Breaking: Festival Producer SGE Reorganizing Operations

No other information was available at press time, and it’s unclear what will happen with upcoming scheduled events.

The company had been ramping up in recent years with boutique events for artists including Eddie Vedder, Travis Barker and many others, and recently kicked off a 22-date amphitheatre tour with Circa Survive, Sum 41, The Used and others.

SGE was recently forced to cancel the revamped Mad Decent Block Party at Gillette Stadium, which would have taken place July 20-21 with performances by Diplo, Billie Eilish and others. The company faced another hurdle with the new Real Street festival at Honda Center topped by A$AP Rocky, Cardi B, Migos, and Future for August as A$AP Rocky remains in detention in Sweden.

Multiple sources told Pollstar they were saddened to hear the company was struggling, iterating the need for strong independent concert promoters and acknowledging the fragility of solvency as an independent.

Since forming 15 years ago, SGE became one of the largest festival promoters, with more than 30 events scheduled in 2019 and a forecast of between 1.75 million and 2.25 million tickets sold for the year.

Reese’s varied resume includes serving as tour manager for Guns N’ Roses in the band’s early ’90s heyday and he was part of early branded festival properties like Rockstar Taste Of Chaos. He credits longtime Southwest promoter Danny Zelisko for giving him his start in 1981.

SGE had developed a host of lifestyle and artist-branded events, with Eddie Vedder’s Ohana festival at Dana Point (co-produced by Live Nation) Travis Barker’s MusINK, Social Distortion / Mike Ness events and many others outside of Southern California such as the Lost Lands Excision-topped events in Ohio. The company developed a reputation for strong brand partnerships and activations, with companies like Rockstar growing along with them. 

“From that time, in 2005, I really got engaged in the festival business with the Taste of Chaos. I started that in 2005 and it was The Used and My Chemical Romance and 10 other bands, and we did it in arenas all over the United States and then eventually to 21 countries all over the world,” Reese told Pollstar previously. “It was the first time that we used sponsorship, real true sponsorship within a festival environment, with Rockstar Energy Drink. They were not nearly as large as they are right now when we started with them.”