Member Since: 8/19/2013
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Bruno to do another leg of the Moonshine Jungle Tour in North America next summer!
Quote:
WME's John Marx on Bruno Mars' Super Bowl Gig, Sold-Out Arena Tour Strategy, Not Having Presales
Bruno Mars has not only proven to be a master at creating multiple hit songs, but he’s also solidified himself as one of today’s top live performers. In addition to being named the halftime performer at next year’s Super Bowl XLVIII, Mars recently wrapped his first sold-out headlining tour of North American arenas. The 42-date Moonshine Jungle Tour grossed $40.5 million and drew more than 565,000 fans, according to Billboard Boxscore.
In an extremely rare interview, John Marx, a partner in the music division at William Morris Endeavor (WME), tells Billboard.biz that booking the Moonshine Jungle Tour was one of the most exciting experiences in his 37-year career in the touring space.“I stopped giving interviews years ago, but I had to do this for Bruno, because he’s that special,” says Marx, who is also part of the WME teams that book such heavyweight touring acts as Lady Gaga, Usher, Peter Gabriel, Sheryl Crow and Justin Timberlake. “This whole project has been exciting, unique and special.”
The North American leg of the Moonshine Jungle Tour began June 22 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., and finished Sept. 1 at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico Jose Miguel Agrelot. Support acts on various dates included Ellie Goulding and Fitz & the Tantrums. The trek was in support of Mars’ second album, “Unorthodox Jukebox,” which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 (subsequently reaching No. 1) and has thus far sold some 1.7 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Following a performance at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas on Sept. 21, Mars will travel to the United Kingdom and Europe for a two-month arena tour. Mars also has a handful of Australian/New Zealand concerts scheduled for early 2014, and will play another 40 dates in North America beginning next June, according to Marx In addition to Marx, Mars’ team at WME also includes Tony Goldring (international booking), Sara Newkirk Simon andMichele Bernstein. Mars is co-managed by the Creed Company’s Brandon Creed and Kevin Beisler.
Here, Marx gives Billboard.biz a fascinating inside look at the booking strategy behind Bruno Mars’ sold-out North American headlining tour, his thoughts on the artist’s Super Bowl announcement, why he was confident Mars could jump from theaters to arenas, the “wisdom” of presales, how Ellie Goulding was chosen as support and why Mars will be an arena-headlining act for years to come, and much more.
At the end of the day, it was Bruno who picked Ellie.
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You can read the rest of the article here http://www.billboard.com/biz/article...-tour-strategy
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