Benn To Help LN Cut Costs

LN European chief John Reid insists there’s “no drama” as FR is an LN company (co-owned with Irish promoter Denis Desmond), although he did concede that his firm is trying to cut its outdoor costs.

“We’re definitely trying to improve cost base and synergy across the back end of festival holdings but that’s everywhere, not just the UK or Europe – it’s exactly what you would expect from a scale business,” he explained.

He also said Benn would be at Download Festival, where he and LN’s UK chief ops officer John Probyn would be “taking an almighty swing at making cashless work.”

After some minor issues that led to one or two UK national papers reporting that the wristbands weren’t working, the problem was soon fixed and a cashless Download turned out to be a huge success.

Although there were a few showers, the site and what Probyn described as “70,000 of the best rock fans on the planet” had no problem coping with the conditions. The acts playing Download June 12-14 included Muse, KISS, Suicidal Tendencies, Slipknot, Judas Priest, Faith No More, Marilyn Manson, and Motley Crue.