How Big Boi Came To Play And Slay The Madden Bowl

The number of live events surrounding last weekend’s Super Bowl LVIII may have set an all-time record — this is because Las Vegas’ live event market is massive and regularly lands in the Top 3 of Pollstar’s annual Concert Market Rankings survey. Even without the benefit of “The Big Game,” Vegas on any given night is overloaded with concerts, residencies, private events, theater shows and more. Prior to the Super Bowl kickoff, Pollstar ran into Adam Harrison of Full Stop Management at this year’s Pollstar Live! conference, whose client Big Boi was performing at EA’s Madden Bowl final at House of Blues with Green Day, (2024 Grammy winner) Killer Mike and Breland. Pollstar sat down with Harrison, who boasts a list of clients that includes Fitz and the Tantrums and Chromeo, to find out more about the event.

Pollstar: How did the Madden Bowl deal with Big Boi come about?
Adam Harrison: Big Boi’s had a relationship with Raphaella Lima at EA Sports for years. We generally circle each other every couple of years and do a show together. She reached out to us to do the EA Sports Madden Bowl dates this year.

So he’s into sports, music and is also a gamer?
He likes sports. He likes video games. He likes dogs. He likes owls. He has more interest than you can keep track of, which is what makes him such a unique human being as well as an iconic talent.

Has he done EA events before?
Yes, He did it a few years ago. It was before we did the Super Bowl in 2018.

In general, what’s his association with sports?
Big Boi’s son is a running back for the University of Nevada Wolfpack. So we are big into college sports. And Big Boi is beloved by the Atlanta sports teams. We did the OutKast bobblehead last May. We’ve done Falcons special events; we’ve done Atlanta United special events; we have an Atlanta Hawks jersey we did with OutKast. We are just in the Atlanta sports zone at all times.

And he performs at games?
We love playing halftime shows. We did one with the Ravens, one with the Vikings and we’re going to do another one. He also plays NBA halftime shows. We played the opening of the Tampa Bay Lightning season this year. We love doing them.

There’s a Venn diagram where music and sports intersect, and that’s a large demographic.
Yes, and it’s not just Big Boi. A lot of people can identify my band Fitz and the Tantrums by hearing “HandClap” because it’s played in every stadium at all times of the day during every sport possible. It’s a hype anthem just behind “Seven Nation Army” used to get the audience hyped up and moving.

And that helps promote their tours?
Yes, people know that song, it’s ingrained in the fabric of our culture of sports and anthems and will always be there.

How was playing the Super Bowl in Atlanta?
Big came out of that show a big winner for the night. You could see his enthusiasm being there. He played three songs including a song about Atlanta. It was a big moment to perform in his hometown.

What’s the plan for the Madden Bowl?
We’re doing a couple of songs with Killer Mike and our own set. We’re playing right before Green Day who are having a killer moment. Much love to Jonathan Daniel and the Crush team for that rollout. It’s a masterclass in how to present a band 30 years into their career.

Where are you playing?
House of Blues. It’s a close-knit event.
That’s a huge underplay, are people attacking you for tickets?
I’ve had a couple of friends come out of the woodwork and I’m generally happy to do what I can.

What can we look forward to from Big Boi this year?
Big Boi is going out on a package with Trombone Shorty. We’re going to play Wolf Trap and the Hollywood Bowl, which is really cool and exciting.

What about your other acts?
I have Chromeo doing a package tour with the Midnight. It’s going to have the Greek Theatre and a couple of Warfields and Terminal Fives and that’s going to be a big look for us. And Fitz and The Tantrums going out with O.A.R. in a big summer package.