It’s been a tough couple of years for live music in the U.K., but now AEG Presents UK CEO Steve Homer sees light at the end of the tunnel.
“Those four people are going to change the face of AEG and the touring world,” Homer declares. “They’re people with major rosters, big contacts, many years of experience and they’re definitely going to change the narrative as far as we’re concerned. By Q4, when everyone has their feet under the table, we’re going to start putting stuff on sale that will be more high profile than we’ve done in the past.
Such venues could become even more important if London loses perhaps the most famous mid-sized venue of them all, with the O2 Academy Brixton facing closure after the death of two people following a crush at a gig by Nigerian singer Asake. Grassroots venues, having weathered the pandemic, are also under pressure and the Music Venue Trust has called for a cut of ticket sales at new arenas to be diverted to support the smaller venues. Homer says he’s in discussions with MVT about that proposal.
The Manchester event has grown from a 25,000-capacity, one-day event in 2010 to a 80,000-capacity, two-day behemoth, with weekend and Saturday tickets already sold out for the June 10-11 2023 event. “Everybody working in hospitality could do with greater support,” Kendal says. “Rising energy costs are pushing a lot of businesses to the brink. Club promoters do have a reputation for being lunatics and very bold in their planning, but even the boldest promoters are not desperate to rush out and open new venues in a climate like this.”
“When I came to the business a year ago and got to look under the hood, I said we should be better known in the U.K. than we are,” Kennedy tells Variety. “This year has been about getting the narrative out there that we are a substantial business. We’ve now bridged that gap and we should be seen as one of the top players at that table.”
The company has had U.K. success with a wide range of artists, from rapper Knucks to veteran singer-songwriter James Morrison, and Kennedy says he’s confident Believe is now ready to start breaking international stars.
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