#168

Issue #168 | September 5, 2023Last weekend was a tale of festivals: One you couldn’t get into and one you couldn’t get out of, on opposite sides of the US. Plus, Taylor breaks yet another ticketing platform and Phish raises millions.

Credit: SoFi StadiumTaylor does it againTaylor Swift’s The Eras Tour is coming [back] to your city - this time to your local AMC movie theater in the form of a movie documenting the making of the tour. The film will debut on October 13 (of course) and will show at least four times a day Thursday - Sunday through its initial run. In true Taylor fashion, there was a ticketing debacle. This time Swifties crashed the AMC app the day tickets went on sale. The app was anticipating the increase in volume, yet still experienced “technical difficulties.”  

DEAG expansion plansDeutsche Entertainment AG (DEAG), European promoter, venue operator, and ticketing company, has said they will continue to invest in new companies with new co-CEOs, Prof. Peter L. H. Schwenkow and Detlef Kornett at the helm. DEAG plans to sell 10 million tickets to their 6,000 events throughout Europe this year.

Hoping for swirlyFour women got into an aggressive fight outside - and then inside - the port-o-potties at a Morgan Wallen concert at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA. Of course it was caught on video and the post’s comments alone, including one “hoping for a swirly”, are worth the watch.

Australian mall concertsLive Nation is planning to host a series of 20 concerts at 37 Westfield malls in Australia, starting September 17. The free shows include an hour-long set, a dedicated fan Q&A, and a meet and greet for guests. The partnership helps bring more guests into the malls and “provides customers with a new opportunity to access some of their favorite local artists,” according to Greg Segal, LN president of brand & marketing partnerships.  

Phish raises $3.5M for flood victimsPhish’s two concerts in Saratoga Springs, NY on August 25 and 26 raised over $3.5 million for those impacted by July flooding in Vermont and Upstate New York. 100% of the proceeds from ticket sales and merchandise went to the cause and fans were also able to donate directly to The WaterWheel Foundation’s 2023 Flood Recovery Fund. 

Amazon Music Live returns to TNF🏈Amazon’s post-game concert series, Amazon Music Live, is returning on September 21 with an Ed Sheeran performance live streamed on Amazon Prime and Twitch. 2 Chainz will return as the host and DICE is handling the “invitation only” ticketing for the season of performances following Thursday Night Football games.

Pyro close callEllie Goulding “face is intact” after a close call with on-stage pyro during a performance at Victorious Festival in Portsmouth, England at the end of August. Videos shared by fans show Goudling appear to get hit in the face with a firework, but barely missing a beat - other than a quick expletive. Goulding later shared on her IG story that she was OK and didn’t actually get hit in the face.  

Metallica sets SoFi recordMetallica - not Taylor Swift or the Super Bowl - has set the attendance record for SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, CA, with 80,000 tickets sold on the first night of their two-night stint. They sold 76,000 tickets for night two. Both shows were staged in-the-round, allowing for additional seats within the venue. (For the record, Taylor sold 70,000 tickets per show and 70,240 people were at the stadium for the Super Bowl.)  

Festival travel greatest contributor to carbon footprintAGF (formerly A Greener Festival) has released a new report that shows that travel (including guests, performers, staff, and vendors) has the largest impact on the average festival’s carbon emissions at 58%. This number, however, can vary greatly based on the size of the event and should not be the only area to consider when attempting to make the festival more sustainable. The full report can be found here. 

#PeopleNewsAEG has promoted Jenn Yacoubian and Stacy Vee to Executive Vice President. The two will oversee the talent booking department at Goldenvoice. 

Danny Wimmer Presents announced four new hires: Elizabeth Harsh as EVP of Brand and Experience, Johnny Firecloud as Director of Digital Communications, Anson Li as Director of Insights, and Britten Stephenson as Guest Services Manager.

  Events DC is hiring a Senior Vice President of Business Operations and Strategic Growth in Washington, DC.   Jumping Fences, Inc is looking for a full-time, remote Project Manager to work on the Berkeley Half Marathon & San Francisco Marathon. Salary: $80,000.     1/ST is hiring a Manager, Experiential & Events to plan and execute some of the largest racing and entertainment experiences in sports, on-site in Hallandale Beach, FL.

Would you rather be stuck inside or outside of a festival?

Last Week's Results:

49% of BOH readers think it will be 7-10 years before the US zones in on legislations to rid of single use packaging waste and require the usage of reusable products.

Lineups, Festival & Tour Announcements

• Jawbreaker’s 1234Fest, scheduled for September 9 in Denver and September 23 in Philadelphia (Camden, NJ) has been canceled. Following the announcement, Jawbreaker quickly announced one-off performances in both cities.

• The September 29 - October 1 Treeline Festival (formerly Roots N Blues) has been canceled due to “significantly higher expenses” a month before it was scheduled to take place in Columbus, MO. The Columbus CVB expects the cancellation to cost the community over $1 million. 

• Travis Scott has removed the Houston, TX stop from his Utopia tour schedule following backlash from the Houston Police Officers’ Union among others. 

• Bassnectar announced two October shows in Asheville, NC, but they were canceled the same day due to public backlash as a result of his sexual misconduct allegations. Bassnectar replied with an IG post stating, “We don’t cancel culture, we create it” and that the Las Vegas shows were still on. 

• Dave Matthews Band announced a short run of fall dates in the US, kicking off November 7 in Savannah, GA. 

• Myke Towers and The Martinez Brothers will headline The Motherland Festival November 18 in Puerto Rico. The festival is a partnership between Disco Donnie and Puerto Rican based promoter Visionary Ally. 

• Zach Bryan announced his 2024 “Quittin’ Time Tour" with 54 dates throughout the US and Canada. The announcement comes on the heels of setting the Intrust Bank Arena (Wichita, KS) attendance record last week. The previous record was held by Metallica. He also set the F&B record at the same venue.

About last weekend... A tale of two festivals

Burning Man (Black Rock City, NV)

• Weather affected this year’s Burning Man right from the start, with Hurricane Hillary delaying the start of build week from August 21 to 23. The festival officially opened to guests on August 27.

• Friday, September 1, the playa is hit with 0.8 inches of rain over 24 hours, which is the equivalent of  2 - 3 months worth of rain. Roads in and out are shut down; guests are advised not to drive or ride their bikes. 70,000 guests are stranded in the desert. A guest dies; his death is later revealed to be unrelated to the weather.

• On Saturday, the gates in and out remain closed, Black Rock City airport is also shut down. The mud is ankle deep. Walking is difficult, biking and driving is prohibited. Guests are advised to “conserve food, water, and fuel, and shelter in a warm, safe space.” Diplo somehow hitchhikes out and makes it to his Saturday night concert in DC.

• Gates in and out are still closed on Sunday, with the event sharing a “Wet Playa Survival Guide” for guests. Burning Man Project CEO, Marian Goodell, tells CNN, “There is no cause for panic." President Biden is briefed on the situation, but the event declines help from the National Guard. The traditional end of festival burning of “the man” is postponed and guests begin to make their way out of the festival on foot.

• Monday at 2 PM, the driving ban is lifted and guests begin “the exodus” out of the playa, though they are encouraged to stay until Tuesday if they can. Wait times for vehicles to leave exceed 5 hours. The airport opens and air travel also resumes. The man burn finally takes place. 

• Despite all of that, Burners make the most of their time at the playa. "When you get pushed to extremes, that's when the most fun happens," said veteran Burner, Brian Fraoli.Live updates from The Independent.

Electric Zoo (Randalls Island, NY)

• On Friday, September 1, just hours before gates were supposed to open, the festival alerted guests that they were canceling opening day due to “global supply chain disruptions” leading to the main stage not being completed in time. 

• Saturday happened, but the opening was delayed two hours and some fans waited in lines of up to 3 hours at the box office just to get in.

• On Sunday, the final day, at 6:35 PM Electric Zoo announced that the event had reached its capacity and even if guests had tickets, they wouldn't be allowed in. Fans who had been waiting in line for hours rushed the gates.

Parrotheads lost their leader over the weekend as legendary artist Jimmy Buffet passed away.

Taylor Swift joins The Weeknd as the only other artist to have 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

 LA Times has this fall’s can’t miss albums, concerts, and books. Road tripping this fall? Your carmates can now add songs to your Apple Music playlist via SharePlay on CarPlay in the latest version of iOS. 

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