Founder of Stateside Presents & Owner of Crescent Ballroom, Charlie Levy
Charlie Levy moved to Arizona from New Orleans in 1988 to attend Arizona State University. During his sophomore year at ASU his roommate (who was big into student government) left a pamphlet that had student jobs and one of those jobs was for a student concert director. With no experience and just on a whim, he decided to apply for the job and was then hired on staff. After a year and a half of helping ASU put on big budget shows, he wanted to try out booking a show himself, so he booked Pauly Shore. When a bigger audience than anticipated came to the show, he knew he was onto something.
From there he went on to work part time for Evening Star Productions which was the biggest promotion company in Phoenix at the time, and eventually they let him book club shows. It was during this time that he learned that he didn’t like booking shows for other people.
When he left Evening Star he started to manage a band, and in 1995 he got permission from Nita’s Hideaway to book that band every Wednesday night, which lead to Nita’s letting him book other bands. Besides putting on shows inside of Nita’s they also used to use the parking lot for bigger shows, one of those shows was when, regulars, Jimmy Eat World filmed their music video for Bleed America.
Unfortunately in 2002 Nita’s got shut down when the city of Tempe bought the land that Nita’s Hideaway was on, to make room for what is now Tempe Marketplace. The owner of Nita’s moved the venue and Charlie decided to persevere down his own path. He started with booking Jimmy Eat World at Mesa Amphitheater, which was the first show that was put on by Charlie’s promotion company ‘Stateside Presents’.
Since then, Charlie has booked thousands of shows under the name Stateside Presents and in 2011 he even opened up his own mid-size music venue called Crescent Ballroom in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. Accompanying Crescent Ballroom is Crescent’s own restaurant called Cocina 10, in which Charlie Levy joined forces with Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco, and Doug Robson of Gallo Blanco to create what they like to called “Mexican-accented road food.”
In this interview we talk to Charlie about the responsibilities of being a concert promoter, his time booking shows at Nita’s Hideaway, the time when he and Jim Atkins started a record label together, as well as how his experience in booking shows before he opened Crescent has impacted the venue.
After this interview, if you still want to know more about the whole story of Charlie Levy/ Stateside Presents & Crescent Ballroom watch this short documentary called ‘Bigger Than Sound.’ ASU students Kayla Frost, Alex Gregory, Mugo Odigwe, and Marissa Ochoa created this documentary that features interviews with Charlie himself, along with Jim Atkins (J.E.W.), Nate Ruess (The Format, fun.), Sam Means (The Format, Hello Merch), Miniature Tigers, and also Jeremiah Gratza of Stateside Presents.
For people who don’t really know what a concert promoter or venue owner does, can you explain to them what your responsibilities are?
Sure. A concert promoter is the person that works with the band’s booking agent and works with the booking agent to bring the band to a certain city or region of the country. When a band decides to tour the US, they sort of write out, “We want to start in Chicago and go to Texas, go through Texas, Arizona to Reno then to San Francisco and down the coast,” to kind of routing, and then the booking agent will call promoters in different cities to coordinate the show. If they are playing in Phoenix or Tucson they might call me and say, “Hey Charlie, we want to play in Phoenix on such and such a date,” and then will work with a booking agent to decide what’s the proper venue for them that’s available and the ticket price and such. Once that is established, and then the promoter is usually the person who rents the venue, pays the band and does all the promotions and the advertising and coordinates everything to make the show happen from feeding the band, catering, to stagehands and security, to making sure there is insurance, ticketing and all that good stuff.
What is the usual turnaround rate when bands decide to do a tour to when it is announced to the public?
It really does vary. By the time I get the first call for a show an inquiry about a certain date, it usually takes one or two weeks to figure out the deal and then another two weeks before we put the tickets on sale so I’d say about a month, but other times, it could be really near. It is July now and I’m getting, people are asking me about dates for next March around South and Southwest so we won’t announce until January. A lot of times, there are a lot of false alarms. They are like okay we might be coming through on this date and we have the date worked out, then the band decides to go to Europe during that timeframe or they get on Jimmy Kimmel or something and the date is canceled or we have a date and they get ready to go and they get a larger band adds in the support for a tour and the show gets canceled. That happens a lot too.
Going back to the very beginning, if you don’t get the job as a concert director at ASU, do you think you would’ve still pursued being in the music industry?
Probably not. I wouldn’t know how to get into it. I think you have to get lucky and be at the right place at the right time for a lot of things. I just happened to be at the right time, at the right place. There are so few jobs and they are so few “ins” that I doubt I would’ve ever figured it out. I don’t know what I would’ve done. I’d be in trouble.
It’s like fate fell into your hands, because I heard that your roommate had a pamphlet that had the job in it or something?
That’s true. That’s a true story. I remember today I was in the top bunk and I was like what’s that on his desk? I went down and picked it up and I was flipping through it. I was on the last page and I’m like that’s the best job ever! (Laughter)
That’s so cool! We you were booking shows at Nita’s Hideaway, did you ever think that you would have your own venue someday?
I kind of did. I mean, nothing where I really thought about it too hard, but I’d be like, “If I had my own place, I would do this, this and this.” I think everyone thinks that way, where if you’re working and you don’t have complete control, it’s just like I wish I could do this, this and this; but I got burnt out at Nita’s after a while. I was almost relieved that it got shut down. I learned from that so when I started Crescent I would really tried to make sure I didn’t make the same mistake twice and not get burned out and have time for other things and have a really good staff around you and that kind of stuff, which I do. At Crescent, which is a venue in Phoenix, we have the best staff that can be. I could go to Thailand for a year and it would probably run better if I wasn’t here, because everyone is so good at what they do. I think I would just get in their way. (Laughter)
How did you come up with the name Stateside Presents?
I was booking shows at Nita’s, just under Nita’s and the first show that I booked outside of Nita’s was at Mesa Amphitheater, and it was for Jimmy Eat World, which is a Phoenix band and they’re friends of mine. The tickets were going to go on sale the next day and I got an e-mail from the venue saying here is what the ticket is going to look like, and the first line said Charlie Levy Presents Jimmy Eat World. I called them up and I said, “You can’t put my name on this ticket. You’re crazy.” They said, “Well, you need to come up with a name. We close at five o’clock and the tickets go on sale tomorrow at two or three in afternoon, so you have two hours to come up with something or this is going on the ticket.” I was panicked. At the time, it was me with the computer out of my bedroom so I was like what’s a good professional sounding name that sounds like I’m a real big time outfit. A friend of mine was thinking about naming their band Stateside and never did. I was like that sounds really official, Stateside Presents. I could see that being a big corporation or something so I called them back and said put Stateside on there. (Laughter)
Did you ever talk to your friend and tell him that you stole his name?
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure. Well, it was a band and my friend wanted to call it Stateside and they ended up calling it Gloritone, so they didn’t use it. I was like, “well you didn’t use it”. I thought it was a great name, not a good band name, but a great name for a promotion company.
Yeah! So when you and Jim Atkins started Western Tread together, whose idea was it and what were your intentions?
Actually, we were at a show together and we were just sitting down and I think the intentions were to help out bands from Arizona and try to help them out and help the other bands in Arizona and put out their records and do a really good job helping them get their music out. That was it. And I’m like, “are you serious?” and he’s like “I’m serious” I’m like “all right I’ll do it.” Then the next day I was like we’re starting a label and I remember like, we need a name. Jim comes in and says, “Okay, I’ve got a bank account. Let’s just start.” We already had a few bands that we wanted to put out. He was like “Oh, can I put out Jimmy Eat World vinyl?,” Didn’t put much thought into it, just went for it.
If you could go back would you do it again?
There is no way. It was terrible. All it is is paperwork. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork and numbers and mailing and e-mails. So boring.
How do you think your experience in booking shows before you opened Crescent has impacted the venue?
I think it impacted a lot because when you promote so many shows from so many different venues, you kind of have to take mental notes of what you think works and what doesn’t work, what you like about a certain venue. You obviously bring all that experience and all the things that you like you try to incorporate and the things that you weren’t a fan of, you try to make sure you don’t make those mistakes. It helps. Also, been fortunate that a lot of bands from Phoenix, like Jimmy Eat World and The Format, have taken me on a tour just for fun and I’ve gotten to see a lot of venues around the country and done the same thing.
What are some of your favorite venues from across America?
There’s a club that’s in Toronto that I thought was great. I really like the Troubadour in LA the Great American Ballroom in San Francisco. That’s a really fun venue. I tried to get into the Belly Up once. They wouldn’t let me in. It was a sold out show and I was like “I just want to see what it looks like”, and they’re like, “no”. I’m like,” I’ll give you my wallet, my cell phone and my keys. Can I walk in for five minutes so I can just see it? I heard so much about it” and they were like, “nope”. I would have paid for a ticket, but it was sold out. I literally was like getting everything out of my pockets, “I’ll be back in five min. I’m trusting you with my cell phone, I’ll be right back.” (laughter) They were like, “Nope.”
When you book shows do the booking agents come to you or do you go to them?
In the beginning I went to them mostly, but at this point I think I’ve made enough relationships in the last six years that the majority just call me. We talk on a regular basis about other shows. So while you’re talking about the Neko Case show and how much are tickets than the conversation is like, “Hey you should pick who’s coming next month too or whoever.” A lot of it is just a continued relationship. The Crescent, my whole theory is to make it really, really good, so people want to play here. It is not that the bands want to play here and we’re not sitting here having to call them up and beg them to play. Yeah, there still are some agents that we’ll reach out to, or we’ll hear a new band and were like, “Oh, we really want to book that band, but we’re like you don’t know that person that well.” And we will reach out and say, “Hey if you’re ever in the area. I would love to bring them to Arizona.” There are other agents that I see, we would like this band and we see that it’s booked with a certain agent, we won’t be so aggressive until we know that they’re going to be coming this way and they’ll give us a call. Like anything, it’s a fine line from being persistent to being annoying. (Laughter). I try not to be annoying. I mean some competitors will call someone every week, and like, what do you have and be very persistent but that can be annoying. I’d rather just work with who wants to work with me and not be annoying.
Do you have a favorite part about being a concert promoter?
I don’t think I have a favorite part. It’s definitely satisfying to see bands come in and enjoy themselves and come out and see what a great time they have and the staff works together so great out here. Someone in the staff is like, “I’m so excited the Melvins are coming. They’re my favorite band. I get to work, get paid, and get to see the Melvins.” That makes you feel good. Then, any time you see a group of 500 people having a great time and singing along. It makes you feel good. I think all those things are nice, but there is not one in particular that sticks out. As a whole, it’s definitely, you feel like you’re doing something worthwhile and hope people keep coming back and having a good time and you try really hard and you hope it works out, but there are no guarantees.
Is there a competition between these venues in the Phoenix, Arizona area with booking similar, or the same bands?
Yeah, but I just always worry about me and not worry about anybody else. Worry about what you are doing and be the best you can and don’t give much thought about other venues except good things. As far as like what can we do to be better, what can we do to be more efficient and to make it constantly what can we do to be the best we can be and let the chips fall where they may and work really hard. Luckily, there are so many bands to go around, which is great. I don’t think there is a shortage of bands people want to see so we’ve been really lucky. Moving to Crescent, only been open for a year and a half, but there’s been so many good shows, it’s pretty crazy. The Phoenix people in the area have really supported us tremendously and we just can’t thank them enough. Now we are working in the kitchen a lot which is really fun. We’re really thinking about food and making the food really, really good and something fun. It never ends. (Laughter) You can constantly try to make everything better.
Was that your idea all along to have a restaurant in the venue or did it just kind of happen?
I’ve always liked venues where you have a place to go and sort of escape from the main music part, like the troubadour. Where if you go and you’re not really feeling the support band you can go out and have a bite to eat or something to drink and have a conversation, enjoy yourself, and not feel like you’re trapped in some loud music. Or, you might be seeing the band you want to see and you see a friend you haven’t seen in many years and you want to go catch up and talk to them for a few minutes and you can be like, “Hey let’s step outside and have a conversation.” I always liked those types of venues. The Bottom Of The Hill was that way too in San Francisco. Then when we decided to have a bar and food than you might as well make it tasty, because since you have the kitchen the bands usually eat what we serve so you want to make sure they eat well and like what they’re eating.
What bands would you like to have to play at the Crescent Ballroom in the future?
There are so many. There are so many! We’re small. We are a small venue, so there’s certain bands, I wish we could have Alt –J play, I wish we could have Neko Case play, wish we could have Sharon Jones play. I don’t think they will, but it would be great.
How does music currently in Phoenix differ from when you first started out booking shows?
Well when I first started booking shows everything was in Tempe, which is a suburb that’s right outside of Phoenix where Arizona State is and that’s where all the venues were. No one even came to downtown Phoenix. To see that people are moving to downtown Phoenix. Every week it seems like a new restaurant or shop or yoga studio opens up. It’s great. It’s great being a part of this community. If you had said 10 years ago “downtown Phoenix”, people would look at you like you’re crazy and now, people are moving here in droves instead of… used to be people would try to leave Phoenix as soon as they could and now, people are actually moving to Phoenix so it’s great to be a part of that.
In your whole time of booking shows, do you have a show or a series of shows that stick out to you? Like the most memorable ones?
There were a couple of shows at Nita’s that stick out. One was a band called Ozomatli and Nita’s inside only held 200 people and they played inside. It was just one of those shows where people were like dancing on the bar. Two of my staff members were making out in the walk-in cooler. The band was parading all around the room. I was just thinking this might be the funnest show of all time. That was a great show. There was once a band that never really got too big but his name was James Hall. At the time I think one o’clock he had to stop, the bar’s closed, and there was only maybe 50 people there, but he was putting on such an amazing show and it was one huge, in another world, I was totally like lock the doors. We will just leave everyone here and let them play. (Laughter) Like, we’ll just leave everyone here but just lock the doors and hold a private party and like pull the drinks, lock the doors and this was in the 90s you know so, no maybe 2000, something like that. I was just like lock the doors and let him play until he is done, because I’m not going to go on stage and tell him to quit playing. This is too good. Also, there’s this band in Tucson called Calexico. I’ve promoted them so many many times and seen them. Some of their shows are just amazing.
Who do you watch more the crowd or the band that’s performing or both?
Sixty/forty the crowd. I like to stand on the side and watch the crowd. We just had the Psychedelic Furs yesterday (July 15) and I probably watched the crowd 80% of the time. (Laughter) A lot of times, not even then, but a lot of times, watching the crowd is actually more interesting than watching the performer. You watch them, you see his moves or her moves, see what they do after about 20 min., kind of the same thing but the crowd you know people are really bad dancers.
The last question, what advice would you give people who would like to be a concert promoter or a venue owner?
Just don’t talk about it and just do it. If you want to do something just start doing it. There’s always bands that need help and I think if you start going, there’s local bands and say, “Hey I want to put a show together,” with three local bands and we’re going to call it a name and were going to give the money to charity. Try it out, I guess that’s the way to do it. There’s always bands that need help, you might not be able to book Death Cab For Cutie the first time you’re promoting a show, but there’s always bands that are touring and need help or if it’s your favorite band and they don’t have a booking agent but they’re on Facebook. If you are in Reno and there’s a band you like in Sacramento or somewhere that’s in driving distance, San Francisco or Las Vegas, you say, “Hey if you ever want to come play here come play in my friend’s backyard.” That’s how a lot of people get started or you have a friend that has an art gallery and says, “Hey, can I put a show on in the art gallery?” You can go to a club, or a smaller club and say, “Hey I want a book that Tuesday night and I have this band from here and I have a couple local bands that you could either know or can e-mail or send them a message on Facebook and say I want to put a show together on this day. I think the most important thing is to book the bands that you like that you enjoy and bands can pick that up right away. Go ahead and start booking shows. There are so many bands out there, especially now with the World Wide Web, (Laughter) that people know that don’t necessarily have a label or don’t have a booking agent, but still want to tour and have some following and then it’s so much easier now to get the word out.
