Live Nation, others planning own Desert Trip
Proving once and for all that imitation truly is the sincerest form of flattery, a coalition of non-AEG promoters are reportedly planning their own answer to AEG Live’s US$150 million-grossing Desert Trip festival.
Billboard reports the bi-coastal festival – comprising Classic East at Citi Field (41,922-cap.) in New York and Classic West at Dodger Stadium (56,000-cap.) in Los Angeles – will headlined by Eagles and Fleetwood Mac and organised by Live Nation, Irving Azoff’s companies Oak View Group and Azoff MSG Entertainment and Creative Artists Agency (CAA).
It will the first show by Eagles since the death of founder member Glenn Frey in January 2016. Both Eagles and Fleetwood Mac are represented by CAA Music.
The four companies hope to develop an annual festival franchise around Classics East and West
According to Billboard, the four companies hope to develop an annual festival franchise around Classics East and West.
The inaugural Desert Trip, held on the Coachella site in Indio, California, was a huge success for AEG’s Goldenvoice, with its line-up featuring a sextet of boomer greats – The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters and The Who – delivering record-breaking revenue for the promoter and contributing to an estimated $250m economic impact on the surrounding area.
Goldenvoice has yet to confirm whether Desert Trip will return in 2017, although Rolling Stone speculates Bruce Springsteen, The Police, U2, The Kinks, Elton John and Led Zeppelin could be in the running to perform if it does. (Take those predictions with a healthy spoonful of salt, though: Fleetwood Mac are also on the magazine’s list.)
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Pretenders, Stevie Nicks announce 24kt Gold tour
Stevie Nicks will this autumn embark on her first headlining tour since 2012 with a 27-date trek through arenas across the US and Canada.
The 24 Karat Gold tour, promoted exclusively by Live Nation, will see the ex-Fleetwood Mac frontwoman and solo star (pictured) joined by the Pretenders, who haven’t toured since 2009 or played live since 2012.
The tour will kick off at the Talking Stick Arena (18,422-cap.) in Phoenix, Arizona, on 25 October and conclude at The Forum (17,505-cap.) in Inglewood, California, on 18 December, taking in arenas in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Vancouver, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta and more.
A full list of dates is available on Nicks’s website.
Nicks’s 2015 On with the Show tour with Fleetwood Mac with the sixth highest-grossing of 2015, with a total of US$125.1 million from 78 dates.
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