticos Decadentes, Sabino and Simple Plan.

The full lineup has now been released for the ninth edition of Paradise City, which is set for 28-30 June at Ribaucourt Castle, Perk, Belgium. Newly announced artists include David August, Rival Consoles, Rex The Dog, Sally C and OCB, plus homegrown talent such as Bjeor, Catalina, Eline Anne & r.omy, Odymel and RIET.

They join the likes of Bonobo, Maribou State, Marlon Hoffstadt, Job Jobse, Daria Kolosova, Skin on Skin and DJ Gigola. The festival will also feature a seventh stage, dedicated entirely to chill-out, downtempo and ambient performances.

Nelly Furtado will headline free, open-air festival Isle of MTV Malta 2024 on 16 July, when other acts will include DJ Snake and Raye. It will be followed by Isle of MTV Malta Music Week, a series of club nights and parties across various venues on the island with various artists including Benni Benassi, Icona Pop and more from 16-21 July.

Iceland Airwaves has unveiled the second wave of artists joining its 25th anniversary edition, taking place in Downtown Reykjavik this 7-9 November. Highlights include Overmono, The Vaccines, English Teacher, Villano Antillano, Personal Trainer, MRCY, Lynks, GDRN, Monobloc, Gabríel Ólafs, Alice Longyu Gao and cumgirl8, with previously announced artists including Shygirl, Bar Italia, Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul, Joy (Anonymous) and Saya Gray.

And the 10th anniversary Ultra Europe Music Festival will bring Afrojack, Alison Wonderland, Subtronics, DJ Snake, W&W, KSHMR, SLANDER, Vini Vici, Black Tiger Sex Machine, Deborah De Luca and CamelPhat to Park Mladeži in Split, Croatia, from 12-14 July. It will also star Adam Beyer, Boris Brejcha and Martin Garrix.

 


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C3 Presents plans new US festival for 2024

C3 Presents, the Live Nation-backed promoter behind Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits, has announced a new US festival for 2024.

Minnesota Yacht Club Festival will take place between 19–20 July 2024 at Harriet Island Regional Park in Saint Paul, the capital city of Minnesota.

The two-day event will invite 20 artists to perform across two stages by the Mississippi Riverfront, according to the website, though the lineup and ticket prices are under wraps until mid-January. Organisers are aiming to draw 30,000-35,000 fans per day for the inaugural event.

“We deserve a big music fest like this,” Tim Sweetwood of Atlanta-based C3 Presents told local newspaper Star Tribune. “When you consider that the Twin Cities [Minneapolis–Saint Paul] is a big enough market to support five major-league sports teams, I don’t see why it can’t support one major music festival, too.”

“I don’t see why [the Twin Cities] can’t support one major music festival”

Parent company Live Nation staged a music festival called River’s Edge at the very same location in 2016, headlined by Tool and Dave Matthews Band.

The live music behemoth reportedly promised to produce River’s Edge there for five years but instead pulled the festival after its debut edition.

“From a musical perspective we’re just going to try to produce a lineup that just jibes a little bit better [than River’s Edge] and offers more synergy from day to day,” Sweetwood said.

“And we’ll try to give it a little more colour and better branding, the kind of things we have a good feel for at C3 being primarily a festival producer. We are going to put the Padelford and some other boats to work as part of the festival experience.

“We’ll just have the two stages in the first year, and so you can only do so many genres but we’ll cover adult-contemporary, rock, pop, some blues, a cool mix like that.”

C3 Presents’ festival portfolio also includes rock festival Shaky Knees, alternative rock event Sick New World and country music offering Two Step Inn.

 


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Live Nation, Hulu extend deal to stream C3 Presents fests

Live Nation has extended its partnership with American subscription streaming service Hulu, after a successful turn as the official streaming destination of Lollapalooza in 2021.

Under the new deal, Hulu will become the official streaming platform for C3 Presents’ largest festivals – Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits – throughout 2022 and 2023.

For all three festivals, select performances will be livestreamed exclusively to Hulu SVOD (subscription video on demand) subscribers at no additional cost. Additional special footage and behind-the-scenes looks will also be available.

Two streaming channels will be made available for performances taking place between Friday and Sunday at each of the festivals. For Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, only one streaming channel will be available on the Thursday of each event.

The deal marks the first time a streaming platform has had streaming rights to all three of the iconic festivals.

“The demand for live music is at an all-time high and the live experience has never been more connected to digital”

“Hulu and Live Nation are both committed to delivering exceptional entertainment to fans, so we are thrilled to be collaborating with them, again, as we expand our offering to include these three legendary festivals,” says Hulu president Joe Early. “Each event is unique, but all three bring people together for incredible music, artistry, and experiences, which we are fortunate to be able to share with Hulu subscribers.”

Charlie Walker of C3 Presents adds: “The demand for live music is at an all-time high and the live experience has never been more connected to digital. By expanding our partnership with Hulu, even more fans will be able to tune into each of these incredible festival experiences in real-time and enjoy live performances from their favourite artists with the fans on-site.”

Bonnaroo is set to take place 16–19 June as it returns to the farm in Manchester, Tennesse for the first time since 2019, with Lollapalooza slated for 28–31 July and Austin City Limits will return for two weekends from 7–9 and 14–16 October.

 


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The New Bosses 2019: Sophie Lobl, C3 Presents

The New Bosses 2019 – the biggest-ever edition of IQ‘s yearly roundup of future live industry leaders, as voted for by their peers – was published in IQ 85 last month revealing the twelve promising agents, promoters, bookers and execs that make up this year’s list.

To get to know this year’s cream of the crop a little better, IQ conducted interviews with each one of 2019’s New Bosses, to discover their greatest inspirations and proudest achievements, pinpoint the reasons for their success and obtain advice for those hoping to be a future New Boss. Snippets of the interviews can be found in the September edition of IQ Magazine.

All interviews have now been reproduced in full online and on IQ Index, but this is not the last you will hear from these promising young execs. The New Bosses will play a key role in the forthcoming edition of Futures Forum, the discussion and networking event for the next generation of industry leaders that debuted at ILMC 31 in March. 

The final new boss is Sophie Lobl (28), global festival buyer at C3 Presents in Texas. Born in London, Lobl made her way to the United States after graduating from Leeds University in the UK. Starting her career at BBC Radio 1, she later went to WME, where she worked her way up from a receptionist to assisting Russell Warby, Ari Emanuel and, finally, Marc Geiger in the LA office.

In 2019, Lobl relocated to Texas to work for C3 in the newly created role of global festival buyer, where she works closely with the European Live Nation team on artist offers for 197 festivals worldwide. (Read the previous interview with United Talent Agency’s Sara Schoch here).

 


What are you busy with right now?
Booking festivals for 2020. We are in the middle of booking all the line ups for next year and about to announce the Austin City Limits schedule!

Did you always want to work in the music business?
Pretty much. I actually initially wanted to work in radio. I produced and presented a couple of shows on my student radio station in Leeds which led me into working as an assistant producer at Radio 1 and 1Xtra – I thought I was going to be Annie Mac! Then I discovered live and booking shows and there was no turning back after that.

What are some of the highlights of your career so far?
Working on Tom Petty’s last tour is one of the greatest memories I’ll ever have. He was a lovely man. Launching Lollapalooza Stockholm is also a true career highlight. We’re very excited for 2020, it looks like we’ll have a great line up.

“I discovered live and booking shows and there was no turning back after that”

How has your role changed since you started out?
It’s changed drastically. I went from working on reception and making coffee, to being (several) agents’ assistants, to now booking and managing my own multi-stage festivals. None of it was planned, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. C3 is an awesome company and I am incredibly excited about the projects I get to work on and also about some of the new projects we have in the pipeline.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt while at C3?
That’s a big question. I think never being afraid of trying something new is the main one. Launching a festival is terrifying and working in markets that are new to us can be daunting. Luckily, we have incredible partners on our international festivals that save us from losing our jobs.

What, if anything, would you change about how the live industry is run today?
I think just more inclusiveness generally across the board. It really is getting better and there are now far more opportunities for women and other minorities. But that shouldn’t even really be a thing, should it? C3 actually has a majority of women employees, especially in senior management positions. I think other companies are following suit.

“Never being afraid of trying something new is important – launching a festival is terrifying and working in markets that are new to us can be daunting”

What do you do for fun?
Hang out with my French Bulldog. His name is Francis. You should follow him on Instagram (@francislefrenchie).

Do you have an industry mentor?
[Live Nation vice president fo European Touring] Kelly Chappell has been my mentor, saviour and sister since the beginning of time. She really is the best. I don’t know anyone that works harder or that has such an incredible attention to detail as she has. She is so knowledgeable and wise and deserves all the recognition I can give her.

What advice would you give to anyone who wants to get into, or is new to, the business?
Work your bum off. None of this is easy and, although it may look glamorous, it really isn’t sometimes. But the hard work pays off and it really is worth it.

Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time?
Sitting at home with ten french bulldogs? Probably doing exactly what I’m doing now. Maybe just a little better. C3 & S doesn’t really have a ring to it, does it?

 


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Festival Focus: ACL, Summer Sonic, Karoondinha

With the 2017 festival season fast approaching and many events close to finalising this year’s line-ups, we’ve introduced a new, slimmed-down Festival Focus for 2017 to ensure we cover as much news as possible – keeping you abreast of all the latest developments in the festival world with the minimum of waffle.

Read on for all the latest festival announcements (headliners are in bold), or click here for the previous FF. And if we’ve missed something, or you’d like to see your event featured in a future Festival Focus, feel free to drop news editor Jon Chapple a line at [email protected].

 


Hurricane Festival/Southside Festival, Germany (FKP Scorpio, 23–25 June)
Kakkamaddafakka, Twin Atlantic, Dave Hause and the Mermaid, Fatoni, JP Cooper, Louis Berry, Stu Larsen, Amber Run , Leif Vollebekk, Rebels of rhe Jukebox, Mikroschrei, Luke Noa & the Basement Beats, Tuesday Night Project, Die Boys

Festival Internacional de Benicàssim, Spain (Maraworld, 13–16 July 2017)
Biffy Clyro (Spanish exclusive), Years & Years, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Temples, Dream Wife, Tiga, Honne, La Casa Azul, Joe Crepusculo (Jim Reid/Jesus and Mary Chain photo by pj_in_oz on Flickr)

Latitude, UK (Festival Republic, 13–16 July 2017)
Katherine Jenkins, Leon Bridges, The Coral, Mystery Jets, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Beth Orton, A Blaze of Deather, Childhood, Black Peaches, etc.

Karoondinha Music & Arts Festival, US (Hawk Eye Presents, 21–23 July 2017)
Chance the Rapper, Paramore, Sturgill Simpson, Porter Robinson, The Revivalists, etc.

Jim Reid, The Jesus and Mary Chain, V Festival 2008, Sydney

Pukkelpop, Belgium (The Factory vzw, 16–19 August 2017)
Ryan Adams, Stormzy, The Shins, Sampha, Halsey, Armand Van Helden, Jake Bugg, Enter Shikari, Richie Hawtin, Jackmaster, 2manydjs, Youngr, etc.

Summer Sonic, Japan (Creativeman, 19–20 August 2017)
Calvin Harris, Foo Fighters, Black Eyed Peas, Kasabian, Sum 41, 5 Seconds of Summer, Justice, Charli XCX, Good Charlotte, Royal Blood, Kesha, Above & Beyond, Rick Astley, etc.

Reading Festival/Leeds Festival, UK (Festival Republic, 25–27 August 2017)
Liam Gallagher, You Me at Six, Vince Staples, Pvris, Goldie, Muna, Mura Masa, Jagwar Ma, Sub Focus, Kurupt FM, etc. (Liam Gallagher photo by Anthony Abbott)

Rock en Seine, France (LNEI Live, 25–27 August 2017)
Band of Horses, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Lemon Twigs, Grouplove, The Shins, Her, Car Seat Headrest, Timber Timbre, Slowdive, Romeo Elvis, Her, Deluxe

Liam Gallagher, Beady Eye, Isle of Wight Festival 2011, Anthony Abbott

Made in America Festival, US (Live Nation, 2–3 September 2017)
Jay Z, J. Cole, The Chainsmokers, Solange, Kaskade, Marshmello, Sampha, Migos, Stormzy, 21 Savage, Run the Jewels, Little Dragon, Pusha T, DMX, Vic Mensa, Yung Lean, etc.

OnBlackheath, UK (Crosstown Concerts, 9–10 September 2017)
The Libertines, Travis, De La Soul, Metronomy, Craig Charles’s Funk and Soul Club, Jake Bugg, KT Tunstall, Seasick Steve, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Black Honey, Tom Williams, Steve Mason, etc.

Beyond the Tracks, UK (Moseley Folk Ltd, 15–17 September 2017)
Orbital, Ocean Colour Scene, Editors, Leftfield, Faithless, Maxïmo Park, The Coral, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Peter Hook and the Light, Jagwar Ma, Wild Beasts, etc.

Austin City Limits, US (Live Nation, 6–8 and 13–15 October)
Jay Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chance the Rapper, The Killers, Gorillaz, Martin Garrix, The xx, Ice Cube, Ryan Adams, Solange, Run the Jewels, Spoon, Vance Joy, Zhu, Royal Blood (weekend one), Eagles of Death Metal (weekend two), Foster the People, etc.

 


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LN’s Burruss joins AEG Global Partnerships

Live Nation’s former vice-president of national media and sponsorship, Caroline Burruss, has joined AEG as vice-president of its Global Partnerships division.

In her new role, Burruss (pictured) will drive sponsorship sales for concert tours, festivals, venues and other assets overseen by AEG Live and its subsidiaries, including Coachella/Desert Trip promoter Goldenvoice.

Prior to joining Live Nation, Burruss was co-general manager and vice-president of brand development for Austin City Limits Live, where she led the Texas concert series’ revenue for sponsorship, premium seating sales and content distribution.

“I’ve known Caroline through our business for close to 20 years,” says Andrew Klein, senior vice-president of AEG Global Partnerships. :She is one of the true thought leaders and innovators in the industry, and I am thrilled to have her on our team.”

 


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