Los Angeles-based mega-promoter Goldenvoice has partnered with two of San Francisco’s most iconic music venues — Slim’s and the Great American Music Hall.
The venues will remain independently owned, but “booking and promotion services” will be handled by Goldenvoice, according to a news release.
“I am honored that Goldenvoice was chosen to book these two legendary San Francisco landmarks,” said Goldenvoice vice president and general manager Paul Billings. “Our teams share similar values and we look forward to this new relationship.”
The move adds to Goldenvoice’s presence in the Bay Area. It already operates three venues in San Francisco — the Regency Ballroom, Warfield and Social Hall SF. The Great American and Slim’s are owned by platinum recording artist Boz Scaggs’ Big Billy Inc. company.
“We at Slims and the Music Hall are excited about working with the folks at Golden Voice,” Scaggs said. “They bring a new level of outreach and imagination, along with a genuine love of music to our clubs and to the Bay Area.”
Time for another photo from the @jayblakesberg archives… @GreenDay here at Slim’s on July 5, 1994! pic.twitter.com/Wqa4Jpkapu
— Slim’s (@slimssf) January 23, 2018
Goldenvoice is a subsidiary of the massive entertainment company AEG Live, identified as the second largest live-music presenter in the world, after Live Nation. The firm operates The Fonda Theatre, El Rey Theatre, and The Novo in Los Angeles, but is best known for hosting the annual Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Southern California.
What that could mean for local music fans, is the two venerable San Francisco nightclubs having greater leverage to draw more marquee acts. That could definitely pay off come Coachella time, since many of the festival’s top acts come north to perform in the Bay Area.
Slim’s opened in 1988 in San Francisco’s South of Market area and has been a mainstay of the Bay Area music scene ever since. It’s won several prestigious awards (such as best music venue) from Pollstar and hosted such legendary acts as Prince, Radiohead, Throwing Muses, X, Green Day, Sonny Rollins, Curtis Mayfield and Foo Fighters over the years.
Time for another amazing photo from our friend @jayblakesberg… check out @radiohead here in the Slim’s alley back in July 1995! pic.twitter.com/UcwQJgfHrn
— Slim’s (@slimssf) January 23, 2018
The Great American Music Hall has been around even longer than Slim’s. It was built in 1907, just one year after the great San Francisco earthquake, as a “restaurant, gambling den and bordello,” according to the news release. The venue has hosted celebrated acts ranging from Count Basie and Duke Ellington to Johnny Cash, Ry Cooder, Concrete Blonde and the Cowboy Junkies to the Grateful Dead and Phish.
