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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2-for-1 Wild Life, V tickets in TM flash sale
Ticketmaster UK is planning a Friday on-sale with a difference tomorrow morning, offering buy-one-get-one-free tickets on several festivals and tours as part of its latest 24-hour flash sale.
From 9am on 12 May, Ticketmaster.co.uk will be home to two-for-one tickets on “incredible summer festivals including the likes of Virgin V Festival, Wild Life and more”, says TM, plus offers on tours from UB40, Clean Bandit, Idina Menzel and Craig David, to name but a few”.
The sale will also include “deeply discounted offers” on other festivals and shows.
The sale follows the recent ‘Kickoff to Summer’ ticket promotion in the US by parent company Live Nation, which shifted more than one million tickets priced at US$20 between 2 and 9 May. Eligible tours included Kings of Leon, Future, Depeche Mode, Muse and Thirty Seconds to Mars, John Mayer, Lionel Richie and Mariah Carey, Foreigner, Cheap Trick, Styx and Nickelback.
Kickoff to Summer was preceded by National Concert Day on 1 May, with The Roots, Foreigner, Daughtry, Prince Royce, Nickelback and Jason Aldean launching the promotion with a show at Irving Plaza in New York.
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Star Boot Sale aims to raise funds for refugees
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is teaming up with stars from music, art, film and sport to raise money for the Syrian refugee crisis.
The brainchild of Blur drummer Dave Rowntree, the Star Boot Sale will see some of the UK’s most well-known faces donating personal items for charity, including the Stone Roses, Hot Chip, Blur, comedian David Walliams, ex-Spice Girl Mel C and artist Dom Pattinson – a number of whom have agreed to make surprise appearances at the Old Truman Brewery in London on the day of the event, 22 May.
More than half of the population of Syria has fled their homes because of the conflict. Jordan is hosting 635,000 refugees, meaning one in every 10 people there has been displaced. Almost all of them are living outside of formal camps and have little access to even basic services.
Speaking of a recent visit to Jordan, Rowntree says: “Nothing can be more difficult than having to uproot your life and your family and leave everything behind. But that’s what this war has done to hundreds of thousands of Syrian people whose lives are now on hold.
“The refugee crisis is in the news every day, but many of us feel powerless to help. By taking part in the Star Boot Sale you can make a real difference to the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable people”
“The refugee crisis is in the news every day, but many of us feel powerless to help. By taking part in the Star Boot Sale you can make a real difference to the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable people. It will be a fun day out with shopping, entertainment and food stands – but most importantly, all funds raised will support the IRC’s vital work in the region.”
The Star Boot Sale will also include an online auction of items donated by celebrities including Coldplay, Stephen Fry, Ant & Dec and actor Paddy Considine, ranging from signed records to unique artwork by some of the UK’s leading artists. These will be available to purchase through boot sale app Shpock.
Armin Strbac, co-founder of Shpock, says: “Shpock is excited to be a part of the Star Boot Sale 2016, and supporting the IRC to raise vital funds for thousands of people who have been forced from their homes. The money will go towards vital mobile health clinics ensuring that refugees can have access to doctors, nurses and midwives and receive the care they deserve.”
Tickets for the event, costing £13.50 plus fees, are sale now. For more information and to receive updates about celebrities’ items added to the online auction visit www.starbootsale.com or follow @starbootsale and @IRCUK.
Live Nation launches $20 summer ticket sale
To mark the beginning of the summer concert season, Live Nation has announced that tickets to nearly a thousand of its shows this summer will be on sale for US$20.
The Kickoff to Summer Sale runs from 13 to 20 May, with a full list expected to be announced later today as part of Live Nation’s ‘National Concert Day’ celebrations.
National Concert Day 2016 will take place at the Live Nation-owned Irving Plaza in New York and feature performances by Wiz Khalifa, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts (pictured), Cheap Trick and country singer-songwriter Dierks Bentley and “special appearances” by Live Nation summer touring artists Nick Jonas, Awolnation, Goo Goo Dolls, Corey Taylor and Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan of Slipknot, Simon Kirke of Bad Company, Rome from Sublime with Rome, Jared Watson and Dustin Bushnell of Dirty Heads, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness and Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional.
The concert will be streamed in full via Yahoo.
Other artists touring with Live Nation this summer include Black Sabbath, Duran Duran, Coldplay, Bryan Adams, Rihanna, Guns N’ Roses, The 1975, Def Leppard and Florence + the Machine.