AEG Presents unveils new outdoor concert series
AEG Presents is launching a new outdoor concert series at Warwick Castle in the UK, called The Castle Sessions.
The inaugural sessions comprise four concerts between 4–7 July, headlined by The Darkness, JLS, Craig David presents TS5 and Mika respectively. More acts will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Castle Sessions marks JLS’s return to the medieval castle 14 years after their 2010 concert there with Diana Vickers.
“Warwick Castle is such a unique setting and fans across the UK have shown their appetite for seeing the biggest acts in these special places,” say AEG promoters Chloe Pean and Rachel Lloyd in a joint statement.
“Fans across the UK have shown their appetite for seeing the biggest acts in these special places”
Liam Bartlett, general manager of Warwick Castle, adds: “We are so excited to welcome these artists to Warwick Castle as part of The Castle Sessions and hope that this event, along with others in 2024 will bring lots of new visitors into this magnificent town.”
Last year, Warwick Castle saw concerts from the likes of Gwen Stefani, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, UB40, Bastille, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Rag’n’Bone Man, Kaiser Chiefs and Will Young.
Meanwhile, AEG Presents has announced that The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie will co-headline Sunday 25 August at All Points East in London.
The show celebrates 20 years of their albums Give Up and Transatlanticism and marks The Postal Service’s first performance in London in a decade.
The two bands join previously announced headliners Loyle Carner (17 August) and LCD Soundsystem (23 August).
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D2C platform Townsend captures live streams on record
Townsend Music, the leading direct-to-consumer (D2C) platform, has been providing its artist clients with a new revenue stream during the pandemic by capturing their livestreamed shows on record.
The platform, which hosts over 1,000 artist D2C stores, has been converting its clients’ livestream recordings into one-off, collectable vinyl to be sold exclusively through the stores.
In December, British rock band The Darkness delivered a livestreamed concert from Indigo at the O2, London, in conjunction with Townsend, Live Here Now, AEG and Dice.
The ticketed performance, which took place under the banner of ‘Streaming of A White Christmas’, was transformed into a brand new live album, presented as a deluxe triple ‘sparkle green’ heavy vinyl with booklets and a deluxe double CD for £40 and £20 respectively – generating not one, but two income streams for the band.
“These campaigns have been a huge success and they’ve provided the artists with decent revenue streams and strong data”
Similarly, Townsend packaged Embrace’s greatest hits concert, livestreamed from their own studio during the pandemic, into a triple-coloured vinyl dubbed ‘Best Of Live From The Cellar Of Dreams’ which was informed by a fan-powered setlist.
“These campaigns have been a huge success and really enjoyable to put together. They’ve provided the artists with decent revenue streams and strong data capture,” says Bruce McKenzie, sales director at Townsend Music.
“It’s also been great to pay over some of the money to the band’s crew who are such an important part of the team who have been hit the hardest during lockdown.”
The company has also organised other exclusive D2C live albums using archive material from artists including Supergrass, James, Shed Seven and Bryan Ferry.
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Biggest-ever IFF 2019 sells out
The fifth edition of the International Festival Forum (IFF) has sold out in advance of the 24 to 26 September event, with 800 delegates attending from 40 markets, 40 agency showcases and a keynote interview with Rock Werchter’s Herman Schueremans.
The invitation-only event for festival bookers and booking agents takes place in Camden, North London. This year’s edition has doubled the amount of networking space around the main venue, Dingwalls, and introduced pop-up agency offices on both days.
“We’ve grown a bit again this year, so have had to pay off a few market stall holders to make room,” says ILMC MD and IFF co-founder Greg Parmley. “Looking back over the last five years we’ve been very lucky – not just with the weather, but fortunate to have had tremendous support from our agency partners, many who’ve backed IFF since year one.”
Partner agencies on IFF include 13 Artists, ATC Live, CAA, ITB, Paradigm, Primary, Solo, WME, UTA and X-ray Touring. Artists confirmed to perform during the various agency showcases include Squid, Sports Team, Life, Happyness, Chinchilla, Niklas Paschburg, Easy Life and multi-platinum-selling rockers the Darkness.
“We’ve grown a bit again this year, so have had to pay off a few market stall holders to make room”
Conference topics at IFF 5 include festival billing, consolidation, competition from new market entrants, gender splits on line-ups, and niche events, while the IFF Keynote interview is Rock Werchter founder and Live Nation Belgium head Herman Schueremans.
With IFF reaching a milestone fifth edition, amongst the various dinners and events is a joint birthday party on Thursday 26 September with European metal festival behemoth Wacken Open Air (30 this year), and Japan’s Summer Sonic (20 this year).
Other new elements at the event include Knowledge and Green Hubs featuring innovative suppliers and sustainability experts, while hosted speed meetings and a delegate portal return for the third year, supported by the Department of International Trade.
Full event information is online at www.iff.rocks.
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