THE COUNT: MEGA FESTS A BOON FOR BANDS AND FANS

24-HOUR PARTY PEOPLE: Forget spending three days standing and sweating in the hot sun—the “mega fest” is here to save your aching back and wallet. It’s a trend picking up a lot of steam in 2024, with promoters scaling back two- or three-day genre-specific music festivals into single-day happenings featuring upwards of 50 different performers.

Credit Jeff Shuman, the former Goldenvoice talent buyer who jumped ship for Live Nation in 2022, with the mega-fest master plan, but the blueprint can be traced back nearly 30 years to the dawn of CAA and Kevin Lyman’s alternative- and punk-focused Warped Tour, which became the biggest traveling music festival in the U.S.

Insiders say stacking the deck and offering so much bang for the buck makes these events must-sees for fans, who don’t even need to book a hotel thanks to the single-day setup. "It’s undeniable," one agent said. "[Shuman] doesn’t need to spend money on advertising or marketing—just the announce. And due to the reservation system in place, if demand is there, he can roll into another day or another weekend if he wants. Promoter, artist and fan all win."

To that end, insiders report Shuman is known to pay above the going rate to secure talent, often to the dismay of others seeking the same acts to perform at their festivals. Artist managers, agents and the artists themselves often vie to be included in these lineups. “It’s a great look for a band that commands $20k-$40k, and they don’t have to worry about selling tickets,” another agent said.

Jeff Shuman, Kevin Lyman and Matt Galle

Last month, Goldenvoice and Paul Tollett announced a return to their west coast punk roots with the massive No Values festival, which will bring some of the genre's most classic acts to Fairplex in Pomona, Calif., on 6/8. The inaugural lineup will feature The Original Misfits (UTA), Social Distortion (Paladin Artists’ Andy Somers), Iggy Pop (IAG) and Bad Religion (CAA’s Darryl Eaton and Jared Martin) at the top of the bill.

The similarly emo-rich When We Were Young fest (Live Nation/Redrock Entertainment) celebrates its third year 10/19 at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds and will be topped by My Chemical Romance (CAA’s Matt Galle), Fall Out Boy (CAA/Crush) and Jimmy Eat World (UTA/SAM).

AEG/Goldenvoice’s new wave/alternative Cruel New World, featuring Duran Duran, Interpol (Red Light) and Blondie, and 2000s-era indie-leaning Just Like Heaven (Wasserman’s The Postal Service, CAA/C3’s Phoenix and Death Cab for Cutie) return to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on 5/11 and 18 respectively. Live Nation and Shuman’s hard rock monster Sick New World is also back for a second installment at Las Vegas Festival Grounds (4/27) with headliners System of a Down, managed by Velvet Hammer’s David “Beno” Benveniste and Slipknot, managed by 5B AM’s Cory Brennan.

David "Beno" Benveniste, Cory Brennan and Goldenvoice's Stacy Vee