WEBVTT - John Meglen 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:07.760 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to the Bob Left Sets podcast. 0:00:08.360 --> 0:00:12.720 My guest today is the co CEO and president of 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:17.280 Concerts West John meglan Don. Good to have you, hello, 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:19.639 Bob could be here, okay, So tell me how you 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:23.279 ended up deciding to put Celine Dion and Vegas. Oh 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:27.360 my god, right to it. Um, Well, number one, it 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:30.480 was actually her idea. Well really I didn't know that. 0:00:30.520 --> 0:00:34.120 Oh yeah, the idea was hers. I mean she went 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:38.400 and saw. Oh it was when she had retired, kind 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:40.159 of took time off because she was going to go 0:00:40.240 --> 0:00:42.560 have a kid and all that, and she went and 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:46.720 saw oh. And after she saw it, she basically said 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:49.360 to Renee, when I come back, I'd like to do 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:54.840 something like that. And Renee being Rene and her husband 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:59.200 and Rene Bian really the brilliant guy that he is, 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:05.000 was um, you know, he he had that Elvis Colonel 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:08.880 Parker mentality that it was a it was a belief 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:12.880 in him. Of of he loved the colonel. He really 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:14.720 loved the colonel when he loved the way the whole 0:01:14.760 --> 0:01:17.000 Elvis sing in Vegas. So that was a big part 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:20.160 of it for Renee. So instinctually he knew how to 0:01:20.200 --> 0:01:23.680 put it together. Okay, So you've been working with them 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:28.199 before I had, Well, I hadn't been working with them before. 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:32.199 I had been working with Lloyd Brow who worked for them, 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:36.039 And Lloyd originally worked for Donald Kay Donald up in 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.680 Montreal when I was working for Michael Cole. So that's 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:42.680 how we knew each other. I heard about the thing 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:48.200 and thought it was a brilliant idea, but didn't have 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:52.120 the money to do it. And at the time, what 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:53.960 was happening at the time is that there was a 0:01:53.960 --> 0:01:58.320 man named Arthur Goldberg who was the president of Caesar's Palace, 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:03.200 and Arthur and Renee we're going to do this steel themselves. Okay, 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:08.200 there was no outside person. Arthur unfortunately passed away. When 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:12.360 Arthur passed away, and the new president, I think it 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:14.440 was a guy named Tom Who it was? Guy named 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:18.720 Tom Gallagher was the CEO of park Place Entertainment. They 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:22.239 owned Caesar's at the time. Um. He said, look, we'll 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:24.679 build the building, but we're not in the show business, 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:28.000 you know, find somebody else to do the show. So 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:32.280 that was our window. Okay. So how many years did 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:40.040 you make the deal for originally? Uh? Two? How many 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:47.720 didn't end up running? Uh? Sixteen, almost seventeen, and you 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:52.320 had an exclusive on the building, right absolutely, which just ended, Yeah, 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:56.920 just ended. Well it will end July one. And you 0:02:56.919 --> 0:02:58.520 know some of these things you may or may not 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:00.640 be able to want the answer, how can we decided 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:04.800 not to renew the building? Well, wasn't that necessarily that 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:08.480 we didn't decide? I think that one there was a 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:13.400 miscommunication between our organization being involved in the arena at 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:19.440 MGM UM and that had something to do with us 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:24.600 operating the colisseum and that so um. But at the 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:29.000 end of the day, you know, they picked their horse 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:32.680 after all these years. I don't know why exactly, but 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:36.640 you know we're not happy about it. Okay. So the 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:39.800 original deal she did how many dates a year? Well, 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:44.040 the original deal was two hundred shows a year, which 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:49.920 was unheard of, and it was for two years, and 0:03:50.000 --> 0:03:53.560 it was five shows a week, forty weeks a year. 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:58.960 We were keeping two weeks for maintenance of the theater 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:01.760 or the show, and then we wanted to go out 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:06.240 and find someone else to do the other ten weeks. Now, 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:08.760 that other ten ultimately turned out to be Elton, correct, 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:13.880 and he did all ten um initially. Yeah, I mean 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:17.240 at the very beginning, it was only Selene and Elton, 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:21.120 you know. Oh, I'm sorry. And then there was you know, 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:25.440 a few weekends of Jerry Seinfeld. Okay, So the building 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:31.960 was essentially open, like nights a year. Not only that, 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:38.520 we would program Asian shows for New Year's Eve. Uh, 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:43.599 I'm sorry for Christmas Eve Christmas Day a different type 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:46.920 of holiday for them. So I mean we tried to 0:04:47.200 --> 0:04:50.080 book that building as much as we could. But yes, 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:52.680 that building was full all the time. Not to what 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:57.400 degree was your company at risk? M Well, we're at 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:01.880 risk for all of Well initially, I mean you're talking 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:07.400 hundreds of millions of dollars um one. Nobody thought it 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:09.719 would work. So you told me the famous story of 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:12.599 Martyr looking, why do you tell the audience? Oh? Man, Marty, 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:14.200 it was great, Barty. I think it was at the 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:16.760 Grammys about a year after we had opened, and Marty 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:19.159 walked up to me and he said, you know, Magdalen, 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:21.400 only two people in this business I ever thought this 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:23.800 thing would work. You and I still haven't met the 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:26.839 other one. And of course Marty is the longtime manager 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:31.599 of Barbara Streisan. But when you went into Vegas, no 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:35.400 other rock pop stars were there right. No, I mean 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:39.200 at the time, it was you know, it was Circus 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:44.000 l A and Siegfried and Roy. That was it. And 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:50.200 to what degree did the tickets sell? You know, it 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:54.520 was it was a roller coaster at the beginning. Okay. Uh, 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:59.520 the initial sales were great just because of such a 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:03.480 tremendous fan base and and I swear Canada could have 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:09.359 carried you know, the first one shows um, but it 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:12.000 took a while. We kept saying to ourselves, this is 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:14.760 not as sprint as the marathon. That was our That's 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:17.880 always been our line. These aren't sprints. These are marathons. 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:21.360 It's got to build over time, you know, don't try 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:23.960 to do everything at once. Spread it out a little 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:29.520 bit and it seems to work. So did business stay 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:35.159 steady all the way through the run? No? Uh, we 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:39.240 all everything dropped in two thousand and eight with the 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:42.279 economic crash. Yeah, that went kind of across the board. 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:48.840 Her popularity. No. The The amazing thing is it's stronger 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:53.000 today than it ever was. Now. Yes, we're doing the 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:55.159 end of the tour or end of the run in 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:58.799 Las Vegas, but you know, we just began pre sales 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:02.320 this morning on her tour and they were massive. We 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:06.400 were rolling into multiple arenas in many cities this morning 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:10.520 just on you know, the American Express and the team 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:17.040 Selene pre sale. So people have always underestimated this lady. 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:19.320 And then how about the other acts that went in there, 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:23.440 like Elton? How did they do? Elton was? He was 0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:26.520 a dream? I mean Elton was you know again, you're 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:30.320 looking at somebody that was only doing at that time 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:34.560 forty shows a year versus slid to two hundred shows 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:38.600 a year. So Elton was virtually sold out the entire time. 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:44.720 And um, and he kept with the theme of of 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:49.440 let's create a show. Okay, let's do something. See what's 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:52.160 happened today has kind of changed it, and it's kind 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:56.880 of to me, it's a little bit depressing because one 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:59.960 of my lines to artists was always, look, remember all 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:02.960 that stuff you wanted to do but you couldn't take 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:05.640 on the road. It was too big to travel with. 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:09.720 This is the place you can do at all. And 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:12.520 you know, and we wanted to make it a show 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:15.440 that you could only see here and the only place 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:20.960 you can see that artist become a bit bastardized to 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:24.400 a degree where people are just driving through with their 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:28.800 tour in shows and nothing special about it. So to 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:33.160 what degree is Vegas a factor in your business? Now? Wow? 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:37.560 I think it's become a big factor in everybody's business. 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:42.800 The number of artists today that want to do residencies, 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:47.760 let alone the ones that exist. Think about there's probably 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:53.360 five for everyone that has one, there's five more that 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:57.640 want one. You know what I mean. Everybody's looking for 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:02.280 quote the residency I, and it is maybe we're maybe 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:04.920 there's no MORATORI and maybe we just do residencies and 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:08.839 festivals and that's it. Well, certainly we probably have a 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:12.200 lot fewer drug overdoses if the fans came to see 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:17.920 the bands. This is true, Okay. Um, anything that hasn't 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:24.240 worked in Vegas, whether it be yours or competitors, it's tricky. 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:29.160 I've always found that the Broadway stuff, it's really tricky. 0:09:29.320 --> 0:09:34.360 It's almost like the stuff that Clive Barnes trashes in 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:37.960 New York should be in Vegas and it will do great. 0:09:38.559 --> 0:09:43.760 I remember years ago, uh, Jimmy Dean Atlanta jujor Jimmy 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:45.840 a good friend about it week. He took me to 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:49.960 Will Rogers Follies at the Palace Theater and Broadway, right, 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:54.480 and and the show just got panned. And I'm sitting 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:57.680 there going, it's a great show. I'm like all American 0:09:57.720 --> 0:09:59.960 guy going, I love this show. You know, the fact is, 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.440 if that show had been in Las Vegas instead of 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:05.880 on Broadway, probably would have been a hit. So the 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:10.160 Mama MIA's the Jersey Boys, you know, that type of 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:15.080 stuff is good. I don't think people go to go 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:17.720 to Las Vegas. He's Phantom of the Operas, per Se 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:21.720 or or Cats or you know. I think it's a 0:10:21.760 --> 0:10:24.079 little more. It's got to be more of a show 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:28.679 and more musical. So generally speaking, what does the promoter 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:35.440 do m in Las Vegas? In general, we take risks, 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:39.160 we put up the we put up the risk capital. 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:45.840 We believe that we could sell enough tickets to pay 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:50.200 the bills, pay the band, and there's something left over. 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:54.640 It's no more complicated than that. Well, you know, I 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:56.640 know a guy works for Black Rock and New York 0:10:56.720 --> 0:10:59.240 big investment firm, and he said he hadn't gone to 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:03.679 bed without being at risk for decades. So do you 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:06.959 ever worry? Like you ever, you know, lie awake at nights, say, 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:11.760 holy funk, this better work? Oh, I mean, look, you 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:14.280 know what's the worst thing about getting tour is get 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:21.400 the tour. I mean it's like talk about buyer's remorse. Okay, 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:25.040 you get you know, you get into this competition, especially 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:28.559 today with the dumpers that are thrown out there today. 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:31.560 You know, it's like it's almost like monopoly. I mean, 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:36.679 it is like monopoly money, you know. And and yeah, 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:40.880 I mean one thing about Gongore and I We've always 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:45.560 always that's your partner, that's my partner. We've always always 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:49.439 we were taught at the beginning. You act like, you know, 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.520 you're you're risking your own house here your mortgage, which 0:11:52.559 --> 0:11:55.360 by the way, we both did for a while. You know. 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:58.360 So once you know that feeling of what it's like 0:11:58.480 --> 0:12:01.880 to really risk your own money and go, you know, 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:04.960 wait a minute, I'm gonna lose everything, and so go 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:07.439 ask mom and dad from my room back and get 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:12.280 a job at McDonald's. That's what a promoter is. Okay. 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:15.240 So let's assume you have something that's not an instant sellout. 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:17.560 How do you move the tickets? How do you make 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:25.520 your money back? Mm hmm, Well, it depends on what 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:30.040 what you're involved in. Okay, we are I like to 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:35.599 think that we have a long term artists perspective, okay. 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:40.160 And this goes back kinder to our upbringing, which was 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:45.079 way back to the Jerry Wine Troub concerts West Management 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:49.439 three Days, where you had guys like Tom Hewlett and 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:57.240 Terry Bassett, Jerry Wine Trout amazing mentors, but they managed 0:12:57.280 --> 0:13:01.560 the artist and we toured the art. Yes, And so 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:06.800 there were times I remember John Denver tours where you know, 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:09.160 he had a hit record, he sell every ticket. The 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:14.320 house didn't have a hit record, He sold half the ticket. 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:17.240 And I did one tour where all I did was 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:21.719 go out in front and quote paper of the house. Uh, 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:25.320 because John never played in front of an empty house. 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:31.760 So I've always believed that if you make the right 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:35.080 decisions for the artists, for the long term of the artists, 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:38.240 if you do that, the money is going to follow. Okay. Now, 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:41.680 there's many ways to get out of it quickly, Okay, 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:47.079 I mean, and that's unfortunately probably of our business. A 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:50.640 zillion ways to get out of them. Give me a couple. Well, 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:53.559 the secondary market on ticketing, people have been using that 0:13:53.840 --> 0:13:57.199 they've been you know, ticket rebates. It goes all the 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:02.040 way back to you know, had n caterie bill for 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:07.760 five hundred bucks. Okay. Uh, you know what happens with losers. 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:12.480 It creates a system of insights of people, you know, 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:15.000 making a little money here on the side, making a 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.920 little money here on the side. You know, Fred Rosen 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:22.640 started making a nickel right, right, So it was five 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:28.760 sets of ticket back then. Okay, So it's uh. The 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:34.240 way people now protect themselves is by other sources of 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:39.640 revenue that they tried to to me hide from the artist, 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:44.080 or hide from the business equation or you know, no, 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:47.360 and they've got a lot of valid arguments. I meant, 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:51.840 if a guy invest money in a venue, you should 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:54.520 be able to get his money back right and make 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:59.360 a profit on his real estate investment. Okay. Now, generally speaking, 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:03.640 on these really big tours, your competition is Live Nation. 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:07.160 What it does it? What do you find someone all 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:09.480 to an act makes their decision on in terms of 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:17.000 who to go with, Well, make it on basically two things, right, 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:21.600 who's going to do the right job and how much 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:25.560 they're paying me. The unfortunate thing is how much they're 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:30.640 paying me. It most of the time, you know, is 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:33.560 the deciding factor as opposed to who's going to do 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:37.040 the right job. Okay, let's go back to the beginning 0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:42.040 for my audience. So you grew up where as an 0:15:42.120 --> 0:15:45.880 army brap but kind of beaute Montana and then the Northwest, Okay, 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:49.760 in Washington. Okay, you know we're sitting here in Hollywood. 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:55.920 Those places seem like backwaters relative to hollydood God, and 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:58.160 they're very attractive, by the way, and it's where I'd 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:00.720 like to be. No, I mean they are, but but 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:04.760 part of that was we learned how to do everything 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:06.720 back then. I mean I was running by high school 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:09.440 dance committee. Oh really, So you got into it that, Yeah, yeah, 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:12.400 I did. I put my first concert on my junior 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:15.720 year in high school don Zaga Prep and spokead and 0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:19.040 I saw this magazine in Father Gobel he was the 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:22.480 head of our He watched over our dance committee and 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:25.880 we did all city mixers in Spokane. And I'm in 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:28.320 Gobs office one day, that's what we called him. And 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:31.720 he had this magazine and they're called Performance Magazine. And 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:34.600 I start flipping through it and I go, hey, Gobs, 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:37.680 this has all the big bands and look it says 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:40.880 where they're going, and it's got a phone number there, 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:43.400 it says b A. And he said that means booking 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.560 age and John and I went, well, I had this band. 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.920 I just got their first record, you know. And the 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:52.720 look they're up there playing in Seattle. Let's call the number. 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:58.960 What was the Okay? Sold out two shows of the 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:02.680 high school Jim Days and we made fifteen hundred bucks. Okay, 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:04.400 But let's go back to the begetting. Did you call 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:08.359 the agent? Yes, and you said what happened? I? I 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:11.600 mean I just I called him and I said, hi, uh, 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:15.400 I run a dance committee at a high school. It's okay, 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:18.960 And and I see your band is in Seattle and 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:23.960 you know what are they doing on Saturday night? And 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:27.320 he took you seriously? Yeah, well I had I told 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:31.679 him that father Gobel was with me, so I had 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.680 my priest with me. It was pretty good, okay. And 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:37.720 do you think you got ripped off? No, it was 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:42.800 actually we paid them. We made money, So it wasn't 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:46.399 about that. Back then. Remember it was all flats. You know, 0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:49.200 they showed up. You had to have you know, a 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:54.399 p A system and some lights and uh you know, 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:59.560 you had addressing room. And it wasn't even before riders, 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:03.719 you know. So it was fun that when I went 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:07.000 to college. Did you do any more shows in high school? Uh? 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:10.040 Because after that I went off down to Washington State, 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:15.600 um and uh and they know they had more of 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:20.080 the college concert committees there all right. And in the 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.720 mid seventies there was a lot of guys, a lot 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:26.040 of guys that are around today came from that program. 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:31.600 But um, they didn't have a coffeehouse things. So I 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:35.440 started one. I started a radio station, I started a festival. 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:39.320 I mean that's what. That's a lot of stuff. Yeah, 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:43.240 that kazoo is now the number one station of Pullman, Washington. 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:45.560 And my roommate and I started that thing. It was 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:49.960 what do you call it? Ten want class D Remember 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:53.640 those I remember you could hear like three miles away. Yeah, exactly, 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:57.960 not even that you know, but um, the they have 0:18:58.040 --> 0:18:59.480 when where I went to college, but it was there 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:02.640 before I got out there. So you're basically an entrepreneurial guy, 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:06.400 you know at Hart of course that's what this is about. Okay, 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:09.520 how many kids in your family? Five? And what do 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:12.880 the other four do? Uh? Well, they're all girls too old, 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:15.840 too older and too younger ones of c p A. 0:19:16.840 --> 0:19:19.600 There are three of them are married to guys from Montana. 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:22.720 So that's the good thing is we've got we've kept 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:26.680 the Montana thing alive. But they're they're all over the country, 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:29.159 and uh, they're all doing great. I mean they have 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:31.880 the same personality as you. Like. You know, I'm gonna 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:36.800 make it work for myself. Um, i'd say half at half. 0:19:37.920 --> 0:19:40.760 There's two sisters that are definitely that way. They're there 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:44.960 two that well, there's one that's completely happy living in Dila, Montana, 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:50.560 never wants to leave. That is where. It's about sixty 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:57.760 miles south of Butte. And what's there, um nothing Uh, Canyon, 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:02.600 Ferry Reservoir, people river, the Big Hole River, Um, the 0:20:02.680 --> 0:20:05.359 salmon fly hatch if you're fly fishermen, those are all 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:07.960 important things. So do you How long do you go 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:11.520 to Washington State? I went three years? Yeah, I quit 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:13.879 in my senior year. And why did you quit? I 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:26.800 got hired by Concerts West, I thought I did. Okay, 0:20:26.840 --> 0:20:30.840 we'll tell that story. Well, Um, there was a guy that, 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:37.080 believe it or not, worked for Irving Dennis something anyway, 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:40.480 artists touring so something I forget what it was called, 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:43.320 but it was one of Irving's agencies and Irving off 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:48.800 of course and Irving at the time, Uh, managed Tim Wiseberg, 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:52.240 remember the of course and the duel and that. Yeah, okay, 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:58.080 So what year were in nineteen seventy seven? All right? 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:02.800 So I was the block booking coordinator in the Northwest 0:21:03.119 --> 0:21:07.960 for the college campuses, and Tim Wiseberg just really caught 0:21:08.040 --> 0:21:10.920 on up there, and in fact I was doing to 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:13.000 cut down and read it with Tim Weinsberg. So in 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:17.320 five six thousand seats in Poland Washington, Tim Weinsberg still alive. Yeah, 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:21.800 he's a great guy. I haven't thought of him so long. Yeah, 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:25.919 you know, he's really good. Was it Dan Fogelbergelberg Wisberg? 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:30.680 Different mothers, twin SuDS, different mothers or something like that? 0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:33.040 That was another There was a part of the plan 0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:36.600 with what was no the Great Song? Yeah, I think 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:38.840 it was part of the plan. Uh yeah, it was. Okay, 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:41.639 So you're booking a book at Tim Weisberg and this 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:45.160 guy Deists were just a little bit slower. You're where 0:21:45.200 --> 0:21:48.000 You're still at Washington State. Yeah, and you're booking for 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:54.600 other places too. Yeah. How did that? Well? I got 0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:58.760 an office in the student union building and my roommate 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:01.159 and I out, I guess I gotta back up a 0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:04.000 little bit. We first figured out that all these dorms 0:22:04.520 --> 0:22:09.600 and fraternities and sororities all had to book two or 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:13.080 three bands a year for their little you know, uh 0:22:13.720 --> 0:22:16.919 proms or whatever they call them, their their little balls, right, 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:19.840 So we started a little thing called the Student Booking Service. 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:22.439 And what we did is we got one agent up 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:26.080 and spoke in Washington, and we gave him an exclusive 0:22:26.200 --> 0:22:28.800 and we signed up all the dorms and the fraternities 0:22:28.880 --> 0:22:32.280 and sororities, and so the agents would all split their 0:22:32.320 --> 0:22:35.520 commissions with us, and we would book and we because 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:38.399 we would tell the every year as a new social 0:22:38.480 --> 0:22:41.439 director fraternity and we're like, hey, guys, we don't want 0:22:41.480 --> 0:22:43.880 you to get ripped off. We know what the band's cost. 0:22:43.960 --> 0:22:46.840 We'll get you good deals and all of that. So, 0:22:48.160 --> 0:22:52.639 you know, fast forward to their we started, you know, 0:22:52.920 --> 0:22:55.520 block booking, and we called it so I'd get the 0:22:55.600 --> 0:23:00.119 guy in Bellingham, Washington to buy a show. Guy it 0:23:00.800 --> 0:23:04.080 you know huge its sound to buy a show, and 0:23:04.160 --> 0:23:06.560 the guy at Idaho State to buy a show, and 0:23:06.600 --> 0:23:08.879 the guy in Missoula to buy a show that was 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:11.680 clip Mitchell, by the way, the way you were He 0:23:11.800 --> 0:23:15.800 was the guy in Mizzoula, and uh yeah, we just 0:23:15.920 --> 0:23:18.560 put all these together and then this guy called one day, 0:23:18.640 --> 0:23:22.000 this agent he worked for Irving. I remember that. He said, 0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:26.119 you know, you need to work for Concerts West. And 0:23:26.600 --> 0:23:30.760 Concerts West brought all their shows into Pullman because we 0:23:30.880 --> 0:23:35.040 had a pack eight thousand seat arena, and up in 0:23:35.119 --> 0:23:38.520 Seattle they had a seven thousand seat civic auditorium. So 0:23:38.640 --> 0:23:40.760 the big shows would come down and play Pullland and 0:23:40.840 --> 0:23:43.000 they had to go through the students. How far as 0:23:43.080 --> 0:23:47.800 Pullman from Seattle sixty miles south? Not from Seattle, Seattle 0:23:47.840 --> 0:23:52.920 three miles. It's on the Idaho's close to boise O. 0:23:53.080 --> 0:23:58.240 It's close to Spokane. Uh, court a Lane. You know, 0:23:58.720 --> 0:24:00.880 if you go down from Spoke candad cord a Lane 0:24:00.960 --> 0:24:04.720 sixty miles you have Pullman in Moscow wide. Okay, yeah, 0:24:05.320 --> 0:24:10.560 at Washington State University and the university about it? Okay, 0:24:11.960 --> 0:24:14.439 where were we a lost tracks? Okay, so you're block booking, 0:24:14.920 --> 0:24:16.680 you get tracked on by this guy says you should 0:24:16.680 --> 0:24:19.400 work at Conscience West. Yeah, so I got an interview. 0:24:20.200 --> 0:24:24.520 Uh and in fact, this is the first time I'd 0:24:24.600 --> 0:24:27.240 ever been on an airplane, and I go up to 0:24:27.280 --> 0:24:29.240 Spokene and a guy said, and me, remember when you 0:24:29.320 --> 0:24:34.520 got a prepaid ticket? Yeah? Right. I sat all day 0:24:34.720 --> 0:24:38.520 long and Spokene Little Airport waiting for my prepaid ticket 0:24:38.560 --> 0:24:41.320 to go through. Okay, I'm a kid in college, right, 0:24:42.040 --> 0:24:44.600 and I'm thinking, and my buddy's gonna pick me up 0:24:44.640 --> 0:24:47.280 and when I get there and drive me to this interview. 0:24:47.320 --> 0:24:48.840 And I go and have an interview with this guy 0:24:48.920 --> 0:24:53.680 named Tom Hewlett. And this is weird. Is in Seattle. 0:24:54.119 --> 0:25:01.560 So I flew over to Seattle, right and uh Cascade Airline, yeah, 0:25:01.920 --> 0:25:06.720 with this Cascade alleghany almost and it was like I 0:25:06.800 --> 0:25:08.639 go over there and I get I had this interview. 0:25:08.720 --> 0:25:11.800 I remember I wore I think I looked like the 0:25:11.880 --> 0:25:14.000 guy at Midnight Cowboy because I had on like a 0:25:14.720 --> 0:25:18.800 you know, like a tan like almost crest velvet pants 0:25:19.600 --> 0:25:25.240 vest right actually vest jacket, uh boots and and you 0:25:25.320 --> 0:25:28.120 know the collar out right. And I meet this guy 0:25:28.240 --> 0:25:30.359 Tom Hellett, and he's like, oh, yeah, I got all 0:25:30.440 --> 0:25:33.280 these tours going on, and I got this air Clapton tour. 0:25:33.400 --> 0:25:35.960 I I think I could use you on that, right, 0:25:36.160 --> 0:25:39.960 That's what he says. So I leave, I go back 0:25:40.080 --> 0:25:44.320 to school. I quit college I load everything in my 0:25:44.440 --> 0:25:48.000 car and I drive out to Seattle and uh move 0:25:48.080 --> 0:25:50.760 in and uh living on the floor by I had 0:25:51.680 --> 0:25:53.920 four buddies. They had a two bed of apartment, so 0:25:54.000 --> 0:25:55.600 I was a fifth guy. So I slept on the 0:25:55.640 --> 0:25:57.440 floor out in the you know, the couch around the 0:25:57.480 --> 0:25:59.560 living room. I've done that, yeah, I mean that's how 0:25:59.600 --> 0:26:02.520 it's art. And I would go every day and show 0:26:02.640 --> 0:26:05.920