Paul Tollett | |
---|---|
Born | 1965 (age 58–59) |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Cal Poly Pomona |
Occupation | Promoter |
Years active | 1986 – Present |
Employer | Goldenvoice |
Title | CEO and president |
Paul Tollett is an American music promoter. He is the president and CEO of Goldenvoice, a Los Angeles-based concert production company, and the co-founder of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. [1]
Tollett was born in Ohio and grew up in Pomona, California. He and his brother, Perry, regularly attended punk and hardcore shows promoted by Goldenvoice. [2] The Tolletts promoted their first show while in high school. [3]
Tollett met Gary Tovar, Goldenvoice's owner, at a Bad Manners concert in Long Beach in 1986. [4] He worked part time for Goldenvoice while a chemistry student at CalPoly Pomona, dropping out in his senior year to become a full time employee. [5]
In 1991, he and Rick Van Santen, a longtime associate of Tovar's, bought Goldenvoice. Their first shows featured artists including Black Flag, Jane’s Addiction, and N.W.A. [6] [7] Tollett said in 2011 that Tovar taught him "everything". [2]
In 1996, Paul and Perry Tollett co-founded the Glass House, a live music venue in Pomona. No Doubt was the first band that played the Glass House, which became known for its all-ages rock and punk shows. In 2007, with partners Ed and Jerry Tessier, the Tolletts purchased and renovated the historic Pomona Fox Theater. [8]
In 1997, Tollett and Van Santen developed the concept for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which was held for the first time in 1999. It lost approximately $750,000. Although Goldenvoice survived the loss, based in part on Tollett's history of "fair dealing with bands and venders", it was a struggle; Tollett sold his house and his car. [4]
Goldenvoice was acquired by AEG in March 2001; by then it was one of the most prominent promoters of rock and punk shows in the United States. [9]
The second Coachella took place as a one-day festival in 2001. In 2012 it was expanded to six days over two consecutive weekends. [10] The 2018 festival drew an audience of approximately 250,000 people. The 2019 festival sold out in six hours. [11] [12] [13]
Van Santen died in 2004. [7] Tollett and Van Santen were "inseparable" from 1988 to the time of Van Santen's death. In a 2011 interview, he said: "We couldn't have done it without each other." [2]
Pomona is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 151,713. The main campus of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, also known as Cal Poly Pomona, lies partially within Pomona's city limits, with the rest being located in the neighboring unincorporated community of Ramona.
Indio is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies 23 miles (37 km) east of Palm Springs, 75 miles (121 km) east of Riverside, 127 miles (204 km) east of Los Angeles, 148 miles (238 km) northeast of San Diego, 250 miles (400 km) west of Phoenix, and 102 miles (164 km) north of Mexicali, Mexico.
Perry Farrell is an American singer, songwriter, and musician referred to as the "Godfather of Alternative Music". Farrell began his career with Psi Com in the early 1980s, before becoming the frontman of the band Jane's Addiction. He became well known for his success with Jane's Addiction; the band quickly became a key act in the '80s Los Angeles music scene, blending punk, metal, and psychedelic rock to create a unique sound. Their daring live performances and experimental approach resonated with disillusioned youth, contributing to the rise of alternative music as a form of rebellion and self-expression.
Coachella is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. It was co-founded by Paul Tollett and Rick Van Santen in 1999, and is organized by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Presents. The event features musical artists from many genres of music, including rock, pop, indie, hip hop and electronic dance music, as well as art installations and sculptures. Across the grounds, several stages continuously host live music.
The Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), also known as AEG Worldwide, is an American global sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports events. Under the AEG Presents brand, it is the world's second-largest presenter of live music and entertainment events, after Live Nation. AEG Presents was founded in 2002 as AEG Live.
The Grand Olympic Auditorium is a former sports venue in southern Downtown Los Angeles, California. The venue was built in 1924 at 1801 South Grand Avenue, now just south of the Santa Monica Freeway. The grand opening of the Olympic Auditorium was on August 5, 1925, and was a major media event, attended by such celebrities as Jack Dempsey and Rudolph Valentino. One of the last major boxing and wrestling arenas still in existence, the venue now serves as a worship space for the Korean-American evangelical church, "Glory Church of Jesus Christ".
Kevin Lyman is the founder and operator of the Kevin Lyman Group, formerly known as 4Fini, Inc., a live event production company and brand strategy firm. His most notable live production is the live music festival series Vans Warped Tour, which attracted about 750,000 people annually and was the longest-running North American festival concert tour.
David "Rat" Levine is the founder of Rat Sound and Sound Tools, a sound system designer, sound consultant and live sound engineer for many well-known artists such as Black Flag, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine and Blink-182. Rat ran sound for the first Warped Tour in 1995, and has served annually as sound system engineer at Coachella since its founding in 1999.
The Bicycle Thief is an American alternative rock band fronted by Bob Forrest. After a break from the music industry after the demise of his previous band, Thelonious Monster, Forrest started jamming with Josh Klinghoffer and in 1997 they played a covers gig and Forrest started recording demos on a four-track. After Goldenvoice's Paul Tollett offered him a deal he and Klinghoffer recorded The Bicycle Thief's debut, joined on the album by Kevin Fitzgerald. This was Klinghoffer's first recording experience and he contributed guitars, keyboards, and on some tracks the drums.
The Stagecoach Festival is an annual country music festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. Organized by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary of AEG Presents, it is a sister event to the Coachella festival, and held on the weekend immediately following the conclusion of Coachella.
The Billboard Live Music Awards is an annual meeting sponsored by Billboard magazine that honors the top international live entertainment industry artists and professionals. Established in 2004, it has thus been described as "part industry conference, part awards show".
New Regime is an American punk band from Los Angeles, California. Initially called "Sodomy Squad", the band was co-founded in 1979 by vocalist Todd Payden and bass player Michael Brevetz while they were students at North Hollywood's Walter Reed Jr. High School. Needing a drummer and guitarist, Brevetz and Payden recruited fellow students Marc Woodson and Anthony Gallo to complete the lineup. The group did one demo recording under the name Sodomy Squad but found it difficult to get shows under the name, opting for the less offensive but more political name "New Regime".
Coachella is a music festival organized by the Los Angeles-based concert promoter Goldenvoice. It takes place annually at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. The event is known for its large art pieces and cutting-edge artists' performances.
SIN 34 was an American hardcore punk rock band formed in 1981 in Santa Monica, California. The band featured a female front-person, Julie Lanfeld-Keskin. The band's rhythm section would go on to form Painted Willie in 1984, and sign with SST Records in 1985, and embark on a six-month national US tour with Black Flag in 1986. Reforming out of the blue in 2008, SIN 34 would once again play shows primarily in their native southern California through 2012. Longtime member and primary songwriter Phil Newman died after an apparent accident on a sail boat, February 22, 2015; the band has no plans to continue. Singer Lanfeld-Keskin died April 4, 2018.
Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace is a honky-tonk, barbecue restaurant and music venue near Joshua Tree National Park in Pioneertown, California. Accessible from California State Route 62, the restaurant lies four miles northeast of Yucca Valley.
Paul B. Cutler is an American producer and guitarist, best known for his work with the Dream Syndicate and 45 Grave.
Gary Tovar is a music business consultant and former music promoter. He founded the music concert business Goldenvoice Productions, which promotes the widely-attended Coachella music festival. In 1991, Tovar was arrested on charges relating to drug trafficking from Arizona.
The Empire Polo Club is a 1000-acre polo club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley of Riverside County, approximately 22 miles southeast of Palm Springs. Founded in 1987, it has hosted international polo tournaments. It leases out its polo grounds for Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach Festival annually for the last three weekends in April.
Desert Trip was a six-day music festival that took place on October 7–9 and 14–16, 2016, at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, United States. The performers were The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters, and The Who. The festival was dubbed "Oldchella" by Stereogum a few weeks before it was officially announced, referencing both the age of the performers and the fact that the concert was arranged by Goldenvoice, the company that also promotes the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the same venue.
Coachella 2024 was a music festival that took place at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California on 12–14 and 19–21 April 2024. The headliners for the festival were Lana Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator, and Doja Cat.