Bowery Ballroom and Mercury Lounge No Longer Bowery Presents Venues; Live Nation Rumored to Take Over
It’s a breakup that many in the industry saw coming. Bowery Presents, mere months after being gobbled up by AEG Live, parted ways with its two marquee Lower East Side venues – Bowery Ballroom and Mercury Lounge.
For two decades, these two rock clubs were synonymous with the Bowery Presents empire. Not anymore, as Brooklyn Vegan hears that Live Nation will most likely take over booking duties for both. As the blog notes, “Bowery Presents co-founder Michael Swier (note: he left the partnership) is and was always the owner of Bowery Ballroom and Mercury Lounge, and at a minimum this is just him possibly replacing Bowery Presents (AEG) with Live Nation.”
News first broke in April 2016 that AEG was negotiating to take over Bowery Presents. Nine months later, the $40 million deal was finalized (for half the company), giving AEG a prominent edge in the New York City market.
Meanwhile, Bowery Presents co-founder John Moore provided Gothamist with the following statement:
“After careful thought and consideration, The Bowery Presents is parting ways with The Bowery Ballroom and Mercury Lounge. We have a long history with the venues as the exclusive booking and marketing arm and wish them well in the future. On the heels of our recently opened Brooklyn Steel, the largest GA room in Brooklyn, and taking over booking duties for Webster Hall, we are constantly exploring new opportunities for music-lovers in New York City. Stay tuned for more announcements from The Bowery Presents very soon!”
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