Latin festival Besame Mucho expands in US
Latin music festival Besame Mucho is expanding to a second US city after a successful debut in Los Angeles.
The first edition, organised by Tropicália and La Tocada, took place in December 2022 at Dodger Stadium, LA, with a diverse lineup of Latin acts.
The LA debut and its second edition, due this December, are said to have sold out in minutes.
Capitalising on that success, Besame Mucho (Kiss Me A Lot) will launch on 2 March 2024 at the Circuit of the Americas racetrack in Austin, Texas.
The debut will see 60+ acts perform across four stages, including Los Tigres del Norte, Banda MS, Grupo Frontera, La Ley, Caifanes, El Tri, Alejandra Guzmán, Gloria Trevi, Café Tacvba and Molotov.
The debut will see 60+ acts perform across four stages, including Los Tigres del Norte, Banda MS and Grupo Frontera
Las Clasicas Stage, which will close with Los Tigres, is dedicated to the classics and will feature 30 groups, including Grupo Frontera, Bronco, Los Tucanes De Tijuana, Ramón Ayala and Alicia Villareal.
The Banda Stage will have performances from Banda El Recodo, La Adictiva, Banda Los Recoditos, Banda Machos, Cuisillos and more, and the Rockero Stage will feature a number of notable rock bands, including Cafe Tacvba, Juanes, El Tri, Maldita Vecindad, Panteón Rococo and Hombres G.
Along with Trevi, Alejandra Guzmán, Belanova, Reik, Sin Bandera and Ha*Ash are among the 18 acts to perform on the Te Gusta El Pop? Stage.
Presale for Besame Mucho Austin starts on 3 November, with ticket prices ranging between $275 for general admission and $950 for platinum.
The second edition of Besame Mucho LA will return to Dodger Stadium on 2 December and includes some of the same artists scheduled for Austin.
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WME acquires True Grit Talent Agency
WME has acquired True Grit Talent Agency, a Texas-based company founded in 2016.
As part of the deal, WME signs True Grit’s entire roster which includes Cody Jinks, Charles Wesley Godwin, Whitey Morgan, Ward Davis, and Dexter and The Moonrocks.
The agency’s team, including agents Mike Krug, Carrie Creasey and Shelby Vanek, have also joined WME and will continue to work out of Austin.
“We are very excited that what we do caught the eye of a company like WME,” says Krug. “We are proud of all we have built here in Austin and know that joining WME will create exponentially more opportunities for our clients.”
“We’ve long admired the business and roster that True Grit has developed”
Jay Williams, WME partner and Nashville office co-head, adds: “We’ve long admired the business and roster that True Grit has developed, and we are excited to bring their artists and the team into the WME family and expand WME’s footprint in Austin.”
Arthur Penhallow, founder of the True Grit companies, is continuing on as True Grit Management with clients including Charles Wesley Godwin, Whitey Morgan, Erin Viancourt and Coleman Jennings. Additionally, Reed Turner is now a partner at True Grit Management.
WME notes that this year’s acquisitions of True Grit Talent Agency and Red 11 Music have expanded the agency’s presence in Texas, as well as in the American Roots music genre.
Elsewhere within the genre, WME represented all three headliners (Luke Bryan, Kane Brown and Chris Stapleton) at Stagecoach festival in 2023 and its clients won the most categories at the Academy of Country Music (ACM) and Country Music Association (CMA) Awards multiple years in a row.
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$375m Moody Center opens in Austin, Texas
New multi-purpose 15,000-seat arena the Moody Center has opened in downtown Austin, Texas.
Developers of the US$375 million project, which replaces the city’s 42-year-old Frank C. Erwin Jr Center, include Oak View Group, Live Nation/C3 Presents, The University of Texas at Austin, and Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey.
It has been named in honour of a $130m grant from Texas-based charitable organisation the Moody Foundation, and promises to provide a “world-class venue for top touring concerts and shows” in the self-styled live music capital of the world, which hosts the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) conference and festival.
The arena, which will also host basketball and other sporting events, debuted to the public last night (20 April), with the first of two concerts by John Mayer and officially launched with two sold-out gigs by George Strait with special guests Willie Nelson & Family and Randy Rogers Band from April 29-30.
“The Moody Center will be a must-play arena and we look forward to bringing our concerts and tours there”
Speaking in 2019, Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said: “The Moody Center will be a must-play arena and we look forward to bringing our concerts and tours there as soon as the doors open in 2022.”
Other artists scheduled for Moody Center in 2022 include Bon Jovi, Justin Bieber, The Who, Dave Matthews Band, Eagles, Machine Gun Kelly, Andrea Bocelli, Florence + The Machine, James Taylor, Leon Bridges, Shawn Mendes and Daddy Yankee.
Jeff Nickler, who was previously SVP of Arena Alliance, a collection of 29 NBA and NHL venues in North America, will serve as the arena’s general manager. Facilities include 44 Suites, nearly 2,000 club seats, three premium clubs, 57 loge boxes and one super VIP club, the Moët & Chandon Impérial Lounge.
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OVG breaks ground on new Moody Center arena
Oak View Group has broken ground on the Moody Center, a new multi-purpose 15,000-seat arena at the University of Texas in Austin.
The US$338 million venue will replace the university’s existing arena, the 42-year-old Frank C. Erwin Jr Center. In addition to hosting local sporting fixtures and university events, Moody Center will provide a “world-class venue for top touring concerts and shows” in the self-proclaimed live music capital of the world.
The start of construction on Moody Center comes amid a building boom for Oak View Group (OVG), the venue development, advisory and investment company founded in 2015 by former AEG CEO Tim Leiweke and ex-Live Nation chairman Irving Azoff. Other in-development projects include arenas in Seattle, Washington; Belmont, New York; Palm Springs, California; Milan, Italy; and Manchester, UK.
Live Nation Entertainment will work with its local subsidiary, C3 Presents, to bring top tours and live events to Moody Center. Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino says: “The Moody Center will be a must-play arena and we look forward to bringing our concerts and tours there as soon as the doors open in 2022.”
“The Moody Center will be a must-play arena”
“Being a fourth-generation Austinite, I grew up in the Frank Erwin Center and have hundreds of memories with my family and friends, adds Charles Attal, Partner, C3 Presents. “It is an honour to work on this new world-class event centre for the next generation to enjoy.”
Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey, a University of Texas (UT) professor, becomes ‘minister of culture’ of the Moody Center, and will provide input on suite designs, bar placement, colour schemes and more.
“As a proud alumnus and professor at UT, I’m honoured, now as minister of culture, to convey what a special place the university and the city of Austin are through the design and hospitality of the new Moody Center. It should be the first place the biggest bands in the world want to play, but the last place a visiting basketball team wants to play.”
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Live Nation’s C3 brings Piknic Électronik to Texas
Canadian-born electronic music festival Piknic Électronik will make its stateside debut next month in partnership with C3 Presents.
Described as a “unique two-day picnic in the park with electronic live music, local food and drink, family-friendly activities and immersive, social experiences”, the inaugural Piknic Électronik Austin will be held in Austin, Texas, park Auditorium Shores on 27–28 October.
Music will be an “eclectic mix of techno, house and disco, showcasing 12 national and local artists on two stages”, with a full line-up to be announced in the coming weeks. Day tickets are priced at US$15 from Front Gate Tickets.
“Austin is the perfect city for our first ever Piknic Électronik on American soil”
Originating in Montreal in 2003, Piknic Électronik events have also been held in Barcelona, Lisbon, Melbourne, Santiago (Chile) and Dubai. The flagship event is a summer-long series which last year ran from 21 May to 24 September, with Seth Troxler, the Black Madonna, Nicole Moudaber and Vincent Lemieux among the DJs performing.
“Austin is the perfect city for our first ever Piknic Électronik on American soil,” says CEO and founder Pascal Lefebvre. “With its world-renowned vibrant cultural scene and its reputation as a particularly festive and inviting city, it is a perfect fit for our brand and C3, a particularly great partner to build it with.”
Live Nation also organises the Austin City Limits festival in Austin, and recently acquired a majority stake Austin-based promoter ScoreMore shows, which owns and operates three festivals of its own.
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Austin’s Parish sells on eBay for $376,000
The Parish, the Austin, Texas, venue listed for sale on eBay, has sold to an undisclosed bidder for US$376,000.
The auction – which included the business, a 12-year lease on the venue, the chance to renew its alcohol licence and its current bookings, bar and sound equipment – ended on Sunday 10 December after 239 bids by 37 bidders. Doug Guller, founder of former Parish operator ATX Brands, decided earlier this year to sell his live music venues to concentrate on growing ‘breastaurant’ brands Bikini’s and Happy Chicks.
In July ATX sold outdoor music venue Scoot Inn to Austin-based promoter C3 Presents.
According to the Austin Chronicle, the 430-cap. Parish (pictured) garnered $250,000 in bids over the first three days, then stagnated for five days before taking before reaching the $375,000 mark on Friday. The reserve price for the listing appears to have been between $240,000 and $250,000.
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Venue to be sold on eBay
If you look hard enough you can find most things for sale on eBay, but this one’s a real novelty: Austin, Texas, venue The Parish is being sold off on the auction site.
The 435-capacity venue is in the heart of the city’s entertainment district, and will be listed from 1-10 December. But it’s not the building itself up for grabs, but the business, its current bookings, bar, sound equipment, 12-year lease and the chance to renew the alcohol licence.
Owner ATX Brands’ boss Doug Guller told Venues Today he’s putting the business on eBay because he wants to bypass the traditional music industry networks; and is hoping to bring in new blood to the self-proclaimed “live music capital of the world” (ahem).
“Hopefully it’ll be sold to someone in the industry that can take it to the next level.”
“I wanted to cast a wide net, and when things like properties come up for sale, the broker usually just sends the info out to their email list and that’s it,” he said. “Properties trade very well with brokers, but when it comes to selling an entire business, there’s not really a set formula or process for how to get it done.”
“Hopefully it’s someone in the industry that can afford a venue like The Parish and can take it to the next level.”
Bidding starts at $1, although Guller admits he’s set an undisclosed reserve price that must be reached for the deal to go through. He says he’s looking for someone
ATX Brands decided earlier this year to sell its live music venues to concentrate on growing his “breastaurant” brands Bikini’s and Happy Chicks. In July it sold outdoor music venue Scoot Inn to Austin-based promoter C3 Presents.
Although it’s rarely a stop for national tours, artists to have played small-scale appearances at The Parish include Slash, Perry Farrell, Leon Bridges and Pete Townsend.
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Live Nation invests in Austin start-up Everfest
Everfest, an online festival discovery platform based in Austin, Texas, has raised US$3.6 million in series-A funding from a group of investors that includes Live Nation.
The funding round, co-led by Live Nation and venture-capital firm ATX Seed Ventures, will allow Everfest to “rapidly [expand] our portfolio of partner festivals globally over the next several quarters”, says co-founder Paul Cross (pictured). The company has raised $6m since its founding in 2014.
Everfest’s platform is aimed at both music fans and promoters, sponsors, vendors and artists, with the former able to discover new events via its search engine and the latter group to engage fans with VIP access, discounts, giveaways, presales and more. It currently has listings for 15,000 festivals, many of which are managed by the festival organisers directly.
It is also the parent company of online festival magazine Fest300, acquired last year.
“This is a massive, growing industry, and Everfest is providing a technology layer that to date has been lacking”
“We love what Everfest is doing to give festivals a true online home,” says Chris Shonk, a partner at ATX Seed Ventures. “This is a massive, growing industry, and Everfest is providing a technology layer that to date has been lacking. We see enormous potential to build efficiencies in connecting the entire festival network, such that the whole industry is driven forward.”
Other new investors include Firefly Music Festival producer Red Frog Events, Airbnb’s head of global hospitality and strategy, Chip Conley, and Benchmark Capital’s Bob Kagle.
As part of the deal, Shonk and Charlie Walker – co-founder of C3 Presents, since 2014 owned by Live Nation – join Everfest’s board of directors.
“We’ll be rapidly expanding our portfolio of partner festivals globally over the next several quarters,” adds Cross.
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MVT goes int’l with Music Venues Alliance Austin
The UK’s Music Venue Trust (MVT) has announced the launch of Music Venues Alliance Austin, the first international chapter of its Music Venues Alliance association.
The new organisation, headed up by Rebecca Reynolds, aims to “quickly pick up the challenge of protecting, securing and improving” the Texas city’s grassroots venues.
Despite its oft-quoted status as the ‘live music capital of the world’, Austin lost more than 1,200 music-industry jobs and wiped off over US$100 million from value of its live music sector from 2010 to 2014.
Reynolds says: “Here in Austin, we have been following the work of Music Venue Trust and the Music Venues Alliance in the UK with huge interest. The problems they are describing resonated very clearly with us here.
“Although we have our own unique drivers for what threatens the future of Austin music venues, the core challenges are the same”
“Although we have our own unique drivers for what threatens the future of Austin music venues, the core challenges are the same: gentrification; rising rents; a lack of cultural acknowledgement and respect for the work they are doing; and a music industry that needs to start backing these spaces if they are to continue to develop new and emerging talent. We found the work of MVT inspiring, and the progress they have made in such a short time [is] amazing.”
Austin venues interested in joining the alliance are invited to contact Reynolds at [email protected].
“We’d love to hear from more cities and countries around the world,” adds MVT CEO Mark Davyd. “Ultimately, we’d like to see the work of these venues respected globally by the music industry, government and the cultural sector. Joining together, we believe we can make that happen.”
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