Marymoor Park, Redmond, Wash.
AEG Live is entering its second year of booking and managing the 5,000-seat amphitheater at Marymoor Park and has announced a new lineup and presenting sponsorship for the Seattle-area venue.
“It was a much sought-after type of venue for us in the Pacific Northwest because it’s an outdoor venue and those tend to do very well in the summer,” said Alex Kochan, VP of AEG Live Northwest. “People want to be outside in the sun, enjoying the show while having a picnic, and this venue really complements that experience.”
Owned by King County Parks, the venue is located in Redmond, Wash., 16 miles east of Seattle and home to software giant Microsoft. The 5,000-capacity venue sits inside the 560-acre park which includes a number of athletic fields and a velodrome. AEG Live took over management of the nine-year-old amphitheater in January 2013 from The Lakeside Group, a Seattle-area firm that books the summer concert series for the nearby Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery. Lakeside's contract expired at the end of 2012, according to Doug Williams, media relations coordinator for the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks.
Lakeside Group had struggled with the facility in recent years — the alt-country-heavy No Depression festival launched in 2009 with help from Live Nation only lasted two years because of lagging ticket sales.
According to city documents, AEG officials increased overall concert revenue by 61 percent during their first year operating the facility, bringing in $325,728 for the facility.
For the first time, AEG Live brought on a presenting sponsorship with Swedish Medical Center — “they have a presence in Redmond, where the park is located, and they wanted to connect with the tens of thousands of people that visit the facility annually,” Kochan said.
Other changes at the facility include more food and beverage options, a new VIP area with express entry, local beers and wines, and an exclusive viewing area. General lawn seating is also available at the venue. Tickets for Marymoor are sold through AEG’s ticketing company AXS.
For AEG Live, the deal is a great addition in the highly competitive Pacific Northwest market. AEG Live’s only other holdings are the 1,150-capacity Showbox at the Market and the 1,800-capacity Showbox SoDo, but Kochan’s office also books the WaMu Theater at CenturyLink Field as well as the concert series for the Washington State Fair in Puyallup. The office also handles AEG’s arena business in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and British Columbia.
AEG NW bookers Katie Brogan and Chad Quierolo will help program the 2014 season, which includes a June 17 concert by The Fray, Gavin DeGraw and Matt Nathanson with Mary Lambert on June 24, Robyn + Röyksopp performing their Do It Again Tour on June 26, two nights of Steely Dan on July 5-6, Cheech & Chong on July 19 and Ray LaMontagne on Aug. 13.
Interviewed for this article: Alex Kochan, (206) 652-9706; Doug Williams, (206) 205-3661