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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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One dead, several hurt in shooting at punk venue

One man was killed and another suffered “life-threatening” injuries in a shooting at a DIY punk venue in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US.

Several other people were also hurt in the incident, which took place at Nudieland at around 10pm on Friday (11 August). Police are hunting suspects who fled the scene.

The identity of the man who died, who was in his 30s, has not yet been released by the authorities.

Police say that seven people were shot in total after someone walked up to the alley of the venue and opened fire.

“We believe one of the persons was being targeted by a shooter”

“We believe one of the persons was being targeted by a shooter,” Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara tells a press conference, as reported by MPR News. “We know two suspects ran from the scene, we can’t confirm there were two shooters though.”

The incident comes two months after two people were killed and three others injured following a shooting in the camping area of US electronic music festival Beyond Wonderland at The Gorge.

Also in June, a 35-year-old man was killed and another injured in a shooting at a concert in in Spring Valley Park, Kalamazoo, Michigan, while a 19-year-old woman was killed and four others were injured in a shooting outside a Fredo Bang concert in Newport, Arkansas, in February.

 


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Small fire breaks out at Panic! At The Disco show

A fire broke out on stage during Panic! At The Disco’s concert in Minnesota, US, on Wednesday night (15 September).

Footage shot by fans and posted on social media showed a blaze in the corner of the stage at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center while the band were performing.

It appears a member of the crew extinguished the flames as the band continued to play, with frontman Brendon Urie seemingly unaware of the incident.

The fire remained small and contained on the stage. No injuries were reported from inside the arena, which held about 7,500 fans, according to the Pioneer Press.

It is believed that the fire was a result of pyrotechnics used as part of Panic at the Disco’s show. At the time of writing, neither the band nor the venue has commented.

Panic! At The Disco are currently on the US leg of their Viva Las Vengeance 2022/23 global arena tour.

 


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Live Nation to book Minneapolis’s the Armory

The Armory, the newest live entertainment venue in Minneapolis, will feature “booking and programming support” from Live Nation, the company announced today.

The 8,400-capacity Armory – formerly, true to its name, a Minnesota National Guard armoury – reopened in December 2017 after an extensive renovation that introduced, among other things, a modular, scalable floorplan able to accommodate a variety of live events, including concerts and sporting and corporate events.

The venue will be open to all promoters, although Live Nation says it will tap into its “vast array of touring artists” to bring Minneapolis “even more incredible shows”.

“We look forward to delivering a constant stream of top talent to the city of Minneapolis”

“The Twin Cities [Minneapolis and St Paul] has been lacking a great mid-size hall, and the Armory fills that gap perfectly,” says Jason Wright, president of Live Nation Midwest. “With sightlines and amenities that are unmatched in the mid-west, music fans will marvel when they see a show in this space.”

Adds Ned Abdul, the venue’s owner: “We look forward to delivering a constant stream of top talent to the city of Minneapolis and working with artists in leveraging our state-of-the-art renovations to push the limits of their performances while providing an exceptional experience for fans.”

Upcoming shows at the Armory include Slayer on 24 May, Dua Lipa on 24 June, Greta Van Fleet on 3 July and 5 Seconds of Summer on 9 September.

 


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Live Nation to reopen Varsity Theater

Famed Minneapolis venue Varsity Theater is to reopen this February, its new operator, Live Nation, has revealed.

The 950-cap. Varsity is owned by Hong Kong-based investment firm GAW Capital Partners, which purchased the venue last year for US$2.5m from previous owner Jason McLean.

The 103-year-old Varsity, bought by McLean in 2005, had been largely closed since late 2016 as allegations of sexual assault against McLean mounted, with several artists calling for a boycott of the venue. According to local media, McLean is currently on the run in Mexico after failing to show up for court dates.

“The already great Varsity experience will be even better”

The Varsity, in the city’s Dinkytown district, will reopen on 15 February with a show by Philadelphia rapper PnB Rock, with the new-look venue benefiting from a raft of upgrades, says Live Nation talent buyer Josh Lacey.

“We’re incredibly excited about the Minneapolis music scene and the role the Varsity will have in growing it even more as part of the Live Nation family,” comments Lacey.  “This venue has a unique history as a development room, having hosted a number of break-out artists over the years.

“While the venue’s ambience will stay intact, a number of upgrades are in progress. All in all, the already great Varsity experience will be even better. We’re in the midst of curating as many great artists as possible and believe our kick-off shows are a great way to welcome back the Varsity.”

 


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Paisley Park museum to host live events

Paisley Park, Prince’s 65,000sqft private estate and recording complex in Chanhassen, Minnesota, is to be opened permanently to public tours.

The announcement was made following a unanimous decision by Chanhassen city councillors on Monday (24 October).

In addition to hosting tours – in which visitors will see “artefacts from Prince’s personal archives, including iconic concert wardrobe, awards, musical instruments, artwork, rare music and video recordings and motorcycles” – the estate, operated by PPark Management, is also hoping to turn itself into a destination for concerts and live events, a spokesman tells IQ.

Although nothing is booked or planned at this time, Paisley Park will be hosting and available in the future for events”

Although nothing is booked or planned at this time, Paisley Park will be hosting and available in the future for events,” he explains.

Prince died from an accidental fentanyl overdose at Paisley Park on 21 April. Read IQ’s tribute here.

 


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