Christopher Barrett

Having brought Barack Obama to The O2’s stage, Fane Group has announced it is taking McLaren Racing to the London venue. The spoken word, literary and cultural live events promoter, part of KMJ Entertainment, is to stage McLaren Racing LIVE in Conversation at The O2 on 14 December. It follows the F1 75 Live show at […]

On the back of its first distribution in January that saw £500,000 channelled into supporting 372 venues, 211 shows and 81 festivals, the LIVE Trust has announced a further £1 million is forthcoming. Among the key beneficiaries isthe Association of Independent Festivals’ Festival MOT Programme, which is described as “a diagnostic service for independent music […]

KMJ Entertainment Group CEO Stuart Galbraith was presented with the Gold Brick Award after promoting his hundredth show at The O2. The concert by Ludovico Einaudi also saw the Italian composer recognised, in has case with The O2 Arena’s First Time Award. Galbraith’s Gold Brick will now be included backstage at the […]

Jim King, the man behind festivals including BST Hyde Park, All Points East, Lido, Forwards, Roundhay Festival and Rock en Seine talks festival business in the latest edition of the Access All Areas Backstage podcast. While enjoying some much-needed shade under the ancient oaks backstage at BST, we caught up with King to discuss his […]

The nineteenth edition of A Greener Future’s Green Events & Innovations Conference is to move east to The O2 next year. The sustainable events conference that brings together industry leaders, experts and organisations will take place across indigo at The O2 and the O2 Blueroom. In 2022, The O2 arena became the first arena in […]

Key industry figures from across live music, sports and cultural events will discuss the major issues facing the industry at the Access All Areas Leaders Summit. Hosted at Whittlebury Park Hotel Spa & Golf Resort on 8-9 October, the second edition of the summit will involve speakers including Formula E VP operations Agustin Delicado Zomeno, […]

U2 has announced a return to stadium touring, fifty years after the band formed in Dublin, Live Nation said the band will perform at stadiums around the world as part of the Carnaval De Luz presents: The Greatest Show On Earth tour that is set to commence next year. It marks the first time the […]

Arena Group UK and Europe sales and marketing director Dave Withey looks back on a remarkable career at the company. From a Newbury stables to many of the biggest global entertainment and sports events of the past 50 years, Dave Withey has had a remarkable half-Century with Arena Group. In between working on major stadium […]

A House of Commons committee has stepped up calls for the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to launch a full market investigation into Live Nation’s market strength in the UK. The call follows the publication in May of the Business and Trade Committee’s report on Competition and Market Functioning in the UK Live Music […]

With recent years having seen huge growth in demand for premium experiences at festivals – ranging from on-site swimming pools to culinary delights created by famous chefs – we explore the providers, concepts and consumer behaviours changing the face of festivals. Anyone looking to attend Glastonbury Festival next year will doubtless have begun budgeting a […]