Bush performs at the 2011 Sunset Strip Music Festival. (Photo by Jesse Solorio)
Nederlander Concerts CEO Alex Hodges has fond memories of the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, Calif., from watching Jackie Wilson at the Whisky A Go Go in the 1960s to witnessing the birth of Guns N' Roses at the Roxy in the late 1980s.
So the live music veteran was thrilled when he received a call from the Sunset Strip Music Festival (SSMF) organizers asking if Los Angeles-based Nederlander would be interested in booking and promoting the seventh annual street festival on the legendary Strip. This year’s event is expanding to two days and taking place Sept. 20-21.
“We loved how Nederlander had the passion for the Sunset Strip,” SSMF CEO Todd Steadman said, noting that he took meetings with other concert promoters. “We’re working cooperatively, but relying on their expertise in booking the festival for the street.”
As in years past, SSMF will boast multiple outdoor concert stages, as well as live shows in venues along the closed-off Strip, including the Roxy Theatre, the Viper Room and the House of Blues. The Jack Daniel’s-sponsored street fest also offers numerous interactive experiences and vendors.
SSMF’s 2013 lineup featured Linkin Park, Awolnation, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Finch, Wale, and Asher Roth, among others. Last year’s event launched with a tribute to Sunset Strip icon Joan Jett, who received the Elmer Valentine Award for her contributions to the L.A. music scene. Other past headliners have included Marilyn Manson, Public Enemy, Smashing Pumpkins, and Ozzy Osbourne.
The 2014 musical lineup, icon honoree and ticketing information will be announced in the coming weeks. “There have been a number of bands that got their start or jump-start on the Strip,” Steadman said. “That’s what is so exciting about this festival.”
Nederlander will be responsible for booking the overall two-day event and collaborating with venues along the Strip in booking acts in those facilities. Nederlander talent director Justin Kujawa now serves as the point person for SSFM bookings.
“We’re not trying to be a carbon copy of the past or any other particular festival that exists,” Hodges said, noting that SSMF 2014 will keep a similar formula as years past. “It’s a matter of looking at rock ‘n’ roll and some other genres that have fit the legacy of Sunset Strip.”
As part of its agreement with SSMF, Nederlander will receive 25 percent of revenue from the festival. The remaining 75 percent will go to the Sunset Strip Business Association. The deal is for one year, with the option to renew. “We hope to make it multiple years, absolutely,” Hodges said.
The CEO believes that Nederlander’s longtime experience in booking such venues as Los Angeles’ famed Greek Theatre and the Santa Barbara Bowl, as well as other various-sized facilities on the West Coast, will greatly benefit the expansion and growth of SSMF.
“We buy shows up and down the coast on a day-to-day basis,” Hodges said. “So we have an advantage that they didn’t have in the past of making calls and seeing where the interest would be to participate.”
Promotion and marketing plans are still coming together for this year’s SSMF, but the event has already tapped six of CBS Radio’s Los Angeles stations as exclusive radio sponsors.
SSMF, which usually occurs in August, typically draws between 12,000 and 15,000 concertgoers. Steadman expects similar numbers in 2014. He says the push to September came at the request of hotels in West Hollywood which are looking to fill rooms during that month.
“The tourism industry has changed over the last couple years,” Steadman says. “The hotels are doing much better than they did, say, five years ago. So they had a need for rooms in the month of September.”
Interviewed for this article: Alex Hodges, (323) 817-6108; Todd Steadman, (310) 659-7368