Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Pirate promotion

Orange County–based concert promoter John Reese doesn’t want to take on the "two behemoths"

Event organizer John Reese: “It’s always been hit or miss in San Diego. It’s hard to predict what will work here.”
Event organizer John Reese: “It’s always been hit or miss in San Diego. It’s hard to predict what will work here.”

A former bouncer who launched his own security company and then parlayed his concert access into a gig as the tour manager for Guns ’N Roses, penetrated San Diego’s closed-shop concert business.

“I think its super important for small guys to be able to do stuff in the music industry,” says John Reese, whose Synergy Global Entertainment (SGE) just promoted the Ye Scallywag Fest at Waterfront Park. “The industry doesn’t need just two behemoths to control everything. You still need small guys like myself or Len [Paul] from Soma to do things.”

Sponsored
Sponsored
Event organizer John Reese says Ye Scallywag almost reached its 8500-capacity at Waterfront Park last month.

The “two behemoths,” AEG/Goldenvoice and Live Nation, control most of the major venues in town and who plays them.

It is hard for independent promoters like Reese to bring major headliners to a local venue without their approval.

Reese admits he was able to pull in headliners Bad Religion and NOFX partly because of his personal history of working directly with the bands.

But the Orange County–based concert promoter doesn’t want to take on the big guys.

“I don’t want to rent out the Sports Arena and put on a show. I’m looking to create destination events. For Ye Scallywag we needed a special kind of venue to do a craft beer, food, and music festival. You’ve got pirate ships right across the street. I’m looking for destination events with a theme that will appeal to a certain niche. This would have never worked at Sleep Train.”

Reese, who has also promoted specialty comedy and EDM shows here, knows San Diego is not America’s finest concert market.

“San Diego is a very laid-back town with perfect weather. It’s always been hit or miss in San Diego. It’s hard to predict what will work here.”

He says his Scallywag event neared its 8500-capacity mark. Reese says he isn’t ready yet to outline his next San Diego event.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Bait and Switch at San Diego Symphony

Concentric contemporary dims Dvorak
Event organizer John Reese: “It’s always been hit or miss in San Diego. It’s hard to predict what will work here.”
Event organizer John Reese: “It’s always been hit or miss in San Diego. It’s hard to predict what will work here.”

A former bouncer who launched his own security company and then parlayed his concert access into a gig as the tour manager for Guns ’N Roses, penetrated San Diego’s closed-shop concert business.

“I think its super important for small guys to be able to do stuff in the music industry,” says John Reese, whose Synergy Global Entertainment (SGE) just promoted the Ye Scallywag Fest at Waterfront Park. “The industry doesn’t need just two behemoths to control everything. You still need small guys like myself or Len [Paul] from Soma to do things.”

Sponsored
Sponsored
Event organizer John Reese says Ye Scallywag almost reached its 8500-capacity at Waterfront Park last month.

The “two behemoths,” AEG/Goldenvoice and Live Nation, control most of the major venues in town and who plays them.

It is hard for independent promoters like Reese to bring major headliners to a local venue without their approval.

Reese admits he was able to pull in headliners Bad Religion and NOFX partly because of his personal history of working directly with the bands.

But the Orange County–based concert promoter doesn’t want to take on the big guys.

“I don’t want to rent out the Sports Arena and put on a show. I’m looking to create destination events. For Ye Scallywag we needed a special kind of venue to do a craft beer, food, and music festival. You’ve got pirate ships right across the street. I’m looking for destination events with a theme that will appeal to a certain niche. This would have never worked at Sleep Train.”

Reese, who has also promoted specialty comedy and EDM shows here, knows San Diego is not America’s finest concert market.

“San Diego is a very laid-back town with perfect weather. It’s always been hit or miss in San Diego. It’s hard to predict what will work here.”

He says his Scallywag event neared its 8500-capacity mark. Reese says he isn’t ready yet to outline his next San Diego event.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader