DENVER (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — AEG is trying to make its presence felt in the mile high city. Having recently set up shop in Denver, AEG is looking for ways that it can expand its market share in the city.
One option under consideration is to build a new venue that would give them an edge against their primary rival, Live Nation. The facility under consideration would accommodate up to 6,000 people and would probably not be completed until 2008 at the earliest, the Denver Post reported.
AEG has demonstrated a propensity for aggressive moves in the Denver area. They have been poaching regional Live Nation execs like Don Strasburg, who hopped the fence to AEG and Brent Fedrizzi, who had been Live Nations' senior talent buyer in the Denver area. Chuck Morris is waiting out contractual obligations but is widely expected to make the move to AEG as well.
The new hall under consideration would give AEG an edge in its battle with Live Nation which runs the Fillmore, a popular Denver destination for music fans. Live Nation also has contracts with the Paramount Theater and the Pepsi Center.
"In this town now, you need your own space," Barry Fey, a retired, but highly-regarded concert promoter told the Post "In a year or so, AEG will have Chuck, who's absolutely brilliant, and they'll also have Brent, but you still need real estate."
While AEG & Live Nation are both squaring off for a battle of potentially epic proportions, there is yet another player to be heard from. Nobody In Particular Presents has been a highly-effect effective independent promoter in the Denver area. According to the Denver Post, AEG and NIPP might pair up in an exclusive arrangement to book the Bluebird and Ogden theaters while Live Nation has snapped up what had formerly been NIPP's Gothic Theatre.
The battle for Denver seems to be having a positive effect for local music fans. More venues usually means more shows and who could complain about that. "Denver has had more growth in venue size in the last 20 years than any other major market," Dan Steinberg, found of Seattle's Square Peg Productions told the post. "With AEG, money's not a question, and the credibility's huge. The next step is securing a venue where they hold the calendar because that's always been the basis of those guys' business." – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
