Live Nation’s New Passport

Live Nation introduced an interesting concept Sept. 17 – the $49.99 Club Passport – which will grant fans access to unlimited Live Nation club shows through the end of the year.

The Club Passport has no added fees, does not include parking, and will actually compete with hard ticket sales. House of Blues and Fillmore venues are the primary locations for the passport, along with theatres like The Wiltern in Los Angeles, Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia and Gramercy Theatre in New York.

The club card is not applicable to sold-out shows. In other words, performances will have an initial, common hard-ticket sale. Many of those that do not immediately sell out will be offered to passport holders.

A list of shows are posted at Live Nation’s Web site and, every Monday, a passport holder can log in at LiveNation.com/Passport or go to LN’s Facebook or Twitter page for an updated list. The concertgoers pick the shows they want, then arrive at the club with the passport and photo I.D. for entry.

“This summer we helped concert fans save more than $14 million on nearly 800,000 tickets to shows in our amphitheatres through our weekly ‘No Service Fee’ offers,” Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino said.

“Since then, I’ve heard from fans and artists alike saying they’d like us to make it just as easy and affordable to discover new artists in our clubs. With the Live Nation Club Passport we’re doing just that – helping fans discover up-and-coming artists and helping those bands build new audiences.”

Some might suggest this is an effort to fill up an otherwise empty club but Pollstar was advanced a list of upcoming shows and many would normally be able to reach near capacity. Five Finger Death Punch, Moby, Dark Star Orchestra and Dethklok are just some on the list of initial offerings that should fill rooms.

If the show does get to capacity, Club Passport members do not get bumped. Persuading the various promoters of the Live Nation conglom to allow Club Passports to compete with hard ticket sales probably needed Jimmy Carter-level negotiations.

Basically, the passport applies to every major Live Nation club in the holder’s market. Participating clubs include Avalon in Los Angeles; Bogart’s in Cincinnati; Egyptian Room at the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis; The Fillmores in Denver, Charlotte, Miami Beach, New York, San Francisco and Detroit; the Hollywood Palladium and various HoBs.