#235

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Back of House
January 07, 2025

Issue #235

We hope you all had an enjoyable end of 2024 and got to spend some much-deserved time with family and friends. We’re circling back, catching up, and getting ready to tackle 2025 where Beyoncé’s halftime performance is IN and junk fees are OUT, but TikTok and the TICKET act are on the fence. Either way, Kid Rock’s ready to open a can of whoop ass.

Go for 2025!

Credit: JULIAN DAKDOUK

Beyoncé Bowl 🏈

Beyoncé stole the show during the Christmas Day NFL game on Netflix. Over 27 million viewers saw her 13-minute performance - including the first live performances of songs from her country album, “Cowboy Carter” - that featured special guests (Shaboozy, Post Malone, her daughter Blue Ivy), marching bands, vehicles, and horses. It was part of a $60 million, three-project deal with Netflix dating back to 2019 and has been released by the streamer as “Beyoncé Bowl”, a standalone special, available now. Kendrick has big shoes to fill next month.

Is Vivid Seats selling?

Rumors are swirling around ticketing company Vivid Seats’ potential sale to a private equity firm. According to a report from Bloomberg, a PE firm expressed interest in a takeover and Vivid Seats is exploring the sale. When Vivid Seats went public in 2021 via a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) it was valued at $1.95 billion.

The US Federal Trade Commission announced its final rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (aka, Junk Fees) that will go into effect 120 days after it is published in the Federal Register (expected March or April). The rule specifically applies to fees associated with live ticket events and short-term lodging and requires the disclosure of all fees associated with a good or service to be disclosed up front, including any “misleading fees.” But will it stick?

The TICKET act (Transparency in Charges for Key Events Ticketing) was passed by the US House last spring and in mid-December appeared to be part of the final federal funding bill of 2024. However, as the bill was gutted, rewritten, and renegotiated, the TICKET act was modified and eventually removed before the Continuing Resolution was passed by the Senate on December 23. Its future is unclear.

Venu Holding Corporation will open four new venues over the next 2 years: Sunset at McKinney Amphitheater in McKinney, TX; Sunset at El Paso Amphitheater in El Paso, TX; Sunset at Broken Arrow Amphitheater in Tulsa, OK; and Sunset at Oklahoma City Amphitheater in Oklahoma City, OK. The company reported a 56% YOY increase in revenue after opening its first venue.

Live Nation will operate a new 19,000-cap amphitheater in Shakopee, MN scheduled to open this year.

Live Nation is also partnering with The Comedy Store to open franchised comedy venues in the UK. The two companies have been collaborating on shows for the past six years.

Desert Diamond Arena is undergoing a +$42 million remodel that will transform it into a “Music Mecca.” The arena is City of Glendale and managed by ASM Global and is slated to be done in the spring.

Liveurope has secured a €2.8 million ($2.9 million) grant to continue to provide incentives for music venues across Europe to book diverse European talent. The pan-European initiative has supported 5,000 concerts across 24 venues over its ten year existence. The grant will fund the program for four more years through 2028.

London’s The O2 Arena sold a record-breaking 2.6 million tickets in 2024, up 3.5% from 2023 and welcomed over 10 million visitors, an increase of 12%. In 2024, the arena was host to more than 200 performances, including 41 first-time performers, up 70% from 2023. In 2024, the arena also hosted the world’s first carbon removed arena events during The 1975’s four-night run, extracting and removing 545.9 tons of carbon.

Kid Rock met with Pam Bondi, President-elect Trump’s pick for the Attorney General and looks forward to working with her to “help fix the fiasco of buying concert tickets.” In his post on Instagram, Kid Rock wrote, “Gonna open a can of whoop ass on the bots, scalpers, venues, ticketing companies, managers, and artists alike who rip off and deceive the public with the horse shit that has gone on for decades and only gotten worse.” Buckle up.

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Lineups, Festival & Tour Announcements 

  • The City of Virginia Beach, VA is meeting today (January 7) to determine if they will grant Pharell’s Something in the Water festival a 5-day window in which they will have to put tickets on sale and announce the lineup, after the fest missed its December 31 deadline, or end their agreement. 

  • Kacey Musgraves will open AEG’s new Nashville venue, The Pinnacle, on February 27. 

  • Hogs for the Cause announced Charley Crocket, Stephen Wilson Jr, and Zach Top, April 4 - 5 at Uno Lakefront in New Orleans, LA.

  • Pennywise and Screeching Weasel will headline Punk In The Park, May 3 at Cow Palace in San Francisco, CA. 

  • Boardwalk Rock joins sister festivals Oceans Calling and Country Calling in Ocean City, MD. The new fest from C3 Presents will feature Def Leppard, Nickelback, Motley Crue, and Shinedown as headliners, May 17 - 18.

  • Boston Calling has announced  Luke Combs, Fall Out Boy, and Dave Matthews Band for the Memorial Day weekend (May 23 - 25) event at the Harvard Athletic Complex in Boston, MA.  

  • Denver, CO’s Outside Festival and Summit will feature Khruangbin and Lord Huron, May 31 - June 1 at Civic Center Park.

  • Koe Wetzel, HARDY, Cody Johnson and Bailey Zimmerman will headline Tailgate N’ Tallboys Music Festival in Bloomington, IL, June 12 - 15. 

  • Telluride Bluegrass Festival announced Jason Isbell, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Lake Street Dive, and Zach Top for the June 19 - 22 festival in Telluride, CO. 

  • Yungblud and AEG Presents will bring back Bludfest for a second year on June 21 in Milton Keynes, with performances by Yungblud, Chase Atlantic, Blackbear, and Denzel Curry.

  • Greensky Bluegrass, Orville Peck, and Margo Price headline Blue Ox Music Festival at the Pines Music Park in Eau Claire, WI, June 26 - 28. 

  • The Capitol Groove Music Festival will feature Bleachers, Cake and Khruangbin, June 28 - 29 at Bushnell Park in Hartford, CT.

  • Olivia Rodrigo, Alanis Morissette, Weezer, and Iggy Pop lead the Mad Cool Festival lineup, July 10 - 12 in Madrid, Spain.

Cancellations, Changes

  • Neil Young announced that he would not perform at Glastonbury, “because it is a corporate turn-off.” But days later, he reversed course (“Due to an error in the information received”) and said he and the band are back in.  

  • Last August, Byron Bay, Australia’s Bluesfest announced that after 36 years, the 2025 fest would be the last. However, organizers now say they are already planning for 2026.

  • The Disco Biscuits have canceled their SeaBisco cruise, originally scheduled to sail from Seattle to Alaska via British Columbia on September 9.

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