The Industry Connection

🎙️ Interview with Danny Bell: VP, Talent Buyer at Goldenvoice

I sat down with Danny Bell, who runs booking and oversees strategy at Goldenvoice, a Southern California concert and festival promoter owned by AEG. Goldenvoice books over 1,800 shows a year and is responsible for festivals including Coachella, Stagecoach, This Ain’t No Picnic, Camp Flog Gnaw, Cruel World and many more. They also own LA-venues The Fonda, El Rey, Shrine Auditorium and The Novo.

Bell, who is the brains behind red-hot 2nd year San Francisco dance festival, Portola, also books The Frost Amphitheater in Palo Alto and SF’s Warfield Theater. He has produced Porter Robinsons’s Second Sky Festival and Day N Vegas 2021 which featured the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, Tyler, The Creator, SZA and DaBaby. If you’re wondering when he sleeps, so am I.

Bell is a representation of “work (very) hard and good things will come your way.” He got his start as an intern at a management company in college which shared an office with HARD Events, a concert and a festival promoter now owned by Live Nation. Bell convinced HARD Founder and CEO Gary Richards, aka Destructo, to let him sell shirts at a Palladium show. That ask turned into a job with HARD and he eventually became a talent buyer there. He moved over to Goldenvoice in 2016 and hasn’t looked back since.

He is one of the most respected talent buyers in the business, and also happens to be a great person too… something that has undoubtedly led to his success. Our conversation is below.

AvA: What makes SF unique in terms of booking and programming shows?

Bell: SF is a great live music market. The region is filled with avid music fans who enjoy going to concerts every night of the week. Concert goers are also there to dance like fools and have a good time. The best part about SF is that I get to take more chances with left of center artists, because they have larger fan bases in this market than in most. It’s a perfect sonic fit for me personally.

AvA: Are there specific aspects you can attribute to the success of Portola in its first year? How do you see the festival evolving in years to come? 

Bell: The line up! It has been a dream of mine to produce a festival with that specific group of artists, and the people of San Francisco were into it! Year 1 was an amazing vibe. Everyone had full stages – Neil Frances and L’Imperatrice at 3pm, Arca against Flume, Danilo Plessow in the early afternoon, DJ SHADOW back in bay on Sunday afternoon …the list goes on and on. And of course, the Chemical Brothers blew everyone’s minds closing out the festival on Sunday. It was amazing and the perfect way to close out year 1.

Portola is a festival that is catered to San Francisco. And referring back to the answer of my last question – the market is stronger than most for these left of center electronic, indie, and pop acts. There aren’t many other markets where a festival like this would work.

We’re working on upping the festival experience this year and working out the year 1 kinks we ran into. Hopefully this effort, and continuing to book curated line ups featuring rare and special artists in the space grows the festival’s community and demand…We will also continue being meme-lords 😊.

AvA: Has your approach to booking shows changed since you started at Goldenvoice?

Bell: It hasn’t much, but I love working at Goldenvoice because it’s a company filled with true music heads. We’re all obsessed. I learn about new artists from my co-workers daily. It’s also a blast to be at a company where I can work with my favorite artists regardless of how many tickets they sell. I love promoting 300 cap shows as much as 15k cap arena shows. And the festival team is amazing. When we have a new concept, everyone digs their teeth into it and collaborates to bring the vision to life.

AvA: What is one piece of advice for someone getting started in the music industry?

Bell: Don’t be an asshole and do a good job. Once you have your foot in the door the rest is up to you.

🎫 Tickets are on-sale for Portola 2023, whose lineup includes Eric Prydz, Polo & Pan, Skrillex, Labrinth, Chris Lake, Bonobo. Oh and… NELLY FURTADO!!!

📖 This week’s book recommendation is The Creative Act: A Way of Being by record producer and executive Rick Rubin. Great read for all of those artists and creative minds.

👋 Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend and talk to you soon!

-Warner from the AvA Team

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