It’s hagiography, but…
Unlike most of these documentaries, this one was not made on the cheap. There’s tons of footage to go with the narrative, but…
You don’t learn a whole hell of a lot about Ron. He’s a hustler. That’s what we’re missing in today’s concert world. That was the music business from top to bottom prior to consolidation, a cabal of hustlers who wouldn’t fit in anywhere else. Now, it’s corporatized. And something has been lost.
I think Tom Ross puts it best at the end of the flick, when he talks about money now leading instead of music. Isn’t that the essence from top to bottom? One of the most amazing things about seeing the concerts of the sixties and seventies was that they played in small venues. Sure, Bill Graham folded the twenty six hundred seat Fillmore East, but… You see the bills, the acts he presented, and if you remember them at all many can still play arenas.
So…
There’s this gobbledygook about Ron Delsener being infatuated with Sol Hurok growing up, going to the show… Then again, those are Jewish roots. Very cultural. My parents took me to the symphony, there were unlimited funds for the arts. But then Ron works a connection to get in bed with the concert promoter at Forest Hills (THE BEATLES!), and then it all folds. He’s writing copy for advertising and then…
He comes up with the idea for concerts at Wollman Rink. Which either you know or you don’t. Either you’re a New Yorker or you’re not. Either you’re aware that shows were a buck (and then two, right?) and there were shows all summer.
You get to see Tina Turner in her prime, and even the Eagles. Everybody played there. And Ron made it work with sponsorship, first Rheingold and then Schaefer. Do you even know what those were? BEERS! You saw pics of Miss Rheingold in the subway…
The aforementioned Ross says Ron was the first to use sponsorship in the promotion of concerts, and I don’t know if this is true, but one thing is for sure, they were making it up as they went along.
And then you get concert promotion history. Not all of it, not Jerry Weintraub doing national tours and… But there is the story of Frank Barsalona, how he controls the talent and parcels it out according to territory, to keep rivals from poaching.
Barsalona puts the nix on Howard Stein for going outside his area… I always wondered what happened there. Barsalona gave all his acts to Delsener and that was it. Although Stein did write a book…
So Ron opens Carnegie Hall to rock in 1971, I went to that Elton John show. He puts Bowie in Carnegie on his first big tour, Ziggy Stardust, and he opens the Palladium and…
This is when those on the outside will feel left out. You see yes, it is a giant party, a giant hang, and either you’re in the club or you’re not. And in the seventies and eighties EVERYBODY wanted to be in the club. Hell, in the eighties there was a 24/7 music TV channel!
So it’s one household name after another, the Boss and Little Steven, Patty Smith and Lenny Kaye, and…your jaw will drop when you watch the footage of the famous Simon & Garfunkel concert in the park back in 1981… Because Paul looks so young, and today Art looks so old, and when they step up to the mic and sing “Mrs. Robinson”…
That was then and this is now.
Jon Bon Jovi says how you don’t even know your promoter today, it’s all done nationally.
And ultimately Ron sells to Sillerman, starting the ball rolling into what is now Live Nation, and then after getting his forty million, he ultimate retires (gets squeezed out?), but never gives up, Peter Shapiro gives lucid commentary.
However, the two most poignant insights are…
One, his wife lives in a separate apartment during the week. Ron knows she hates the apartment he loves, on a dead end street, but…there’s obviously more to the story. Ron’s daughter gives some insight into his personality…
Ron is working all the time.
His wife talks about burning out on going to the show… It’s exciting and then it isn’t.
And then Shapiro talks about Ron really being a loner.
Bingo, THAT’S IT!
He’s gladhanding, talking on the phone, being the straw that stirs the drink, but…who exactly is the person inside?
Oftentimes you see him alone at gigs, albeit enjoying the music, but does he need the action in order to keep himself sane, keep himself going, to avoid looking at who he really is, slowing down and looking inside?
That’s the movie I want to see… Who exactly is this guy.
And if you know these guys, and they’re mostly guys, they’re not like your next door neighbor. They think outside the box, they need success, they’re gamblers and they believe not only that they can open doors, but they can do things no one else has ever conceived of!
But you’re never out front. That’s someone else. You see John Lindsay and Ed Koch… You’re reminded how charismatic and good-looking Lindsay was, how Koch always asked people how he was doing (can you imagine Adams doing that today?), and Ron…he’s behind the scenes.
So, if you want to know concert history, this is a good place to start. However, we need a film with these production values that truly tells the story from soup to nuts.
And some of the footage is priceless. Pre-internet I would have said unavailable anywhere, but in the era of YouTube…it might be somewhere, but how do you find it? Well, it’s here.
The growing up story… It’s necessary, but there’s just not enough negative.
Life is full of ups and downs. Ron talks about winning at the Garden and making only ten to fifteen thousand bucks, and losing over two hundred grand on David Lee Roth’s solo show, but the emotional roller coaster, staying in the game, as much as this is a movie about Ron, I don’t think we really get to know Ron.
Other than he’s now old and his friends are dead and he lives in the past.
Then again, those days were magic, and gone, and they’re not making them anymore.
This was like tech, like app-mania. People sans portfolio came out of the woodwork to try and triumph. However, music is more visceral, more alive, more meaningful than tech.
Those were the days that were.
And they’re in this movie.
And for that reason alone, it’s worth watching.
https://www.abramorama.com/film/rondelsenerpresents
Responses from Bob’s Readers – please note that these comments are not edited for grammar or content and are shared as-is.
In the of 1969, between my 2nd and 3rd year in law school at UT in Austin, I got a summer job at ASCAP in the membership department. At the time, BMI had more rock acts on the charts than ASCAP. I talked my boss into buying two tickets to all the the Schaefer Beer concerts at Wollman Rink and letting me be ASCAP’s “goodwill ambassador” to meet the acts or their manager. Ron Delsener was great. He helped me out. We would chat at the shows. While watching the Jeff Beck group with Rod Stewart, Janis Joplin and friends were standing next to me. She was looking at Rod Stewart. I heard her say, “I’d like to get my hands on that little Limey.” I saw Arthur Brown with his flaming helmet singing atop of the PA. If a fortune teller had told me that in the 80’s I would get Arthur and Jimmy Carl Black a gig painting my Mother’s house in Austin, I wouldn’t have believed her. The two of them had a painting company called Gentlemen of Color. That’s a story for another day.
Back to Ron Delsener. In April of 1972, I had joined Spirit as lead singer and bass player when Jay and Mark left to form Jo Jo Gunne. Spirit was headlining Carnegie Hall. Dr. John was the opening act. As I was coming down the narrow stairway from the dressing room to go onstage, Ron was coming up. He looked at me in amazement. “I didn’t know you were in this band.” I said, “I’m working for you tonight.” That wasn’t the last time I saw Ron. But, all my memories of him were good ones. A stand up guy.
Looking forward to seeing the documentary,
Al Staehely
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Many fond memories of working with Ron in the ’70’s/80’s. I was told later in life he had a real dread of passing away. Hope he found peace with that. Always a gentleman and always a dapper dresser. No jeans and t’s.
Willie Perkins
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I worked for Ron in the mid 90s. I was in office when the Sillerman meetings were happening but left before the acquisition.
Ron is a force of nature for sure and a true original, a total character – a man of his time much like Bill Graham. But having not yet seen the movie I wonder how much time is spent on Mitch Slater (who passed away way too young)? He was a big part of Ron’s success during that period.
I’m sure others will write in with additional color but Delsener/Slater (the company name before Sillerman bought them) was the training ground for some of the best names in management and touring – many of whom are still active today.
Rishon Blumberg
PS – Ron’s sister Harriet who worked at his company too and subsequent merged ones just left her gig very recently at Live Nation.
Something definitely was in the water at the Delsener household growing up. Amazing work ethics.
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Love Ron. His granddaughter / daughter are wonderful people who grew up w my daughter.
Saw Ron back stage from Roger Waters to Van Halen.
Always treated me like family and I’m inspired by his relentless work ethic. One of the great ones! Oh and I grew up watching his rock concerts in the 70’s on tv after SNL. Then it was great to become friends in the 90’s.
TRUE LEGEND AND MORE IMPORTANTLY A GREAT MAN.
Stratis Morfogen
Dot.Cards/stratism
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I can’t wait to watch this. Ron was one of the local promoters my Dad had a lot of respect for. They worked together often and were friends.
Michael Weintraub
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Ron was probably my favorite promoter from the ‘old days’ when I worked for APA and The William Morris Agency approx around 1970. Always a gentleman and a pleasure to work with! The Ultimate professional. Another favorite of mine with Bill Graham RIP.
Sincerely,
Iona Elliott
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Graham cut an exclusive deal with the venue behind his back and renamed it the Fillmore East.
Gary’s shows in 1967 included a double header show by The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, The Yardbirds w Jimmy Page, and Otis Redding.
Ron recently told me that he and Gary shared office space around this time.
Best,
Josh Kurfirst
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Thanks for the heads up on this one. I went to many shows that Delsener produced — starting with the ones at Wollman Rink in Central Park, forgot he did those. And many downtown at the Palladium, uptown at the Beacon, and in-between, the free shows in the Park, Carnegie Hall, and MSG. Perhaps the only time I saw him onstage was at the Palladium, 1978, trying to calm an agitated, upset crowd after Van Morrison walked offstage after only about 20 minutes…show over! At least Rockpile did a burning opening set. I did see Van a couple other times subsequently, and he was fantastic.
Thanks for your great letters, podcasts and Sirius/XM show!
Todd Ellenberg
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Hi Bob – One evening around 1999/2000, I was hanging out in a lounge on East 27th Street in Manhattan. Ron Delsener was there assessing the interior design of the lounge together with an architect. I learned later that Ron was planning to do some renovations at the Roseland Ballroom (now a 62-story luxury rental property). I had been introduced to Ron through Donald Trump in 1996/1997 when Donald had 55 Wall Street under contract. I toured Ron through the historic grand banking hall as Donald suggested it would make a “tremendous” performance venue. The hall is now run by Cipriani (Cipriani Wall Street) catering to large corporate events. I thought to reintroduce myself to Ron and say hello. He was gracious, we talked a bit. After a while Ron said to me “you wanna hang out?” I hadn’t heard that expression since the 1970’s. I felt wistful, but solaced. It became clear that Ron was somewhat smitten by my friend Staci, a tall, strikingly attractive brunette. We explained to Ron that we were waiting for her fiancé, who owned the restaurant across the street, to join us. Ron invited us to see David Byrne at the Roseland Ballroom which he was promoting that evening. “Come for a little while and I’ll drive you back here to meet your boyfriend,” he suggested. Why not? We got into his black stretch limousine and drove up to West 52nd Street. Ron asked Staci if she liked caviar. Who doesn’t? We drank vodka and ate caviar at the Russian Vodka Room (still there) next to the venue. Afterwards, the three of us walked into the Roseland. Multiple “Hi Mr. Delsener” greetings were hurled our way. Walking down a hall backstage we literally ran into David Byrne who was already dressed in his iconic oversized pink shag pants. Ron introduced us. David was incredibly polite and relaxed considering he was about to go on stage. I recall that the show was full if not sold out. The VIP section was a raised floor, audience right, where there were four small tables, each with four chairs. The three of us sat at one of the tables, the other three tables remained empty. After about four songs Staci and I really had to get back downtown. Ron said “I’ll give you a ride back as promised. I really need to meet this guy…”
Mike Gochman
