Live Nation fires salvo in Denver concert wars

Promoter hires away rival's buyers, takes lead role at Gothic

Mark Brown, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 27, 2006 at midnight

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In yet another major shift in the Denver concert-war scene, Live Nation, the nation's largest promoter, has hired away Nobody In Particular Presents' top talent buyers and will soon be the primary booker of Englewood's Gothic Theatre.

The concert business here has been in behind-the-scenes turmoil since Anschutz Entertainment Group set up an office in Denver and hired the top three Live Nation officials in Denver, including longtime promoter Chuck Morris. That surprise move came shortly after Live Nation announced plans to buy House of Blues, its biggest competitor in the market.

Now Peter Orr, formerly of NIPP, fills some of those Live Nation shoes, along with Perry Lavoisne, who was brought in from Detroit to fight the Denver concert wars.

The Gothic, a 700-capacity restored theater on South Broadway, is considered one of the finest small venues in the city. Live Nation also controls the Paramount Theatre and Fillmore Auditorium, and books the vast majority of Red Rocks shows. If the acquisition of HOB is approved, it will also control the 18,000-seat Coors Amphitheatre. NIPP has the relatively small Bluebird and Ogden theaters on East Colfax Avenue.

"At NIPP it was hard for me to keep developing bands and then having them get stolen from me because I didn't have the potential to take them further," Orr said. "At Live Nation I can take them all the way."

"Peter and I have always been good mates, and I don't expect that to change," said Doug Kauffman, co-owner of NIPP. "We might end up competing on some stuff, but that's just par for the course in this business. It has been the same guys working for these different companies who are programming all the concerts in this area. They switch from company to company. I'm staying right where I am."

Steve Schalk, owner of the Gothic, said he couldn't discuss details of his pending agreement with Live Nation. He said the Gothic would technically remain an open room to anyone who wanted to rent it.

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