By Talmadge Harper
Live Nation this week announced it recently sold four music venues in the U.K. to the management and concert promotion company MAMA Group Plc for ₤6 million, or roughly $12 million. Included in the deal was a 75 percent stake in a fifth nightclub.
The five British venues, Mean Fiddler, Borderline, Jazz Café, Garage and G-A-Y were all part of Mean Fiddler Holdings under Live Nation’s Mean Fiddler Music Group, which will now concentrate on concert and festival promotion, according to published reports.
MAMA Group co-CEO Dean James told the Daily Telegraph that the company hopes to expand the brands under the Mean Fiddler name. “The Jazz Cafe for instance, is a very good venue and a good brand – there should be more than one Jazz Café.” . . .
In other Live Nation news, the company also recently acquired the old Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami, which will be renamed the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater, the sixth venue under the company’s Fillmore banner. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the company said it planned to pour $3.5 million worth of renovations to the 2,700-seat theater.
The venue’s new look will be just in time for Ricky Martin’s Black And White Tour in October. The facelift will feature newly tiled and hardwood floors, among other amenities.
In a prepared statement, Neil Jacobsen, president of Live Nation Miami said the company was “thrilled” by the purchase. “We have worked hard to make significant improvements to the theater that will enable us to draw world class talent to The Fillmore Miami Beach at The Jackie Gleason Theater for many years to come. We are confident that music fans are going to love the renovated venue.”
