Larry Vallon, Who Shaped SoCal’s Concert Landscape For 50+ Years, Dies

Larry Vallon, who shaped the concert landscape in Southern California for more than 50 years before retiring from AEG Global Touring in 2019, died at his Los Angeles-area home July 14, surrounded by his wife Claudia and two daughters, following a lengthy illness. 

He helped make the former Universal Amphitheater into a must-stop venue for artists in Los Angeles, mentored a generation of concert industry executives and had a front row seat for much of the city’s music history.

At the time of his retirement, the Vietnam veteran had been reunited with AEG Presents CEO Jay Marciano, who brought him to the company in 2004 from House of Blues Entertainment. But Vallon’s career touched just about every facet of live entertainment in the region, and then some, going back to his start as a page for promoter and TV pioneer Bob Eubanks with “The Newlywed Game.”

An introduction by Eubanks to Steve Wolf and Jim Rissmiller, who founded Wolf & Rissmiller Concerts, set Vallon on the course of the rest of his career. He went on to found Larry Vallon Presents, with the help of late Denver concert promoter Barry Fey, and later joined mentor Lew Wasserman and MCA Concerts and then Universal Concerts. 

Vallon oversaw booking and operations at Universal Amphitheater, where he put a roof on the smallish shed in the Santa Monica Mountains and attracted artists like Frank Sinatra and Linda Ronstadt, who booked residencies in the venue. 

Over the years, Vallon earned 13 nominations and four wins as Pollstar’s Talent Buyer of the Year. Marciano, who was hired by Vallon at Universal Amphitheater as director of entertainment, shares four of those nominations and two wins.

Among his many achievements, Vallon told Pollstar at the time of his retirement he was especially proud to have 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.

Pollstar will update this story as memorial and other information becomes available.