WEBVTT - Harvey Goldsmith 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:13.560 Welcome, Welcome, welcome back to the Barbs podcast. My yesterday 0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:17.720 is truly a legend of the live music war Concer promoter, 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:22.480 Events promoter, Harvey Goldsmith, Harvey, Hi, Bob, thank you very 0:00:22.560 --> 0:00:25.159 much for having me. I'm kind of looking forward to 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:29.160 this discussion. Okay, let's start out with the type of 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:33.160 jure when our shows coming back. Well, yeah, that's been 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:38.400 quite interesting. Were suddenly in England in the UK seeing 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:41.720 some light at the end of the tunnel and we 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:46.240 had a whole discussion about it today. I had Minister 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:49.680 of Vaccines called me up yesterday to ask me what 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:52.080 the issues were with our industry because we were getting 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:57.200 nowhere with the government. It looks like country. So what 0:00:57.320 --> 0:00:59.560 you may have read in the papers that life will 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:04.920 start probably end of August, beginning of September. We're hoping 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:09.160 that there maybe one or two smaller open air events, 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:13.960 but the notion of reading and leads fifty capacity plus 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:17.479 and all that, I'd be quite amazed if they happen 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:22.120 this year. But we are hoping that indoor events and 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:25.320 the smaller outdoor events that happened late summer and then 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:28.080 indoor events will kick off in September. That's what we're 0:01:28.080 --> 0:01:33.759 hoping for. Okay, Glastonbury canceled, but reading and leads they 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:35.960 still see that they're going to go on, and that's 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:39.760 what I was just intervacing. Didn't actually say they were 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:43.240 going to go on. They said that they the headliners 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:46.840 are still booked. They didn't actually say yes, we're happening 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:52.000 because they can't. The earliest that any if everything goes 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:55.560 well and smoothly, the earliest we are going to know 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:59.120 whether we can have, you know, a back to normal 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:04.200 is June. That's the very earliest. What is the significance 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:08.720 of June because what's happening The government have announced four 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:13.600 different stages of activity to get back to normal. And 0:02:13.760 --> 0:02:18.680 while that's going on, there is more rapid testing being developing, 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:24.120 the vaccines being rolled out, there's now three vaccines available, etcetera, etcetera. 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:29.360 But the government are thinking, should everything be good and 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:33.840 we don't find another variant that the infection rate is 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:38.320 going down, the death rate is going down, the hospitalization 0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:44.079 rate is going down. So consequently, if various schools are 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:48.959 going back March the eight, the next move is that 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:52.800 people couldn't start mixing together up to six people. The 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:57.520 next movie is that retail will open, gym's were open. 0:02:57.639 --> 0:02:59.919 You've got to actually get a haircut for the first time, 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:03.040 not that you and I need it, but nevertheless everybody 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:07.359 else does, um and sold and so forth. And then 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:12.200 they're going made they're going to allow socially distant shows, 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:16.520 which for us they work um and up to a 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:20.640 thousand people. And then in June, if all goes well 0:03:20.960 --> 0:03:25.680 and there's no increase in infection rates, etcetera, then the 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.240 government is saying they're going to open the doors to 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:34.080 get back to normal. But we don't think that is 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:37.760 enough time from June to get everything together because they've 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:41.440 still got to work out the protocols for opening up shows, 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:44.680 which haven't been sorted out yet. They've got to test them, 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:48.160 they've got to evaluate them, they've got to cost them, 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:51.680 and then we've got to work out the balance between 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:56.080 vaccines are rapid testing, because the rapid testing by five 0:03:56.120 --> 0:04:00.840 minute tests are not don't show a long enough results 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:04.160 as yet, so they're still developing those. They've got to 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:06.720 look at the results of the vaccine. So we think 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:12.119 that we may have some smaller up to maybe fifteen 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:16.200 thousand capacity towards the end of the summer August onwards. 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:20.640 But I can't personally see a reading and the leads 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:24.359 at fifty capacity, or even the Big Hide Park shows 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:27.400 happening this summer because I just don't think there's enough 0:04:27.440 --> 0:04:30.599 time to get it all sorted out. Okay, let's just 0:04:30.640 --> 0:04:34.160 assume we'll use September one, that you can put on 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:38.760 arena shows in September one if you're the promoter A. 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:43.120 What are the issues of insurance? Well, that's I was 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.719 going to come onto that. There are three key issues. 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:50.640 One is what are the protocols which we just talked 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:55.120 about vaccines cleanin US, dealing with ventilation if it's indoors 0:04:55.520 --> 0:05:01.479 social distancing testing. The next thing isn't sure currants unless 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:06.080 the government can help either force the insurance industry or 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:09.080 do what we've asked them to do is to create 0:05:09.120 --> 0:05:13.599 a bond which we will subscribe to UM. And there's 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:16.880 if there's no insurance, there's no shows, there's no festivals, 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:21.160 and there's no tours because it's too risky. At the moment, 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:25.200 you cannot get cover for COVID anywhere in the world. 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:30.760 The final thing is an issue of US leaving the 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:36.520 e C. And there are two issues there. One is visas. Currently, 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:39.360 you have to get a different visa for every country. 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:42.320 It's a walking nightmare. You're gonna have to have fifty 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:44.880 seven different passports because you have to send them in. 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:47.240 They're going to be stamped and blah blah blah. The 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:50.479 second thing is something which you've never heard of. It's 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:56.840 called cabotage. Cabotage was a system devised by geniuses at 0:05:56.839 --> 0:06:01.120 the e C many years ago to stop Russian truck 0:06:01.200 --> 0:06:06.800 drivers dumping in Europe. And what kabotage means is if 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:10.240 you take a truck, load it up with sound, light, 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:15.440 staging and backline in London, taking on a ferry to 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:19.080 Paris to do your first show, you can unload it, 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:23.159 you can load it back up, you can drive it 0:06:23.240 --> 0:06:26.239 to the next gig, and then you have to stop, 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:31.040 send the trucks back with the driver, and then you've 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:34.000 got to find other trucks to start again, and then 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:36.520 every other go you've got to keep doing it because 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:40.239 you're only allowed one drop off, one load up. So 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:45.800 that's going to completely screw European tours. They are they 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:50.280 understand it now, the government they it was an omission apparently, 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:54.080 but they are starting to talk to the e C 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:57.320 about sorting that out. They've still got to deal with 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:01.320 the insurance, which is a major global issue, and they've 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:05.120 also got to deal with the protocols. That's why I 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:09.559 think Summer's end of summer is the earliest. Okay, based 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:14.680 on prior conversations with you, you were very pro Brexit. Yes, 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:18.000 how do you feel about Brexit? Now? They're still pro it. 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:22.120 It doesn't because you know they've discovered that there must 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:27.760 I'm told there were fourteen thousand statutes to go through, 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:31.800 and I am as much as I think it's staff 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:35.400 where we've got to, I accept that they're going to 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:38.200 be issues that just fall out of the trees that 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:40.840 haven't been dealt with, because that's the way the nature 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:44.400 of the beast. Anybody that's got any sense will know 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:48.520 that these things were not meant for our business. They 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:52.440 weren't there to to stop our business from taking place, 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:56.480 or to stop European artists coming to England or and 0:07:56.560 --> 0:08:00.240 trucks and so on. So it'll get sorted out. It's 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:05.640 only if the will is there, the way will be found. Okay. 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.200 Just for those people who are not necessarily from the 0:08:08.280 --> 0:08:11.320 UK or at verse can you please tell us why 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:16.800 you personally approa brexit um. It goes back to the 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:22.040 time when the EU was formed. There is a difference 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:26.600 between the EU, the European Union, and the e C. 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:34.240 The EU was principally formed after the war as a 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:37.880 way to stop another war and to get countries, all 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:40.960 of whom were in a complete disaster state, to come together, 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:46.320 to work together and to to start to redevelop their 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:49.920 countries and to trade with each other. The prime reason 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:54.240 was to sort out a trading relationship, which was fine 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:58.400 as it developed and more and more countries came on board. 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:02.839 A layer of bureaucracy C came about and the e 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:07.600 C Commissioners, who are unelected were then put into place. 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:11.960 They have one agenda and one agenda only, and that 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:16.800 is to have one federal state of Europe, and every 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:20.760 other member state and every person that lives in the 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:27.199 e C is paying for these people fortunes. All they 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:31.520 want is a one federal state. Whereas every citizen of 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.800 every country in Europe wants to be a citizen of 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.840 that country, whether it's the UK or whether it's Germany 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:40.160 or France or whatever. They don't want to be in 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:43.840 one federal state. They do want to trade with each other, 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:49.160 and there's this mix up and unfortunately, because they're not elected, 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:55.360 they're starting to become, if you like, semigods. So they 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:59.319 only eat at the best restaurants. Lunch goes on forever. 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:02.240 If you and have lunch, they will talk to you. 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:06.080 You can't get business done. They dictate the rules. They 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:09.840 suddenly decide, well, you can't have Yorkshire puddings, or you 0:10:09.880 --> 0:10:12.720 can't have British sausages, or our cheddar cheese is no 0:10:12.840 --> 0:10:16.440 good because they're bored, and so on. I spent a 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:19.480 year going out. There is a representative for the UK 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:25.320 to deal with an outfit called the EC is divided 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:28.520 up into divisions, and this was called DG ten, which 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:30.640 is a cultural division. It just to be clear for 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:32.720 those who don't know. For those who don't know, EC 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:36.640 is the European Commission, yeah, and d G ten is 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:40.880 the Cultural Office. They told us they had one billion 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:45.880 euros to spend on developing music across Europe and they 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:50.200 wanted to They have representatives from eight or nine countries coming. 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:54.319 I went over to represent England. I went there six times. 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:59.479 They told us they had a billion euros to unlock 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:02.080 the key of the cupboard that's got the money in 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:06.480 it is absolutely impossible. But they said, so you go there, 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:09.280 you have lunch, which is other waste of time. You 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:12.000 have dinner, you have a hotel, they run you around 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:15.960 in limousines, you have lunch again, dinner. Can't unlock the 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:19.960 keys to the money. And what happens at the end 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:22.760 of the days. Instead of this money going which is 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:26.600 what we all wanted, was to go to on the ground, 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:31.640 street level encouragement for people to get into music, new artists, 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:35.559 new bands, some form of competition, touring around Europe with 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:39.720 new artists and new cultural ideas. All that happened was 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:43.160 the money went to the b p I the money 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:45.880 which is the record industry. The money went to the 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:49.400 PRS which is the performing rights people. The money went, 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:54.400 money went to the TV associations and the film associations. 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:58.360 Are not one single penny went down the grassroots music. 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:04.640 And it's a joke, okay, just since you're so educated. 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:07.840 Shifting the focus a little bit, uh, in terms of 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:11.120 Brexit on banking, certainly the city in London was the 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:15.440 epicenter certainly for the continent. Uh. And now something for 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:17.480 the well one could argue in New York City, but 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:22.400 let's not argue that, Okay, but you know things are 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:27.880 moving uh. Universal is going to go public in Amsterdam. 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:32.040 In addition their issues of shipping, there's issues of getting 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:36.760 e uh like construction of cars, getting parts from other 0:12:36.960 --> 0:12:39.480 countries and sometimes the parts have to go back and forth, 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.920 making the focus larger. You still think Brexit's gonna work 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:53.040 itself out, Um, yes, because Brexit because they you it's 0:12:53.040 --> 0:12:57.040 got too big and you have the difficulty of propping 0:12:57.040 --> 0:13:03.559 out most of the countries. There's economy. Um is difficult 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:07.840 to put it bluntly, where the central banks are proper 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:12.080 having a prop up. We're contributing and we unfortunately in 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:15.679 the UK or on its citizens. So when when there's 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:18.360 a rule that comes up which the French farmers don't like, 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:21.040 they don't do it. But when the rule comes up 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:24.280 to Britain, the British farmers government, god, and we hate this, 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:28.079 but we'll have to do it. So we've already always complied. 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:31.280 But the French do whatever they want to do, and 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:33.880 so on and so forth. So it just doesn't work 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:37.680 for us. There will be hiccups. We've only been out 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:42.400 of the EU and the EC since January the third 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:46.280 December thirty one. If we're in February, it's going to 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:50.120 take six months before it sorts itself out. We will 0:13:50.200 --> 0:13:54.800 have a thriving trading relationship with Europe, but we will 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:59.160 be able to row our own boats, principally in on 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:02.360 the League Eagle system we'll have. We will be back 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:05.360 in control of our legal system. We will be back 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:08.520 in control of trade. We can decide if we want 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:12.760 to trade with Australia or America or New Zealand or Timbucto. 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:15.120 We can trade with it. We don't have to ask 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:19.560 the e C. We will forge a very good, workable 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:23.440 trading relationship with the EU, and they need us and 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.680 we need them. So it will happen, and it'll within 0:14:26.760 --> 0:14:29.600 and by this time next year you're going, what was 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:32.080 all the row about? We'll just get on with it. 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:34.920 There will be a few things that clearly aren't the same. 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:38.880 There are issues of joint companies and joint ventures like 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:44.080 the European Space Agency, like Eurotunnel, like and so on 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:48.200 and so forth, um, but they'll get sorted out as well. 0:14:48.600 --> 0:14:51.880 We need our own car industry. We need to be 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:55.280 able to build electric cars in the UK with our 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:58.240 own batteries and our own battery system. We can't be 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:01.200 just depend on and everything in Europe. We have to 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:05.880 forge our own independence. And maybe how farmers will get 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:09.360 better and we'll be on easing really good English lab 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:13.560 which gets exported around the world. Maybe our fish will 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:18.080 start to um to regrow and and all of the 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:21.360 fisheries will start to get bigger again because they're over fish. 0:15:21.680 --> 0:15:24.400 We can control it. We will have our own car 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:28.840 industry because we have to, and we will control our 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:30.960 own clothing and all the rest of it. And we'll 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:34.600 have a great trading relationship with our friends in Europe 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:37.120 and they'll love it. But we don't want to be 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:41.840 part of that mess. Okay, let's go back to what's 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:46.000 going to happen in the four Speak to how much 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:50.480 pent up demand there will be and be will ticket 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.400 prices sustain or as a result of a year staying 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:56.360 at home, are people harbled and not able to pay 0:15:56.400 --> 0:16:00.400 the prices they used to? Okay, here's the city squation. 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:08.680 There were hundreds, if not thousands, of concerts um Plan 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:13.200 for two thousand and twenty. Every single one of those 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:17.680 was postponed to two thousand and twenty one. All of 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:21.360 those concerts that were planned for the first half, quarter 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:24.200 one and quarter two of twenty one have now been 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:28.000 moved to quarter one and quarter two of twenty two. 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:32.400 Plus a lot of people who are like unsure about 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:36.680 um indoor shows coming back in quarter three have also 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:40.520 moved into twenty two. So we have a situation of gridlock. 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:45.120 The venues are suffering because they're having a whole dates 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:48.240 in twenty one and twenty two and they don't know 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:51.640 which ones are going to work. Currently. You cannot get 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:55.680 a date in a venue for love nor money. That's 0:16:55.720 --> 0:17:01.280 point one. The interesting thing is that the ticket rebase 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:05.160 people getting there asking for their money back is probably 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:09.399 less than five percent across the board. I had a 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:14.320 whole discussion with with one of my fellow promoters this afternoon, 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:18.560 and um, we've got I've got a whole series of 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:22.399 shows with Andre Pacelli coming up. Um, we've moved it 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:24.840 from twenty to twenty one, and we may have to 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:28.000 move it to twenty two depending on what happens. We've 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:33.040 refunded out of twenty eight thousand tickets, we've refunded a 0:17:33.080 --> 0:17:36.600 hundred and fifty eight and so on as you go 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:40.560 through this week and last week. As a result of 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:43.600 actually this week really as a result of the Mayor's 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:48.760 the gut the Prime Minister's an announcement, thousands of tickets 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:54.200 were sold. There's huge pent up demand for concerts. There 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:59.639 is a confidence issue, but there is no there is 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:03.640 no um let up of people wanting to go. So 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:06.840 there is an issue of confidence. Some factors are not 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:09.200 quite sure and they want to be dead sure before 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:12.760 they actually go. But nobody's giving up their tickets, which 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:16.879 is really quite fascinating. So for example, I start my 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:22.560 September off with Jimmy Buffett. My Jimmy Buffett shows sold 0:18:22.600 --> 0:18:27.960 out in about four seconds, and when we moved them 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.840 from twenty to twenty one, nobody back an eyelid. Were 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:35.720 actually refunded twelve tickets. That was it. And if I 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:38.600 have to move into twenty two because they're early September, 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:43.640 it'll be the same. So what we've discovered is that 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:47.200 obviously the younger you get, the more pent up demand 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:51.040 there is. There is a little bit reticence of reticence. 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:54.720 I probably the forty five plus age group, but they 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:57.440 just want the confidence to know they've had a vaccine, 0:18:57.640 --> 0:19:01.199 there's a proper testing environment. What's the issue we have. 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:04.000 Do you have to wear masks or not masks? And 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:07.000 how are the venues if they're indoors, going to be 0:19:07.200 --> 0:19:10.879 sanitized with better ventilation and so on and so forth 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:14.120 once they know that they're going to come back in droves. 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:19.119 So ticket prices can't go up at the moment because 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:21.560 there's nowhere to go up to because all the concerts 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:25.440 of books are all twenties inventory that's the same globally, 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:28.520 same in America, same all over the world. All the 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:32.240 inventory for twenties now moved to twenty one. And that's 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:36.280 the situation it's going to be before probably to the 0:19:36.320 --> 0:19:41.840 middle of twenty two, before a new life starts. Whether 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:46.680 ticket prices starts to increase a lot, I don't know um, 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:49.959 But at the moment they can't because they're fixed. So 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:53.120 you can't have a differential from ticket somebody that bought 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:56.679 a ticket in nineteen or early twenty for constant in 0:19:56.760 --> 0:19:59.800 twenty that are now going to happen late twenty one, 0:20:00.200 --> 0:20:03.160 and you've got to say a thousand tickets left because 0:20:03.160 --> 0:20:05.640 you haven't sold them all. You can't suddenly put them 0:20:05.680 --> 0:20:10.320 out and double the price. But the issue who pays 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:16.280 the course of the sanitization, the ventilation and the extra 0:20:16.320 --> 0:20:19.879 insurance that's going to be gobbled up between the promoters 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:23.000 and the artists, And quite honestly, the artists gonna have 0:20:23.040 --> 0:20:25.600 to come to the table the same as the promoters are. 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:29.240 So the old days of the agents hanging out so 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:32.440 they squeeze your nuts off and there's nothing left are over. 0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:37.199 They're going to have to be more open to be 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:40.760 able to allow shows to happen. They have to be 0:20:41.359 --> 0:20:45.000 aware that if there's an insurance issue, whatever it ends 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:47.880 up being, if shows a counsel at the last, very 0:20:47.960 --> 0:20:52.280 last minute because of COVID and it's overcover for it, um, 0:20:52.320 --> 0:20:55.200 everybody's gonna have to dip into their pockets to deal 0:20:55.240 --> 0:20:58.760 with it. So it's shared risk and then life or work. 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:01.760 So I think there will be some shift changes for 0:21:01.800 --> 0:21:04.879 the better, if I may add, but of course they 0:21:04.920 --> 0:21:07.840 won't last very long because the grief factor then sticks 0:21:07.840 --> 0:21:12.400 in them. We'll go back to the the rolling. Okay, 0:21:12.440 --> 0:21:15.400 So the business has changed dramatically from when you got 0:21:15.400 --> 0:21:20.680 in in the seventies. Are so if that time essentially 0:21:20.720 --> 0:21:23.439 after it leads up when it was but the guarantees 0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:27.720 were low. Now the guarantees are incredibly high. And do 0:21:27.800 --> 0:21:31.240 you see that changing. No, the guarantees will still be 0:21:31.320 --> 0:21:34.880 the same because there's too much demand. There's too much 0:21:35.080 --> 0:21:38.840 competition between promoters in each marketplace who don't want to 0:21:38.840 --> 0:21:41.640 give in, who have to have those acts that they're 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:43.240 going to pay through the nose for them. And all 0:21:43.240 --> 0:21:46.280 the agents sit down, they're just playing tennis. They look 0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:48.240 at this one and then they go what about you? 0:21:48.320 --> 0:21:50.320 And they look at that one and he says this, 0:21:50.400 --> 0:21:52.119 and then they go back this one and says he 0:21:52.160 --> 0:21:57.520 says this. That's the nature of the animal. Okay, which 0:21:57.560 --> 0:22:00.680 brings up the issue of consolidation, which is five years 0:22:00.720 --> 0:22:03.800 old that year. What is your viewpoint because you're a 0:22:03.800 --> 0:22:07.720 total independent, he mean, were you ever offered to join 0:22:07.800 --> 0:22:10.159 either age or a live nation And what is your 0:22:10.200 --> 0:22:15.280 viewpoint about them? And how do you compete with them today? Okay? Um, 0:22:15.320 --> 0:22:17.560 I don't compete with them, is the answer. I do 0:22:17.680 --> 0:22:21.360 different things. I work on events and shows all over 0:22:21.400 --> 0:22:25.119 the world. I work with my own kind of level 0:22:25.119 --> 0:22:28.680 of artists that I want to work with bit Hand Summer, 0:22:28.840 --> 0:22:33.000 who I kind of created be it Um. But Celli 0:22:33.760 --> 0:22:35.880 the artists that I want. You know that I do. 0:22:35.960 --> 0:22:38.960 I do events all over the world, and I work 0:22:39.000 --> 0:22:41.560 on more on a different side of the business than 0:22:41.600 --> 0:22:44.199 I used to. So I'm not that there is no 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:47.760 way that I can compete with the ages or the 0:22:47.800 --> 0:22:50.680 Live Nation, and I don't want to have fun enough. 0:22:50.720 --> 0:22:53.040 I work with both of them as well when it 0:22:53.160 --> 0:22:56.639 when necessary, so I concentrate. I do enough. I do 0:22:56.760 --> 0:23:00.199 my events, which I get paid for. I work kin 0:23:00.760 --> 0:23:04.960 in an immersive theater world. I work in other areas 0:23:05.000 --> 0:23:09.000 of activity uh, and I work in on creating events 0:23:09.000 --> 0:23:11.240 all over the world, which I do very nicely. Out 0:23:11.240 --> 0:23:16.040 of when I started, it was different. Um. I got 0:23:16.040 --> 0:23:18.240 to the point where I actually used to go in 0:23:18.280 --> 0:23:20.640 the office to figure out who I was that day? 0:23:21.000 --> 0:23:23.280 Was I Elton John? Was I Paul McCartney, Was I 0:23:23.359 --> 0:23:26.240 led Zeppelin? Was I Queen? And if I went out 0:23:26.280 --> 0:23:28.160 with Queen, Elton John would find me out and say, 0:23:28.160 --> 0:23:30.560 where the hell are you? You're with that Freddie again. 0:23:30.760 --> 0:23:33.880 So I went out with Elton John. He Freddie would 0:23:33.920 --> 0:23:35.680 call up and say, I'm not working with you again 0:23:35.680 --> 0:23:37.560 because you're out with Elton John. And that that was 0:23:37.600 --> 0:23:39.240 my life. I used to go in and say who 0:23:39.240 --> 0:23:42.720 am I today? It was nuts six seven shows a 0:23:42.800 --> 0:23:47.520 day all over the world. Um, I've done that, had 0:23:47.560 --> 0:23:51.320 the paint, I've had the most fantastic life, which I 0:23:51.480 --> 0:23:55.680 thoroughly enjoyed. But it sence the consolidation. It doesn't matter 0:23:56.560 --> 0:23:58.560 now interest just to let me tell you about the 0:23:58.600 --> 0:24:01.600 consolidation is a very interesting situation. That's where I was going. 0:24:02.520 --> 0:24:08.920 As you know, America. The whole promoter pattern in America 0:24:09.040 --> 0:24:13.560 was created by Frank Barcelona. Frank Barcelona, for those that 0:24:13.640 --> 0:24:18.040 don't know, run an agency called Premier Talent. Premier Talent 0:24:18.359 --> 0:24:22.080 was had the best of the best of the British acts, 0:24:22.119 --> 0:24:24.479 which is how I came to know Frank. He and 0:24:24.560 --> 0:24:28.760 I became unbelievably close friends. I'm still friendly with his 0:24:28.840 --> 0:24:34.120 wife and his daughter. Um. And Frank showed the way. 0:24:34.200 --> 0:24:38.480 Frank really opened the doors to how music should work 0:24:38.480 --> 0:24:41.160 in America. And what he did is he picked a 0:24:41.160 --> 0:24:45.919 promoter in every main city and every main connurbation and 0:24:46.000 --> 0:24:48.640 said that's your city. I'm going to work with you 0:24:48.920 --> 0:24:52.280 and you're going to get every show I have, which 0:24:52.320 --> 0:24:56.719 is great. That worked very nicely because there was some 0:24:56.840 --> 0:24:59.960 competition in the middle, and then there was a come 0:25:00.080 --> 0:25:05.119 nicolled Concerts West, which UM through Jerry Weintrobe had the 0:25:05.240 --> 0:25:09.040 rights to deal with Elvis Presley, and then they started 0:25:09.080 --> 0:25:12.399 to do national tours. And there was a hundred pound 0:25:12.440 --> 0:25:15.479 gorilla called Bill Graham who lived in San Francisco who 0:25:15.600 --> 0:25:17.919 kind of did what he liked up to a point. 0:25:19.119 --> 0:25:22.359 So that was the marketplace and it all worked really well. 0:25:24.520 --> 0:25:30.640 When uh Mitch Slazer and Ron Delsner came across UM, 0:25:30.760 --> 0:25:34.480 this very interesting chap who started a company called sf 0:25:34.760 --> 0:25:39.960 X and wanted to buy up promoters. He only wanted 0:25:39.960 --> 0:25:43.480 to buy up promoters that had a solid base either 0:25:43.680 --> 0:25:46.560 they had some value, which was a venue. So that's 0:25:46.600 --> 0:25:50.400 how it started. He started buying up promoters that had venues, 0:25:50.520 --> 0:25:54.160 mainly amphitheaters. Some had clubs, but most of them were amphitheaters, 0:25:54.560 --> 0:25:58.880 and he started to build a network. When that started 0:25:58.920 --> 0:26:04.480 to happen, you could see the consolidation of SFX turned 0:26:04.520 --> 0:26:07.439