AUSTIN, TX (Fresh and Clean Media) - Concert promoters Capital Sports & Entertainment and Charles Attal Presents did an end zone dance at Pollstar's Annual Concert
Industry Consortium Awards in Las
Vegas last week. Charles Attal earned the Bill Graham Award/Promoter of the Year, while the Austin City Limits
Music Festival won Festival of the Year. The two organizations together produce both the ACL
Music Festival and Lollapalooza.
The awards show capped three days of panels that annually attracts more than 1,000 leaders in the concert industry who alternate between bouts of music business brilliance and eighth-grade party fouls. In a field notorious for drama, volatility, and ruthless competition, respect is the theme of the week, as votes are cast by fellow industry professionals.
Bill Graham, for whom the Promoter of the Year award is named, is best known for his marriage of business acumen and musical vision. It's this vision that allowed the San Francisco scene of the mid-to-late sixties to "flower" in venues such as the Fillmore, Winterland, and Fillmore East, as well as introduced groups such as Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Big Brother & the Holding Company, and Quicksilver Messenger Service to the world, ultimately changing pop music and the concert experience forever.
"I am humbled," said an elated and slightly unintelligible Attal. "It's great to be recognized for work that's coming from a pure vision. Or maybe this award tells me I am paying the bands too much - that's why I'm getting nominated."
Attal is one of the youngest ever to be nominated for the Bill Graham Award and was also the most-nominated with four total nods: Promoter of the Year, Music Festival of the Year, Independent Promoter of the Year, and Nightclub of the Year for Stubb's BBQ, which Attal books and co-owns. This is the third year in a row the ACL Festival has been up for best festival and the first year it has won.
Charles Attal Presents is the exclusive talent buyer for Stubb's BBQ (Austin), Gypsy Tea Room (Dallas), Trees (Dallas), the Austin City Limits Music Festival, the Austin City Limits television show, and Lollapalooza. CAP also works with Starbucks and Harrah's Casinos to promote shows nationwide. CAP currently promotes over 800 shows a year and was listed in Pollstar as the 20th ranked promoter worldwide as measured by tickets sold.
"We are really honored," said Charlie Jones, CSE principal and executive producer. "It means so much more since our peers - who are at times our rivals - are the voters. This honor brings responsibility and the challenge to do an even better job in 2006."
The ACL Festival debuted in 2002 and was inspired by the legendary PBS television program of the same name, which recently completed its 31st season on the air. The experience-based live event offers the same diversity, emergent artists, and heritage performers the television show has delivered for more than 30 years, all in a beautiful urban green space. In 2005, 195,000 music fans exalted in more than 130 artists on eight stages over three days.
The Concert Industry Consortium is an opportunity for industry professionals to share ideas and communication through meetings, guest panels, and think tanks. The rock-friendly business conference saw bleary-eyed industry pros scurrying at the crack of noon to participate in valuable quorums.
"What we kept hearing really validated our event concept - the fan is at the top of our priority list," said Jones. "There is too much competition for their entertainment needs, so we have to give them an unforgettable experience... NOT just a concert."
Pollstar is the concert industry resource, providing tour schedules, ticket sales results, music industry contact directories, trade news and specialized data services, in addition to publishing Pollstar magazine.
