Budweiser Stage At Home TV Series Extended

The series follows breakout success of the series, co-branded with the popular Toronto amphitheatre Budweiser Stage and the beer maker itself, as a way to bring music to fans during the pandemic that has left live music nearly shut down altogether.

Put on in collaboration with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, shows so far have included debut artists the Black Crowes and the Trews, with following shows including John Legend and Lennon Stella, as well as Canadian favorites Barenaked Ladies and Walk Off The Earth, and Blue Rodeo and Alan Doyle. 

While the artists have played either the main Budweiser Stage amphitheatre or the adjacent RBC Echo Beach venue facing Lake Ontario, the performances were recorded elsewhere, as Canada’s strict social distancing guidelines would make performing at the venue a challenge, along with travel being tricky at the moment for foreign artists. The shows feature the “headliner” performing first, with the support act rounding out the one-hour show, hosted by Juno-nominated musician and Sportsnet host, Tara Slone

Broadcast on Rogers’ CityTV,  the ratings exceeded expectations, which appropriately led to more specials. 

“The ratings were so big for the first show with the Black Crowes that it was the No. 2 rated show in Canada in its time slot,” says Live Nation Canada head of industry relations Joey Scoleri. “And the interesting part is that was with only a potential audience of less than one-third of the country, which shows you how much people want new, live music. 

The shows were also trending on Twitter in Canada despite a lot of notable events taking place across the world at the time

With tickets not being part of the equation like the usual concert or even paid livestream event, the sponsorship was a big part of making the shows happen, as well as lucrative for the artists.

Noting the important partnerships with Budweiser, Rogers and Live Nation, Scoleri says, “It wasn’t a sale, it was, ‘How does everybody collectively bring music to the masses at a time like this?’ It was very organic, and that was a key part.”  

Using each entity’s collective platform and expertise to bring the music to an audience starved for quality content, it made sense for the artists as well.

“There was going to be an opportunity for artists to make money,” Scoleri says. “That’s a very important part. Artists are not getting paid on tour. We’ve been very successful helping put some money in artists’ pockets, and to be frank our goal is to make as many of these shows as we can down the stretch Canadian.”