Features
Larry Vallon, ‘The Nicest Man In Show Business,’ Retires After 50 Years Of Music
Courtesy AEG – Larry Vallon and Pete Townshend
Larry Vallon has retired from AEG Global Touring after a career that spans more than 50 years that includes helping make the former Universal Amphitheater into a must-stop venue for artists in Los Angeles, mentoring a generation of concert industry executives and having a front row seat for much of the city’s music history.
Michael Harrison, AEG Global Touring’s senior vice president, moves into Vallon’s old office January 14.
He’s not riding off into the sunset, exactly – Vallon has agreed to remain on board at AEG as a consultant for at least one year. But at 72, Vallon tells Pollstar, it was his decision to wind down a lengthy career and spend some time with his wife, Claudia, who wound down her own photography business five years ago.
Vallon retires after reuniting with AEG Presents CEO Jay Marciano, who brought him to the company in 2004 from House of Blues Entertainment. Marciano and Vallon share a 35-year history, coming full circle from Vallon hiring Marciano to work for him at Universal Concerts, and Marciano returning the favor at AEG. After getting a start with TV and concert promotion pioneer Bob Eubanks as a runner on “The Newlywed Game,” Vallon was brought under the wing of Steve Wolf, of Wolf & Rissmiller Concerts – a preeminent local L.A. promoter at the time.
From there, he started his own company, Larry Vallon Presents, with the help of late Denver promoter legend Barry Fey for a brief time before joining mentor Lew Wasserman and MCA Concerts and then Universal Concerts.
Vallon oversaw booking and operations at Universal Amphitheater, and turned a smallish shed in the Santa Monica Mountains into a stop for artists like Frank Sinatra and Linda Ronstadt, who booked short residencies in the venue rather than single nights at the Forum or L.A. Sports Arena where they could have sold many more tickets in a single night.
Among his many achievements, Vallon tells Pollstar he is proud of having brought top-tier Latin artists like Julio Iglesias (who performed a record run of 18 shows), Mana and Juanes to Universal Amphitheater, presaging the current mass popularity and sales of Latinx artists in the U.S. by at least a decade.
He may be prouder, however, of the slew of concert professionals he trained and mentored who have made their own marks on the music business like Missy Worth, Melissa Miller, Ali Harnell, and a multitude of others.