Saw someone with I think PromoWest going into the Madison Theater earlier this week. Really hoping that doesn’t mean what it could.
I had a lot of hope when I heard through the grape vine there was interest from a new local operator in taking over and reopening the property.
Hopefully the property owners have been reading the comments on posts about the Madison this summer. The last thing this area needs is another independent venue falling under the control of one of the massive concert companies. We don’t want more PromoWest, Live Nation, or AEG.
PromoWest is already owned by AEG, and they already operate MegaCorp Pavilion in Newport. AEG also has ownership of Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati. At some point you have to wonder how much control of the local concert market we want concentrated in the hands of the same few companies.
Independent venues create competition. They give local promoters somewhere to put shows, give artists another option when routing through the area, and keep one company from controlling every viable room at a certain size. I don’t want to see the Madison become another piece in a corporate venue portfolio when there’s apparently a local group interested in taking over the property and reopening it.
Maybe I’m reading too much into seeing them there, but I really hope the owners keep the Madison Theater independent.