Troxy completes dance trio’s London gig trilogy
Troxy’s head of live Simon Eaton has spoken to IQ about hosting the climactic gig in a trilogy of special London performances by Four Tet, Fred Again + Skrillex.
The electronic dance superstars joined forces for a run of three surprise shows in three nights at Camden’s Electric Ballroom (cap. 1,500), Electric Brixton (1,700) and the art deco Troxy (3,100) from 5-7 January.
All shows, which followed the release of Wasserman Music clients Fred Again and Skrillex’s Rumble collaboration with Flowdan, had tickets released on the day and sold out within minutes.
“We got a call from Eat Your Own Ears, the promoter, a couple of days before Christmas,” Eaton tells IQ. “We do a lot of work with them and are good friends of ours. They often come to us with similar ideas, although normally with a slightly longer lead time!
“They wanted to go with three independent venues – bigger venues each day – finishing with that final explosive show. They were looking for something of around 2,000 cap, which is our capacity for club nights, so we fitted what they were looking for. It was finalised around 27-28 December and it was all systems go from that point. I had to cancel my annual leave and work over the Christmas period, but it was well worth it.”
“To sell 2,000 tickets in 16 seconds and there not be a single issue was outrageous”
All three events were not announced until the days they took place, with tickets released in staggered announcements on the artists’ Instagram stories.
“They wanted to split the tickets into three sections, so each artist had their own little pot of tickets rather than everything pulling from one central pot,” explains Eaton. “They wanted the artists to make the announcements themselves, rather than the venue, promoter of anyone else.
“We’d already built all the ticketing behind the scenes and supplied them with the links the day before, so it was ready to go and we were just waiting for them to do it. Four Tet went just after midday and the other two not until a little bit later in the afternoon.”
More than 20,000 fans tried to buy tickets on the first two announcements alone, with over 9,000 users on a waiting list as soon as the final announcement went live.
“I think 16 seconds was how long it took for all tickets to be in baskets, which is insane,” says Eaton. “It’s broken all records here. To sell 2,000 tickets in 16 seconds and there not be a single issue was outrageous, so kudos to Dice, our ticketing provider, for that.”
“We had the most sold-out shows we’ve ever had at one period of time at the back end of last year – and that’s now rolling into this year”
An extended stage platform was built from the venue’s main stage which enabled the DJs to perform from a central location in the midst of the crowd.
“It was an absolute whirlwind, it feels like a dream,” adds Eaton. “It’s such a short period to put on a show of that scale and I can’t believe we pulled it off. It’s great to have it out the way in one sense, but you like to look forward to these big events and I feel as though our biggest event of the year has already come and gone – and it’s only January!”
East London’s Troxy continues its busy start to 2023 with a sold-out concert by Editors (1 February) as part of Independent Venue Week. Other shows include Black Veil Brides (25 February) and The Flaming Lips (25 April), who will be performing their Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots album in full.
“There’s a different challenge every day,” says Eaton. “[The cost of] everything has gone up and it’s difficult at the minute, but everyone’s in the same boat and we’re doing the best we possibly can with it. Fortunately, we’ve got an incredible year of events coming up, which I’m quietly confident is going to offset all those costs.
“We had the most sold-out shows we’ve ever had at one period of time at the back end of last year, and that’s now rolling into this year.”
The building, which opened in 1933, is also undergoing a refurbishment, which coincides with its 90th anniversary and will result in a capacity increase.
“We’re looking at Q4 for that coming into play, but it’s TBC on what the exact number will be in terms of the capacity increase,” he adds. “That needs to be signed off by licensing and police and whatnot, but it’s substantial.”
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Ticketmaster Request launches in UK
Ticketmaster has launched its Ticketmaster Request tool in the UK with a run of shows by Four Tet in partnership with promoter Eat Your Own Ears (EYOE).
The feature offers a platform for fans to request tickets to concerts as soon as they are announced, giving them an equal chance of securing tickets to ultra-high demand shows.
When Four Tet’s May 2023 dates at London’s 10,400-cap Alexandra Palace were announced, fans were sent to a branded page to register their location, price tier and ticket type preference, along with payment details. Successful requests are automatically fulfilled, with organisers then having the ability to invite fans whose requests are not granted to purchase tickets for alternate or additional dates.
The result from onsale last week was a fully sold-out Alexandra Palace show, and enough demand data to announce a third date and inform strategy for future tours.
“We’re always looking out for new ideas to make the lives of fans easier and Ticketmaster Request fits that bill while also giving us a level of insight we’ve never had before”
“We’re always looking out for new ideas to make the lives of fans easier and Ticketmaster Request fits that bill while also giving us a level of insight we’ve never had before – demand data that actually led us to announce a third Four Tet show at Alexandra Palace,” says Eat Your Own Ears owner Tom Baker.
“It was simple to use and the Ticketmaster team very responsive and reactive. I guess ultimately proof it worked was that we very quickly and smoothly achieved two sold out shows, so it’s definitely something we won’t hesitate to implement again.”
Four Tet’s three-night stand is scheduled for 23-25 May 2023, with 100% of tickets for the final gig sold via Ticketmaster Request. Fans were also able to opt-in to receive details about future Four Tet shows, building a database going forward.
The tool has been utilised in North America for the past two years by artists such as Madonna, Paramore, Mumford & Sons and Pearl Jam. Access can be randomised or take in other criteria set by promoters on an event-by-event basis.
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Lucy Wood joins Roundhouse as head of music
Former Festival Republic booker Lucy Wood has joined iconic London venue the Roundhouse (1,700-seat) as head of music, effective from the end of March.
Wood succeeds Jane Beese in the role, who left the Roundhouse at the end of last year to take up the position as head of music at Manchester International Festival (MIF) after five years at the venue.
Having previously led the music programming for Latitude Festival, which last year saw performances from Lana Del Rey, George Ezra, Snow Patrol, Loyle Carner and Primal Scream, Wood will now head up the music team at the Roundhouse, which hosts over 100 shows a year, as well as in-house festivals In the Round and Roundhouse Rising.
With 15 years’ experience in the music industry, Wood has previously held roles at 19 Entertainment, Warp Records and Eat Your Own Ears, working on festivals such as Field Day and promoting shows by Grimes, the xx and Four Tet.
As part of her Roundhouse role, Wood will help expand the venue’s onsite music programme for 11 to 25 year olds, developing the current site with a new talent development centre.
“We are really looking forward to welcoming Lucy to the team at such an exciting time for the Roundhouse”
“We are really looking forward to welcoming Lucy to the team at such an exciting time for the Roundhouse,” says the Roundhouse programmes director Delia Barker.
“She has a great track record and is well respected across the industry and will bring an incredible energy to support our emerging artists – all whilst programming some of the biggest names in the world on our iconic stage.”
Wood comments: “I’ve had a brilliant three years working with amazing music from across the spectrum of genres at Latitude, as part of Festival Republic – building on my time promoting at London’s cherished Eat Your Own Ears.
“I’m thrilled to be joining the team at the Roundhouse, a world-class arts institution with incredible history, and to be supporting its exceptional work with young people.”
Upcoming acts playing at the Roundhouse include Sigala and the Growlers, as well as shows by Sports Team, Michael Kiwanuka, Kate Tempest and Roisin Murphy as part of the 6 Music Festival. The Strokes performed a special, intimate show at the venue last night (19 February).
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Founder Tom Baker steps back from Field Day
Eat Your Own Ears’ Tom Baker, the co-founder of Field Day, has confirmed he is no longer involved with the long-running London festival, three years after its acquisition by Broadwick Live.
Baker – who started Field Day alongside Marcus Weedon (who now runs Christmas-themed event Winterville) in 2007 – remained part of the Field Day team in a programming capacity in the turbulent two years following the Broadwick roll-up. Field Day previously took place in Victoria Park but was forced to move to Brockwell Park in Brixton for 2018, before settling on new permanent home at Broadwick’s industrial Drumsheds space near Enfield this year.
“After 12 years of living and breathing Field Day – something I co-founded in 2007, and that seeded out of earlier multi-genre events my partner and I did before, [including] Village Mentality and Return of the Rural at the 291 Gallery, Hackney, and Homefires at Conway Hall – it feels like the right time for me to move on to new things,” he tells IQ. “It’s a blank canvas, a challenge, but time to do something exciting and creative in a very changed landscape.
“Aphex Twin closing the 17,000-capacity the Barn structure in 2017 with an epic, mind-bending, incredibly magical set was a huge highlight, and one that will stay with me when I remember what Field Day was.
“After 12 years of living and breathing Field Day … it feels like the right time for me to move on”
“As was spotting members of Radiohead in the audience at an ecstatically received Toumani Diabate show at Field Day in 2009, when ‘world acts’ were viewed as a controversial booking.”
Baker says his focus now is on his promotions firm, Eat Your Own Years (EYOE), which has busy calendar of events for the rest of this year.
“Eat Your Own Ears has a strong autumn line-up with a brand-new live AV show from Floating Points, the return of Metronomy and Bill Callahan, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s biggest-ever show, Alexandra Palace,” he continues, plus “Hot Chip are back with brilliant new album and Alexandra Palace show, Anna Calvi’s third Mercury Prize nomination, EYOE celebrates the music of Talk Talk and Mark Hollis with a very special event at the South Bank, and much, much more.”
Field Day is expected to return in 2020, though owner Broadwick has yet to announce dates. Upcoming shows at the Drumsheds include Kano, Chase & Status and Elrow London’s Halloween event, Horroween.
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Field Day trades fields for warehouses for 2019
After a year in Brockwell Park, Brixton, in 2018, popular UK festival Field Day will relocate again next summer – to a ten-acre former industrial space at Meridian Water, near Tottenham Marshes in north London.
Perhaps taking inspiration from owner Broadwick Live’s Printworks venue – located at an old printworks in Canada Water – the festival’s new home is the site of a former gasworks, and comprises a ten-acre outdoor space featuring four giant, interlinked warehouses. The largest of which, at a capacity of 7,500, will be the biggest warehouse venue for music in London.
And in news that will be music to the ears of fans and south London busybodies – many of whom mobilised to oppose the use of Brockwell Park as a venue in 2018 – alike, the non-residential nature of the new Field Day site means its curfew will be later than any other festival in London.
The site is located a short walk from the new Meridian Water station, set to open in May 2019.
Field Day formerly took place in Victoria Park in east London – now exclusive to AEG and the home of its All Points East festival.
“This new site will allow us to break down the restrictions that London festivals are normally faced with”
Luke Huxham, Field Day festival director, says: “2019 will mark the start of a new chapter for Field Day and a completely new type of festival for London. This new site will allow us to break down the restrictions that London festivals are normally faced with and deliver an unrivalled experience.
“It’s hugely exciting to be working with such a pioneering council [Enfield], who support our ideas and are focused on creating a new cultural hub for London. We can’t wait to unveil more of our plans in the coming weeks”.
“Broadwick Venues are extremely excited and proud to be embarking on a new and exciting journey and hosting one of our own festivals, Field Day, at our new permanent venue and site,” adds Bradley Thompson, of Broadwick Live’s Venues division.
“There couldn’t be a more important time to focus on and replenish London’s music and nightlife culture, and this truly allows us to break the boundaries on what metropolitan festivals should be – and perfectly compliments our other London location and venue, Printworks.”
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Eat Your Own Ears renews with Ticketmaster
Independent UK promoter Eat Your Own Ears has re-signed with Ticketmaster, extending the ten-plus-year relationship between the two companies.
Upcoming projects for the partners include four 100% digital nights at O2 Academy Brixton with Four Tet, adding to a legacy that includes some of the earliest Death Grips shows, a series of Bill Callahan underplays and the XX’s record-breaking run at Brixton Academy last year.
Andrew Parsons, managing director of Ticketmaster UK, says: “Eat Your Own Ears is one of the UK’s most cutting-edge promoters, and my record collection would be much the poorer without the music they’ve introduced me to over the last decade. Their longstanding relationships with artists like the XX, Florence and the Machine, and Anna Calvi are testament to the respect they have garnered from the entire industry.
“We’re currently working together on a string of £5 Four Tet shows at O2 Academy Brixton – just another example of their innovative approach. We’re just excited about what they’ll come up with next.”
“It’s been an enjoyable journey working with Ticketmaster for so many years, and seeing Eat Your Own Ears grow”
Tom Baker, founder of Eat Your Own Ears, adds: “I very clearly remember sitting in the front room of a friend’s house in Blockley many, many years ago with my first-ever Apple laptop – I’d saved up by flyering jobs, door and rep work and, of course, a rather large credit card debt – and being excited to have set up my first-ever account with Ticketmaster. I can still now remember looking at the back end and learning how it all worked and being thrilled to be able to add more tickets to events, or get floods of anxiety when seeing shows that were not selling!
“So it’s been an enjoyable journey working with Ticketmaster for so many years, seeing Eat Your Own Ears grow and also working with Ticketmaster on Field Day, seeing the development of technology and not just being one man and his laptop…
“I look forward to developing the relationship and being part of new and innovative ways of ticketing to improve the audience experience and curb touting with the likes of the recent Verified Fan tickets we did for the four Brixton Academy Four Tet shows.”
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TM goes fully mobile for £5 Four Tet shows
Marking the first major UK deployment of its new mobile platform, Ticketmaster has partnered with Four Tet and promoter Eat Your Own Ears to power ticketing for the acclaimed British DJ’s return to Brixton Academy this autumn.
Four Tet – real name Kieran Hebden – announced yesterday that his traditional autumn all-nighters, preceded by two live shows, would return to the 4,921-capacity O2 Academy Brixton from 10 to 13 October. With tickets for all four nights priced at just £5, Ticketmaster is combining 100% digital ticketing with its Verified Fan technology – which uses “algorithms and unique data analysis” to weed out bad actors, such as ticket touts and bots, from the presale – to ensure all tickets get into the hands of “genuine fans” at the price intended.
The Four Tet shows, says Ticketmaster UK MD Andrew Parsons, are intended to be “a celebration, a party, with the artist giving back to the audience – and the pricing fits with that ethos. So for us, it was about how best to be able to deliver that.”
“Kieran, aka Four Tet, was inspired by a Fugazi show he went to in 1995 at Brixton Academy and paid £5,” says Eat Your Own Ears’ Tom Baker, commenting on the inspiration for the event. “They played with all the house lights on and Kieran wanted to replicate this. I said, perhaps at 4.33am people won’t want to be staring each other in the face with bright lights glaring into their faces, so why don’t we do the £5 ticket at Brixton Academy club shows in the dark…”
“We’ve worked with Tom for as long as I can remember, and this string of shows at Brixton Academy is just another example of their innovative approach,” adds Parsons. “We’ve both got the same goal here – to get fans in the door at £5 – and I’m pleased to say Ticketmaster has the technology to do just that. ”
“The future is definitely digital”
Contrary to much of the non-industry media’s coverage of Verified Fan – most notably around the onsale for Taylor Swift’s Reputation stadium tour last summer, which allowed fans to boost their chance of a ticket by buying albums or merch – the system is, “at its essence, the invitation [to buy tickets], the presale and the weeding out of bad actors,” Parsons tells IQ. While Swift-style boosts may be built into the platform, they aren’t a requirement, he says: “It’s about making sure we go on sale on sale with a clean list and ensure we are selling directly to fans.”
It’s still “comparatively early” days for Verified Fan in the UK, Parsons continues, though TM has already seen success with the platform for several high-profile club shows, including Harry Styles and Jack White at the Eventim Apollo in London.
The second, and arguably more important, aspect for the Four Tet dates is the mobile one: All tickets are digital and – similarly to platforms such as Dice – are tied to the mobile device from which they’re purchased, making resale for profit impossible. (They can, however, be transferred to a friend using the buyer’s Ticketmaster account.)
“It’s something we’ve been building up to for a while,” continues Parsons, who says the new mobile ticketing functionality is part of a “whole host of changes” the company has been making to its core product over the past 18 months, including a more editorially focused homepage, a new responsive check-out process and – most significantly – folding all ticket resale into Ticketmaster proper, following the shutdown of Get Me In! and Seatwave.
“There’s a huge opportunity in tying tickets to mobiles and taking away those little pieces of paper,” he adds. “Fans are ready for it, artists and promoters are fully on board… It’s really going to be ramping up in the coming months.”
“There’s a huge opportunity in tying tickets to mobiles and taking away those little pieces of paper”
As for the multi-step process of becoming a ‘verified fan’, is Ticketmaster worried it’s becoming too difficult to simply log on and buy a ticket for a show? “Everything we do is about balance,” suggests Parsons. “All the work we’ve done with Verified Fan so far shows we can do it in a very slick way – with artist engagement, we can spread the net as wide as possible – and if you speak to fans about whether or not it’s a good thing, they’re very supportive of it.
“The fans really appreciate the artist going the extra mile.”
“I think the future is definitely digital,” adds Baker. “Everyone uses their phones now for almost everything they do, and that will just get more and more easy as venues and promoters and ticket agents all embrace this technology. I think it makes it so much smoother for all involved, and cuts out touts, with the money going to the artists – and fans aren’t unfairly paying over-inflated prices.
“It’s a win win for everyone and I’ll certainly be looking to use both Verified Fan and digital ticketing for more and more Eat Your Own Ears shows.”
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Field Day’s Brockwell Park move confirmed
After 11 years in the now AEG-exclusive Victoria Park, Eat Your Own Ears’ Field Day is heading south of the river.
As first reported by IQ last month, the 20,000-cap. festival, headlined in 2017 by Aphex Twin and Run the Jewels, has been rumoured to be moving to Brockwell Park in south London since the announcement of Goldenvoice UK’s new All Points East festival. Goldenvoice parent AEG has a five-year exclusive on Victoria Park; Live Nation/Mama’s Lovebox and Citadel festivals also understood to be moving to Brockwell Park.
Field Day’s move has yet to be officially confirmed, but organisers held a consultation with local residents last night to discuss plans for the 2018 festival.
“The award-winning event has taken place in Victoria Park every year since 2007, with the 2018 edition being planned for its new home at Brockwell Park”
“The award-winning event has taken place in Victoria Park every year since 2007, with the 2018 edition being planned for its new home at Brockwell Park,” reads a letter to sent to residents.
According to one person present at the meeting, however, Eat Your Own Ears still has some work to do winning over local residents: Most are “not at all happy” about having an increased number of festivals in the public park, the source tells IQ, with one lamenting that the green space could become “one big urinal”.
Field Day 2018 will take place on 2 and 3 June.
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Lucy Wood named new Latitude booker
Lucy Wood, formerly a promoter at London-based Eat Your Own Ears, has joined Festival Republic as Latitude Festival’s music talent buyer.
Wood (pictured) replaces Natasha Haddad, who is leaving the company after three years to “spend more time in the USA”, says the company.
Festival Republic MD Melvin Benn says: “Natasha has become an integral part of the Festival Republic team and will be greatly missed in that role, but we obviously welcome her continued participation and advice in the consultancy role. Her work on Latitude has helped position the festival to be recognised for its innovative and exciting music programming. I wish Natasha every success in her future ventures.”
“Lucy brings a wealth of experience from her previous role and her addition to the team will absolutely help maintain Latitude’s ethos”
Wood, who replaces her this week, previously booked Eat Your Owns Ears’ Field Day festival in Victoria Park, London, and has promoted shows by Grimes, The xx and Beirut.
Benn adds: “I am very pleased to be welcoming Lucy, and have no doubt that her fresh and vibrant attitude will be an invaluable asset to the 12th edition of Latitude Festival and for future years to come. Lucy brings a wealth of experience from her previous role and her addition to the team will absolutely help maintain Latitude’s ethos.”
Wood says: “I’m really excited to be joining the Festival Republic team. Latitude has always been one of my favourite festivals because it has consistently strong programming, and attracts people who are devoted to music but not hung up on genre. It’s amazing to be able to programme for such an open-minded, music-loving audience.”
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Concert series to mark 40 years of Rough Trade
London-based promoter Eat Your Own Ears has announced a series of concerts to mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of Rough Trade.
The first Rough Trade record shop was opened by Geoff Travis in 1976 in Labroke Grove, west London, and was later spun off into a successful record label, now part of the Beggars Group.
Taking place across five London venues – the Barbican, Rough Trade East, Islington Assembly Hall, Moth Club and Shacklewell Arms – the Rough Trade 40th concert series will kick off at the Barbican Hall on 22 October with ‘a night of collaborations’ featuring John Grant (pictured) and Wrangler, Scritti Politti and Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor, The Raincoats and Angel Olsen and more.
Other shows include Ten Fé and Aldous RH at the East shop on Brick Lane on 26 October and Toothless and Puleché at the Moth Club in Hackney on 5 November.
Tickets are on sale now through Dice.
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