LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Alex Hodges, only a few months after leaving House of Blues in the wake of Live Nation's acquisition of the company, has been named COO of Nederlander Concerts by CEO Adam Friedman.
Bringing decades of local, regional and national experience to this position, Hodges will oversee the Company’s experienced talent and marketing teams while also booking talent in each of Nederlander’s markets throughout the West Coast and beyond. He will report directly to Mr. Friedman, and the two will work closely in creating and implementing strategies to advance the company. Hodges will be based at the company’s headquarters in Los Angeles starting on April 15.
Mr. Hodges will maintain a cohesive and collaborative approach in the execution of the company’s strategic talent and marketing initiatives. Those initiatives include building strong partnerships with talent and talent suppliers to provide aggressive, high-quality promotions, resulting in great presentations with maximum outreach and exposure to fans in Nederlander’s award-winning, exclusive venues, as well as the open venues that the company currently books across California, Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona. He will also foster Nederlander’s expansion into new markets by developing unique routing opportunities and multi-city runs throughout the region and platform the Company to become a touring alternative to artists seeking well-run, iconic venues and first class promotions by an independent promoter focused on the artist and their fans.
“I am delighted to welcome Alex back to the Nederlander Organization as we expand our concert promotion and venue operation businesses,” said James M. Nederlander, Chairman of the Nederlander Organization. “Alex has a long and tenured career in the industry and was a key player in building our award-winning venues into the ‘must play’ for so many world-renowned artists. I am certain he will once again be a key contributor to our success and growth.”
“I had the good fortune of having Alex as a partner in building and managing House of Blues Concerts (and its predecessor Universal Concerts) for over 10 years,” said Adam Friedman, who joined Nederlander Concerts as CEO at the beginning of 2006. “With his deep experience on all sides of the business and long-term relationships with artists and their representatives, he is uniquely qualified to lead our team in growing our core promotion business and creating touring opportunities that continue to attract top headline talent to our venues and the major arenas, theaters and clubs that we book throughout the western United States. Alex will also be instrumental in helping me to expand our footprint while maintaining our dedication to providing artists and fans with the greatest experiences in live entertainment.”
“I am very excited Alex is back at Nederlander and I look forward to working with him and the rest of our outstanding team for many years to come,” said James L. Nederlander, President of the Nederlander Organization.
"I look forward to rejoining my friends Adam Friedman, Jimmy Nederlander Sr. and Jimmy Nederlander Jr. and the best team in the live entertainment industry as we execute our growth strategy into the future," said Alex Hodges. "Nederlander Concerts has iconic venues like the award-winning Greek Theatre and Santa Barbara Bowl and is universally known to produce first-class presentations which are memorable experiences for both artists and fans alike. I had several successful seasons working with Ken Scher at the Company and I am ready to roll up my sleeves and get back to work with him and the other members of the team.”
In a career spanning over 30 years in the industry, Alex Hodges has had the rare distinction of serving the live entertainment world as not only a concert promoter and agent, but as personal manager and corporate executive as well. As a promoter, he recently was the President and CEO of House of Blues Concerts, the second-largest concert promotion and venue operation firm, which was recently acquired by Live Nation. Previously, Hodges was the Executive Vice President overseeing talent and marketing of that company and its predecessors Universal Concerts and MCA Concerts since 1994. In 1988, Alex was brought on by Jimmy Nederlander as Vice President of Nederlander Concerts, during which he was named Talent Buyer of the Year for promoting Paul McCartney at the Los Angeles Forum and Anaheim Stadium, Pink Floyd at Yankee Stadium and Barbra Streisand’s six-show run at Anaheim Pond (now the Honda Center). Prior to that Alex was an agent of Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, and other legendary performers when he founded the Paragon and Empire Agencies, and represented many world famous recording and touring artists including The Allman Brothers Band, Percy Sledge, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and The Police. In 1984, he became Senior Vice President in charge of the West Coast music and live performance departments of the ICM Agency and added artists such as Culture Club, Air Supply, John Denver and Red Hot Chili Peppers to his already long and prestigious client list. Before joining Nederlander in 1988, Alex took over as personal manager for Gregg Allman and Stevie Ray Vaughan, who he represented until the guitar legend’s untimely death in 1990. Alex received the Tour of the Year award from Performance Magazine for the Stevie Ray and Jeff Beck tour of 1989.
