Gary James' Interview With The Director Of Programming At Fox Theatre in Atlanta
Lucy Lawler-Freas



Lucy Lawler-Freas has had quite a varied career in the world of entertainment. She's been a talent buyer at Live Nation and the House Of Blues, and a concert producer at Rival Entertainment. She's also the Director Of Programming at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. We spoke with Lucy Lawler-Freas about her current roles at Rival Entertainment and the Fox Theatre.

Q - Rival Entertainment really took a hit in 2020. I say that because you're used to producing 350 plus shows a year. How many shows did you produce in 2020?

A - In 2020 we only did three outdoor shows and probably forty indoor shows and that's a rough estimate. It's probably accurate.

Q - How then can a company like Rival Entertainment stay in business?

A - Not easily. All of our staff were furloughed unfortunately and so we are basically just operating on what little reserves we had and then the PPE we got in the beginning and hoping for more in the coming months.

Q - Do you believe that once the pandemic ends, the people working for you will return to their jobs? Or do you believe they will have moved on to something else?

A - I think it all depends on how long this goes on and we certainly can't expect people to not pursue other work. But I think there's such a large pool of music industry people that are out of work, looking for work, that I expect when we can return to business we'll pick up whatever pieces we can and move forward. So, we would certainly do our best to work with our previous employees and then if they've moved on, we'll find actually a good pool of people to choose from.

Q - You once routed a tour for Prince. Was that while you were working for Live Nation?

A - No. That was Rival.

Q - Wouldn't that be something a booking agency would do?

A - For most anyone, yes. But Prince didn't have an agent.

Q - I didn't know that.

A - Prince was a very unique artist. He did not have a manager so to speak and he didn't have an agent. He would periodically find someone that he trusted to work with. At the time it was Kim Warshow. Kim contacted me and said, "Prince wants to do a particular type of show in Atlanta and he wants to work with you. Can you put something together?" So, I did and as the conversation sort of grew he said, "Well Prince wants to do this in other cities. We want you to route these particular cities." He named off several that Prince wanted to target and the type of show he was doing and the size of venue. So I would do it and do it again and do it again. Finally he was happy with the routing and venues and we were about to announce another set of shows when he passed away.

Q - You worked as a talent buyer for Live Nation for over four years. What did your work consist of and why did you leave?

A - Well, for clarification, when I worked for them it was prior to Live Nation as we know it. I worked for Alex Cooley and Peter Conlon at Concert/Southern, which got bought by SFX, which then turned into Clear Channel and then to Live Nation. So when I worked for them it was just sort of becoming the SFX conglomeration thing we know now as Live Nation. As a talent buyer that means you are representing rooms that you go into and you're contacting agents to buy their artists, their talent.

Q - Then you went to the House Of Blues Concerts. Now, what could you do there that you couldn't do at Live Nation?

A - (laughs) Candidly, make more money.

Q - I had a feeling you would say that.

A - So, that's one reason, and the other reason was the office I was in for Live Nation was, I'll use the word toxic. It wasn't a team spirit, so to speak I guess. And so I felt like there was always going to be that vibe there and that wasn't a vibe I wanted in my life. So I went to House Of Blues, which at the time was the competition for Live Nation, but I didn't go there without giving Live Nation, at the time it was Peter Conlon's decision, I didn't leave without giving them an opportunity to keep me. But when they weren't willing to do what needed to be done, then I left. It was a very, very difficult decision, but ultimately I was glad I made it.

Q - And then you started Rival Entertainment where you're a partner and talent buyer.

A - Right.

Q - And on top of that you're the Director Of Programming at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. How is there enough hours in the day to do what you need to do? Those are two full time jobs, aren't they?

A - They are, but they compliment each other well. I'm talking to the same people for both jobs, so I literally have two different screens at my desk. One is Rival and one is the Fox. As I'm talking to agents, we just shift what we're talking about. So if I'm holding dates for an artist at the Fox and then that agent also wants to talk about at Centennial Olympic Park for Rival, then we just shift the conversation and I shift the screen I'm looking at basically. So you're juggling the two within the same time honestly.

Official Website: RivalEntertainment.com

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