Australian-based music promoters and festivals are set to compete on an international level with some of the biggest and the best in the world.
A number of Aussie figures and events have been nominated for the international awards held by Pollstar, the esteemed US global live music statistics trackers.
The 25th Annual Pollstar Awards will be held in February 2014 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and could see a number of Australian entities walking away with top honours in the fields of global events, concert promotion, artist management, and other live music achievements, as The Music Network reports.
Leading the list is Byron Bay’s Bluesfest, which marks the second year running the annual event has been nominated in the International Music Festival of the Year category. It’s the fourth time that the festival, which celebrates its 25th anniversary next Easter, has been given the nod for the prestigious award, and is up against globally recognised heavyweights like UK’s Glastonbury, Lollapalooza Chile, Brazil’s Rock In Rio, Denmark’s Roskilde Festival, and Belgium’s Tomorrowland.
“We have been fortunate to receive many award nominations for Bluesfest and we appreciate each and every one, this nomination however is something very special,” said Bluesfest Festival Director Peter Noble in a statement. “The nominees are chosen by a cross section of International professionals and leaders in the Industry so it really shows what level Bluesfest is sitting at world-wide and I couldn’t be prouder.”
Pollstar has previously recognised Peter Noble as among the Top 50 promoters in the world in their mid-year report, ranking the Bluesfest director at #43 while the event’s home at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm – which hosted the inaugural Boomerang indigenous music, arts, and culture festival this past October – was the only Australian entry in the Outdoor Festival Sites category, ranking at #18 in the July rankings. “We have been fortunate to receive many award nominations for Bluesfest… this nomination however is something very special.” – Peter Noble
A number of other Aussie promoters who struck big in the same Top 50 list are also up for Pollstar Award gongs.
Michael Chugg, founder of Chugg Entertainment, and Michael Coppel, president of Live Nation Australasia, are both in the running for the coveted International Promoter Of The Year award, a title that Chugg claimed back in 2009.
Both are squaring off against the likes of American concert promoter Barrie Marshall, of Marshall Arts, Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur’s German namesake, Marek Lieberberg, Simon Moran of SJM in Britain, and Phil Bowdery of Live Nation UK.
Originating in Sydney and now based in LA, Aussie Roger Davies is up for the Personal Manager Of The Year honours, having guided the career of Aussie tour storming favourite Pink, as well as those of Tina Turner and Olivia Newton-John in the past. Pink is also nominated in the Pollstar Awards for the Major Tour Of The Year and Creative Stage Production categories.
Davies has been nominated alongside Ken Levitan (Kings of Leon, The Fray), Steve Jensen & Bradford Cobb (Katy Perry), Coran Capshaw (Phish, Dave Matthews Band), Clarence Spalding (Jason Aldean, Rascal Flatts), Jonathan Kessler (Depeche Mode), and Dalton Sim (Guster, fun.).
Rounding out the Aussie presence in next year’s Pollstar ceremonials is Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena for International Venue Of The Year, following on from being recognised as among the best live music venues in the world last July.
Meanwhile Perth Arena is nominated for Best New Major Concert Venue; since opening in November 2012, the 15,500 capacity venue has helped the WA capital become the Australian city that buys concert tickets the fastest.
Lastly, while not strictly Australian, a member of Austin-based C3 Presents, who co-runs the annual Big Day Out with co-promoters Ken West and the newly integrated AJ Maddah, is up for a special Pollstar Award; Charlie Attal being nominated for the Bill Graham Award for Promoter Of The Year.
Charlie Attal, one member of Austin-based C3 Presents, which co-runs the Big Day Out, was nominated for the Bill Graham award for promoter of the year.
Winners of the 2014 Pollstar Awards are determined by votes from the trade publication’s subscribers between now and 20th December, with the winners revealed at the Nashville ceremony next February.
