Texxas Jam was the informal nickname of an annual summer rock concert called the Texxas World Music Festival (1978–1988). It was held in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl , and in Houston , at either the Astrodome or the Rice Stadium on the campus of Rice University .
28-601: The original Texxas Jam was a three-day festival held over the Fourth of July weekend in 1978 and encompassed rock and country. Texxas Jam was created by Louis Messina , promoter of Pace Concerts in Houston, and David Krebs, manager of the rock acts Ted Nugent and Aerosmith. Krebs wanted to duplicate the music festival California Jam II (held March 18, 1978 in Ontario, California ) in Texas. Krebs
56-410: A brand out of their own personalities and the parties they host, marketing the events under a consistent name, style, type of program, and social experience that downplays the branding of the venue or artist. They may develop a loyal clientele that will follow them from one location to another. In cosmopolitan cities with large affluent populations, there are upscale venues that employ the services of
84-900: A cottage industry , with companies operated by one or several well-connected charismatic individuals, often working part-time. However, with the rise of corporate ownership of live entertainment assets, several large companies have emerged in the field. There are often disputes over money in the promotions industry because it is largely cash business with a history of corruption and uneven recordkeeping . In addition there are many accounting complexities to manage, particularly for large events: revenue, expenses, and oversight of parking , coat checks , concession vendor sales (e.g., CDs and t-shirts ), box office so-called " convenience fees ", in kind trades, promotional give-away items used to lure guests (e.g., free drinks), costs for insurance , cleaning staff, and so on. One area of frequent contention are quid pro quo cross-promotions , where
112-480: A distance, it looked like a skull. Notes: Hagar came on just before Styx at the end. Ted Nugent and Rik Emmett joined Sammy Hagar on stage in Dallas for their version of Led Zeppelin 's "Rock 'n Roll." Tommy Shaw recalls these shows - particularly Dallas - as being some of the worst of his career. He claims to have feared for his life as his band was performing nothing but the rock opera "Kilroy Was Here" after some of
140-499: A special event, such as a large New Year's Eve party in a hotel ballroom. They may also engage freelance hosts for their social influence; these amateur promoters market the events to their circle of friends and/or social media followers, in exchange for special treatment and/or free admission to the event and at times, and may form or be included in street teams that promote events at other live venues. Minimally, an event promoter manages publicity and advertising . Depending on
168-464: A special kind of promoter called an image promoter. The role of the image promoter is to bring celebrities or fashion models to high end venues and host them at a VIP table. In order to entice models and celebrities to come to the venue, the image promoter is provided with a VIP table and complementary alcohol. High end venues use the presence of models and celebrities to market their venue to an affluent clientele which may often only obtain admittance to
196-420: Is an American concert promoter who is best known for promoting Taylor Swift and George Strait . Louis Messina's father was “Leapin’ Lou” Messina a New Orleans Boxing promoter. Living across the street from New Orleans’ Municipal Auditorium , his father took him to an Elvis Presley concert when he was 7 years old leading to his interest in music. In 1975 Messina co-founded PACE Concerts. Messina founded
224-685: The CMA Touring Lifetime Achievement Award. On June 15, 2024 George Strait 's concert in Texas with 110,905 fans in attendance is believed to be the largest single ticketed concert in U.S. History. Boxing record for Louis Messina from BoxRec (registration required) This business-related biographical article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Promoter (entertainment) A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in music and sports. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in
252-405: The "door policy" used by bouncers to decide who will be admitted and at what price. To deal with these complexities event contracts can become quite long and detailed. Whether written or not, these arrangements tend to favor the party with the greater sophistication or the more control over the production of the event. Even the most detailed, professionally written and negotiated contracts can become
280-605: The 'Hard Rock' line up. Notes: Savvy was originally scheduled to open, but was bumped by REO Speedwagon's management (same management as The Eagles in 1980). (Show lineup confirmed by Steve Jones of Savvy.) Notes: The '81 Jam was held in Houston that year because of the intense summer heat in Texas. The promoters decided to move it indoors to the Astrodome in Houston, marking the Jam's first Houston date. The festival would be split between Dallas and Houston through 1984. Notes: It
308-557: The annual summer rock concert series Texxas World Music Festival (1978–1988) Texxas Jam . It was held in Dallas at the Cotton Bowl , and in Houston , at either the Astrodome or Rice Stadium on the campus of Rice University . He also conceived of OzzFest with Sharon Osborne. Messina also promoted concerts in outdoor amphitheaters which reshaped the concert business. In 1997 Pace Concerts
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#1732859250279336-614: The arrangement, they may also handle security , ticket sales , event admission (door policies), decorations, and booking of other entertainers. Many promoters are DJs or musicians themselves, and may perform at their own events. Some bloggers and individuals with a large following on social media may consider themselves as promoters and charge fees promotional service via their social media platform(s), or through their efforts. Many musicians and artists act as de facto promoters for their own concerts, either directly or through their manager or booking company . Historically, promotion has been
364-441: The best hard rock bands of the day had performed, combined with other factors including triple-degree temperatures and rowdy concertgoers. (This was the tour that essentially ended Styx.) Notes: Bryan Adams' drummer for this show was Matt Frenette of Loverboy. Notes: Leslie West joined BTO on stage to perform Mountain's "Mississippi Queen." Notes: The live concert footage for Poison's video "I Won't Forget You"
392-404: The business of marketing and promoting live, or pay-per-view and similar, events, such as music concerts , gigs , nightclub performances and raves ; sports events; and festivals . Promoters are typically engaged as independent contractors or representative companies by entertainment venues, earning a pre-arranged fee, or a share of revenues (colloquially known as a "cut" and "share of
420-511: The field). To protect the Cotton Bowl, they covered the surface with black tarps. Over 100,000 people were in attendance on the hottest day of the decade. The concert had hose sprinklers around the field edge to cool people off, and they hosed the crowd down with firehoses from the stage. First aid stations were busy. This was the first southern stadium rock show since ZZ Top played to 80,000 people at UT Austin on September 1, 1974 and tore up
448-513: The field. In the aftermath of the ZZ Top UT show there was never supposed to be another stadium rock show in Texas again, an informal prohibition that lasted all of four years. Notes: TKO was managed by the same management as Heart at the time, which is the reason for their appearance on the bill. KTXQ-FM Q-102 simulcast much of this concert throughout the day, with TKO, Hagar, Nazareth, and portions of Heart's show aired live. Van Halen's set
476-408: The house"), or both. A share of revenues is often a simple percentage of admission fees (called "the door") and/or food and drink sales, with many variations possible, such as minimums or maximums, allowances for various expenses, or limitations (such as only alcohol sales after midnight). Other promoters operate independently, renting venues for a fixed fee, or under a revenue sharing arrangement with
504-420: The promoter or some other party connected with the venue will obtain a favor (for example, a price discount) in exchange for giving a future favor to the vendor. If the existence of the scheme, or the relationship between the parties, is undisclosed this may become a form of bribery . Another opportunity for misunderstanding are the various "lists" of guests who will be admitted for free or with VIP treatment, and
532-493: The song cut off; afterwards the band did not play "Winning" during their set. Correction: Sammy's guitar was stolen from a previous Dallas show. Was recovered and Sammy held it until the Texxas Jam. Where he explained the incident and destroyed the guitar. The guitar was never set on fire. Sammy smashed the guitar onstage and threw it into the crowd. Notes: Ozzy had a shaved head and black makeup around his eyes – from
560-1135: The subject of lawsuits over interpretation. Because nightclubs are often associated with drug and alcohol consumption, rowdiness, and other late-night behavior, promoters may become entangled in various criminal disputes as well. Promoters bring crowds through a variety of methods. The most direct are guerrilla marketing techniques such as plastering posters on outdoor walls, flyposting , and distributing handbills on windows of cars parked in entertainment districts. Promoters also keep mailing lists, usually email lists , of their preferred guests and their wider list of potential customers. Many promoters have taken advantage of online technology such as social networking services and event listing sites to handle publicity, invitations, mailing lists, and so on. Clubs and promoters are among leaders in SMS text message advertising to their own lists as well as sponsored snippets on third-party lists for daily content to subscribers. Many fans promote events, products through their Facebook/Twitter/Myspace on their own free will. Promoters often build
588-562: The venue holder, thus keeping larger profits from successful events. One common arrangement for small venues is for the promoter to earn all of the admissions fees, while the venue retains all food and drink revenue. Some venues have exclusive arrangements with a single promotion company, others work with multiple promoters on a rotating schedule (one night per week, for example), or on an event-by-event basis. Promoters often work together — either as equal partners, or as subcontractors to each other's events. Several promoters may work together for
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#1732859250279616-435: The very crowded ground area to pass out and be lifted overhead to the indoor areas of the stadium where there were water fountains. Water from hoses was also sprayed on the concertgoers in the field. Notes: Van Halen's Sammy Hagar lost his voice after only a couple of songs. He then promised to play a free show in Dallas. A few years later, Van Halen followed through on that promise. Louis Messina Louis Messina
644-414: Was a hot day that day. Sammy Hagar had a guitar stolen backstage at the Cotton Bowl show; it was returned later that day. However, Hagar vowed to never play it again after it had been handled by someone else, and lit it on fire on stage. Right before Santana's set, the house music mix played their hit "Winning", the lead singer and other band members came onstage and motioned to the sound mixers to try to get
672-498: Was bought by SFX. After SFX was sold to Clear Channel in 2000, Messina went out on his own to promote George Strait . His promotion of George Strait lead to him working with other artists including Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran . Thru 2022 Louis has promoted shows grossing over $ 4.5 Billion. Messina received the Tony Martell Lifetime Entertainment Achievement Award. Messina also received
700-402: Was bumped at the last minute by The Eagles' management. (Show lineup confirmed by Steve Jones of Savvy.) Christopher Cross, who already didn't fit on the hard-rocking Texxas Jam stage, was resoundingly booed at the outset of "Sailing", then later cut his set short after throwing up on stage due to heat exhaustion. The Eagles refused to play at first and were an hour late going on due to issues with
728-536: Was filmed at this performance. The crowd seemed wild about Poison while in actuality a drunk concertgoer was on top of a lighting tower (about 30' up) trampolining on the tarp roof in nothing but a pair of blue jeans. The crowd really enjoyed him and the Dallas PD's attempt to get him safely to the ground. Also, Poison was joined onstage by Paul Stanley for their performance of KISS' "Strutter". The temperature in Dallas that day reached 104 degrees Fahrenheit, prompting many in
756-622: Was not broadcast. KTXQ had to unplug Heart's sound equipment for Boston's set, which they did before the band took the stage. As a result, only a portion of Heart's set was aired, the sound being broadcast from microphones placed around the Cotton Bowl. Officially called "The Last Concert of the Last Weekend of the Last Summer of the Seventies". Note: Rush performed pre-studio versions of "The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill". Notes: Savvy
784-483: Was unfamiliar with the territory, so he contacted Messina in Houston. A book, Texxas Jam: 1978–1988, was published in March 2011 covering all 11 Texxas Jams. (Headliners marked in bold.) Notes: Ted Nugent joined Aerosmith on stage for a rousing rendition of "Milk Cow Blues". For comic relief, Cheech & Chong entertained the crowd between a couple of acts. The temperature reached 104 degrees that day (over 120 degrees on
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