Live Nation Termination
Irvine City Council voted 3-2 to kick Live Nation to the curb in favor of creating an open venue for the Great Park’s live music amphitheater. Image credit The Vine
After months of fraught negotiations with Live Nation to build a permanent amphitheater in the Great Park, Irvine has decided to go it alone. During a Great Park Board meeting, before a three-to-two vote in favor of terminating the contract with Live Nation, Irvine City Councilmembers Larry Agran, Kathleen Treseder, and Tammy Kim spoke passionately about their desire to make a choice that will benefit the residents of Irvine.
One of the many sticking points in negotiating with Live Nation was the concert behemoth’s refusal to curb noise that might affect those near and far from the amphitheater. Agran showed a sound map that illustrated how deeply the noise of the amphitheater could reach residents within Irvine. He suggested sound could travel all the way to Shady Canyon based on the data provided.
Agran then floated a counter proposal to the suggested contract with Live Nation that entailed three parts: thanking Councilmembers Kim and Mike Carroll for their work negotiating with Live Nation, declaring negotiations with Live Nation terminated, and asking City Manager Oliver Chi to create a new framework for a city-run amphitheater.
Treseder seconded the motion before speaking out in favor of live music with a shoutout to Beyonce. She then asked Chi for an update on the proposed agreement with Live Nation.
“There are some benefits, but the city has lost some control,” Chi said in describing the current status of the contract with Live Nation.
Treseder then expressed concern for Live Nation’s unofficial representative, Patrick Strader. Treseder compared Strader to one of her students negotiating for a better grade in her class before clarifying that parking for the amphitheater would not be free per the contract despite Strader stating otherwise. Strader came up to the podium and angrily began to defend himself.
“Love ya, don’t change,” replied Treseder before he launched into a list of what he said were factually inaccurate comments on the contract with Live Nation.
Treseder asked Strader if he was lobbying on behalf of Live Nation. He denied this but refused to characterize his relationship with Live Nation. Strader insisted that Live Nation would only charge for VIP parking before the contract section on parking was read aloud. The contract did not corroborate his assertion.
Treseder offered a friendly amendment to Agran’s motion: direct Irvine city staff to create a world-class amphitheater that will operate as an open venue and protect the community from noise issues.
Kim then took to the floor to say she’s spent hundreds of hours trying to understand the many facets of this issue. In trying to understand how to advocate on behalf of the residents, Kim maintained her position that the amphitheater must be an open venue available to all concert promoters, and not exclusive to Live Nation.
“No matter what way you slice and dice it, it really isn’t open [with Live Nation],” said Kim. “My responsibility is to my tax payers and to my residents.”
Kim said she had no problem with the city spending the proposed $150 million on an excellent live concert venue, but she wanted to see the city capture the revenue streams that come with that investment. In the Live Nation contract, the concert giant would enjoy all revenue streams and kick back a small annual payment to the city.
“I believe our return on investment will be great if we are able to capture the economic opportunities that are out there,” said Kim, comparing an Irvine amphitheater with successful amphitheaters like Denver’s Red Rocks and Los Angeles’s The Greek. She said by giving Live Nation the revenue from tickets, parking, naming rights, and more, the city was losing an opportunity to recoup the cost of constructing the amphitheater.
Kim highlighted the Council’s enthusiasm for the concert venue by pointing out that she and Treseder were both wearing concert T-shirts (The Smiths and The Cure). Kim said the city had wasted enough time trying to make it work with Live Nation.
“I was to move forward as quickly as possible with live music in Irvine,” said Kim.
Before a vote was brought to the floor, Mayor Farrah Khan stepped in to question the city’s ability to manage a concert venue. In reference to Kim’s comments, Khan said, “We aren’t Denver and we aren’t LA.”
Khan also claimed that at community events residents specifically expressed support to have Live Nation manage the city’s amphitheater.
Kim began to respond to Khan before the Mayor sharply cut her off, revealing her frustration that the Council appeared to be ready to vote down working with Live Nation. Agran urged the Council to take a vote on his proposed motion, but he validated Khan’s concerns about the city’s challenges in creating a road map to “the amphitheater of our dreams.”
With Khan and Carroll both voting against the proposal, it’s clear that not everyone thinks Irvine should get into the music business. But many Irvine residents are breathing a sigh of relief tonight. Several were in attendance at the meeting to express their support for terminating the contract with Live Nation, including a former candidate for Irvine Mayor, Branda Lin.
“Thank you to all the residents who spoke up and submitted emails,” said Lin via email. “We need elected officials who are not beholden to special interest so that we can freely and wisely make decisions in best interest of our city and our community.”