AEG CLOSES SUMMER BY OPENING VENUES

Atlanta's own Big Boi opened AEG Presents' new venue in Georgia, The Eastern.

AEG Presents closed out the summer season by opening new venues in Atlanta and the Cincinnati market as the concert giant readies new theaters in Las Vegas and Boston.

Kesha opened PromoWest Pavilion at The Ovation in Newport, Ky., outside Cincinnati last week while Big Boi was the first act to take the stage at The Eastern in the ATL.

Located in the Reynoldstown area of Atlanta, The Eastern has a standing capacity of 2,300; the venue also has a rooftop with a covered performance space. Acts heading to the venue in the coming weeks include Leon Bridges, Big Thief and SAINt JHn. AEG runs the venue with Zero Mile co-founder Scott Orvold.

The Ovation can hold 7,000 people as an outdoor venue and 2,800 when it's indoors only. Managed by Columbus, Ohio-based PromoWest, upcoming concerts include The Killers, Polo G and Russ.

Kesha was the first act to play The Ovation outside Cincinnati.

AEG Presents has been focused on theaters with flexible layouts in its new venue development, hybrid places with flat floors, a balcony and an indoor/outdoor option.

“That design allows us to capture larger summer touring shows and, in the fall and winter, operate at a smaller scale,” AEG Presents Chairman & CEO Jay Marciano told HITS this summer.

“Our new residency theater in Las Vegas at Resorts World is kind of a big deal because we took all of the learnings of the last 20 years from running The Colosseum at Caesars and built upon that with this new venue.”

The 5,000-capacity Theatre at Resorts World opens 11/5 with Celine Dion, who has 20 dates booked through early February. Carrie Underwood and Katy Perry start residencies in December; Luke Bryan follows in February. (AEG is also booking concerts at the Theater at Virgin Hotels that opens Saturday with Gary Clark, Jr.).

It has one of the largest and tallest stages on the Las Vegas Strip—64-feet deep by 196-feet wide—three scenic and performance stage lifts, and a sound system with 265 speakers.

“Our feeling was that whatever show an artist is presenting as a residency in Vegas will be different than what they do on the road and they want more production capabilities,” Marciano said. “Our ability to stage these big spectacles requires a stage of the size of something like Radio City Music Hall. And there are very few of those being built today, mostly because they're very expensive and you can only afford to do that in Vegas.”

Next up for AEG Presents is the 3,500-capacity Roadrunner in Allston-Brighton that will open in spring 2022 as part of the Boston Landing development. To get there, you drive past the Allston Stop & Shop.