A HIGH NOTE
New Daisy/Palace partners with Live Nation to boost concert bookings on Beale
Live Nation — the “world’s largest producer of live music events” — is bringing its considerable muscle to Beale St reet. The company has signed a strategic partnership agreement as the “exclusive concert booking agent” for Downtown’s New Daisy Theatre and The Palace.
The announcement came Wednesday afternoon during a news conference in front of the New Daisy that included appearances by Memphis Mayor A C Wharton and Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell, New Daisy/The Palace owners Steve Adelman and J.W. Gibson and Live Nation’s Ben Weeden.
Weeden is the COO of Live Nation’s theater and club division, known as House of Blues Entertainment, which owns and operates a dozen House of Blues clubs, as well as eight Fillmore-branded venues, and books another 55 theaters and clubs varying in capacity from 500 to 5,000. The company produces about 8,000 shows a year. Weeden noted his division has helped foster the touring growth of acts such as Lorde and bands such as Imagine Dragons from clubs to arenas.
“With Live Nation as our partner, right now as we stand here, we have just become relevant as a national music scene player,” said Adelman, who’s overseeing a $500,000 restoration of the New Daisy, along with a $2 million reconstruction of The Palace.
“There was a time when all the acts touring America would not miss Memphis, Tennessee,” said Wharton.
“Then came the casinos and the sponsored tours and, as folks say in the streets these days, we lost our hookup. But, guess what, folks? We’ve got the world-class hookup now. We’ve got Live Nation.”
Weeden noted that the New Daisy, with its 1,100 capacity — “can do everything from developing artists in Memphis to national touring acts,” while The Palace, slated to open later this year with a capacity of 2,000, will allow the company to book rising stars to “capture those acts before they really break” into the large theater and arena level.
“Not many cities or venues around the country … have the history that this city has, that this venue has.”
Ben Weeden
COO of Live Nation’s theater and club division
Construction on The Palace is in progress. While the New Daisy is semi-operational, the venue has yet to confirm any concerts as part of the new Live Nation agreement, but is expected to announce shows in the coming weeks. The Live Nation deal comes at a time when the 1,200-capacity Midtown venue Minglewood Hall has established itself as a strong competitor for similarly sized concerts.
Though House of Blues Entertainment will handle the bulk of the bookings from its Los Angeles headquarters, Weeden said the company plans to have a Memphis team developing local talent and relationships with national artists. “We will have boots on the ground here,” said Weeden, who spoke about Live Nation’s determina- tion in making Memphis a top touring market.
“It really deserves to be re-established with that legendary status,” he said. “Between Steve, J.W. and Live Nation, it’ll be easy to get it back on the map where it deserves. Right now, there’s probably not as many shows as we would like coming through this town and our strategy is to turn that on its head, starting immediately.”
Each of the speakers, including Wharton — who called the agreement “historic” — returned to the theme of using Memphis’ considerable musical history toward building a contemporary legacy.
“Not many cities or venues around the country … have the history that this city has, that this venue has,” Weeden said. “We’re honored to be here. We hope that we’re standing here in a year and you guys have seen 20 or 30 concerts and we’re making you happy.”