#052

Headliner Kevin Lyman is listening to the young producing duo Goldlove

The US government sends some venue owners cryptic death messages, a clever way around the vaccine passport ban in Florida, and don’t panic, but porta-potties are in short supply and that might mean urine trouble. 

PLUS, it’s our one-year anniversary of Back of House Live! 🎉

Vaccine passports may be banned in Florida, but one band has found a workaround to avoid the $1,000 fine by offering vaccinated fans $18 tickets and unvaccinated fans $999 tickets.

Porta-potty suppliers and manufacturers are struggling to keep up with the resurgence of live events causing increased demand, supply chain fluctuations, and well… a stinky situation.

Some of the music venues that applied for the SVOG program have now received award approval notices. However, multiple business owners received cryptic messages informing them that the government considered them to be dead. The SBA has not commented about the mistake.

The International Festival Forum is returning in person in London this September. Organizers plan to share much of the event’s content online after.

PHOTOS: Black Pumas play first full-capacity show in Austin since March 2020.

Construction has officially begun on Oak View Group’s new Coachella Valley Arena. It is expected to open at the end of next year.

10,000 fans gathered at Shanghai’s Mercedes-Benz Arena to see rock band, Re-Tros, for the largest concert in the country post-COVID.

Melbourne’s Live at the Bowl Festival has boosted the arts sector adding $27 million to the economy. Read more about how the live industry workers there are getting back to work.

COVID restrictions in New Brunswick are expected to be lifted on August 2, giving hope to September festivals.

West Philly’s DIY music festival, Porchfest, returned this weekend with over 100 shows. Musicians, comedians, and others will perform from porches all around Cedar Park.

Instagram / @westphillyporchfest

Cheers to One Year!

Today’s issue marks the 1-year anniversary of Back of House! Thank you for helping us hit this milestone and continuing to bring you the Latest in Live each week. Also, a big thanks to the Back of House team who work diligently to make this newsletter happen. We want to take a moment to recognize our founders, Jessie, Hannah, and Sally, for their hard work, passion, and creativity over the past year. You will be seeing some changes in future issues -- all things we hope make reading Back of House more enjoyable, valuable, and digestible, especially as many of you head back to work. Speaking of heading back to work, now that you're out there, we want to see your back of house photos! We encourage you to tag us in your festival and events photos on Instagram using @backofhouse.live and #backofhouseviews. We’ll be sharing these photos in upcoming issues. Thank you for being part of the Back of House community, we couldn't do it without you. Cheers!

NFT – Is this just a fad?

Much like the 2016/17 ICO-mania, we witnessed a very short but explosive NFT bubble. With the recent epic crash on the crypto market, we think that the NFT bubble also popped. But the tech is here to stay and although we probably won't see artists raking in millions for exclusive tracks, people will keep inventing. Learn more about NFTs in the live events industry from Vasja Veber, Viberate co-founder and business development director. Viberate dropped the first-ever Live Event NFT in April.

The Latest Festival Updates

• The 2022 dates for Coachella and Stagecoach have been announced. They will make their return next April after two years of cancellations.

• An agreement has been reached between Ultra Music Fest and Miami’s Downtown Neighbors Alliance regarding construction, noise, traffic, and other complaints caused by the event.

• Virginia’s Lockn’ festival will return for three weekends this August. A different lineup will perform each weekend. 

• The Festival Fringe in Edinburgh is potentially facing cancellation for a second year in a row unless social distancing requirements are relaxed within a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, the Edinburgh International Festival is proceeding for the summer. Its organizers, along with the rest of the UK live industry, are still hoping that the government might reconsider an insurance scheme.

• A sudden statewide lockdown in Melbourne has paused the new Rising festival just one day after its start.

• There will be no capacity restrictions for Spain’s Cruïlla Festival. This decision was made based on recent test concerts including the Love of Lesbian show in March.

• Central Park’s SummerStage concert series is returning this June through August. See the lineup here.

• They’re hitting the road again! Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, New Order & Pet Shop Boys, Alanis Morissette, and Lady Gaga have all announced 2021 or 2022 tours.

Like BOH? Share it with 3 friends

Kevin Lyman is the founder and operator of the Kevin Lyman Group, formerly known as 4Fini, Inc., a live event production company and brand strategy firm. His most notable live production is the live music festival series Vans Warped Tour, which attracted about 750,000 people annually and was the longest-running North American festival concert tour. In the Fall Semester of 2018, Lyman started teaching at USC's Thornton School of Music as an Associate Adjunct Professor.

From “The Warped Guy” to Professor: Kevin Lyman

“My philosophy in life has always been: Music. Philanthropy. Education. Everything I work on has those elements.”Throughout Kevin Lyman’s 40+ years in the music industry - from a local production company in LA to 12.5 years with Goldenvoice to founding The Warped Tour in 1995 and producing it for 25 years and now as a full-time professor at the University of Southern California - it is clear that he embodies that philosophy.We had the honor of chatting with Kevin and learned more about what guides him and what’s next for him and the industry. If our chat was anything like one of his classes, we may be applying to USC in the fall.

You're a festival owner for a day and you can only have one:

Or

65% of BOH readers have received a contract for a 2021 event!

▶️  McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, CA is seeking a full-time Production Stage Manager who will be responsible for all aspects of show advance and in-person stage management. 

▶️  Apply to be the part-time Box Office Administrator for the North Carolina Opera in Raleigh. 

▶️  College students: FRNDLY Fest, a live-streamed event featuring today’s rising artists, is taking applications for their Street Team Manager.

▶️  Consequence of Sound’s The What Podcast dives into the upcoming festival season. 

▶️  TRENDING: Watch Willow Smith’s new video for her pop-punk track,“Transparent Soul,” featuring Travis Barker of Blink-182. ▶️  We are getting back together in-person, but are livestreams here to stay? Our occasional inner-introvert hopes so.▶️  New John Mayer Alert! His new album, Sob Rock, will be released July 16.

June 10: Virtually, join BizBash and Cadenceas with event industry leaders to discuss event personalization and the secrets behind energetic unique event experiences, in the new era of events.

October 25-27: Music Tectonics Conference is back uniting innovators across the music and tech landscapes: startups, major labels, indie labels, streaming services, distributors, social media platforms, investors, accelerators, legal experts, live event execs, gear makers, consultants.

Love getting Back of House newsletter to your inbox every Tuesday? Don't miss out on an issue. Move your emails from [email protected] to your primary inbox today!