Handsome Tours and Civil Society touring have announced that they’re merging as touring companies, with both companies releasing a press statement simultaneously at 9am yesterday. The statement says:
Handsome Tours P/L and Civil Society P/L, two of Australia’s leading live concert promoters, announced today they will be merging their business activities.
A new entity will be established trading under the Handsome Tours name. Handsome Tours directors – Mat Everett and Dave Chatfield and Civil Society directors – Ashley Sellers and Colin Daniels will be the directors of the new business. All staff from both companies will continue to work for the new Handsome Tours out of their Sydney and Melbourne premises.
Handsome Tours has been in business for 10 years bringing some of the most interesting and important international music to our shores such as Band of Horses, Interpol, Pavement, Yeasayer, The Shins, Broken Social Scene, Tegan and Sara, Jose Gonzalez, Bon Iver and many more.
Over the last 5 years, Civil Society has quickly built a reputation as a force in the live sector in Australia working with the likes of The National, The xx, Santigold, Grizzly Bear, Sia, Metric, !!!, Darwin Deez and many more.
Both companies have been operating in a similar area, touring indie bands in Australia often for the their first time and forging well deserved reputations. It may also reduce costs by avoiding both companies bidding against each other for tours and allow them to pool their war chests to bid for bigger tours.
