Features
Big Time Rush
So it was no surprise that the boy band, which consists of members Kendall Schmidt, James Maslow, Carlos Pena, Jr. and Logan Henderson, would see more success with the recent release of Elevate and the announcement of a theater tour in 2012.
The outing sold out quickly in major markets, but it won’t be the end of BTR’s time on the road next year.
Manager Bret Disend of Ozone Entertainment told Pollstar a summer tour is also in the works for “the hardest-working guys in show business,” along with plans to film the next season of their show and play dates in Europe.
While BTR played some one-off supports for Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber this year, Disend said the band has been headlining from the beginning.
A successful run of fair dates this summer caught the attention of Irving Azoff and AGPS’ Jared Paul, who manages New Kids On The Block and has produced tours for TV shows including “Dancing With The Stars” and “Glee.” They stepped in to help develop a strategy with CAA’s Andrew Simon, Columbia and Nickelodeon to bring the group into the mainstream of the touring business.
But how exactly do they plan to do it?
Perhaps one answer lies in making the concerts accessible to parents of tween BTR fans who grew up with boy bands of their own.
“When I went to see Big Time Rush this summer in Columbus, Ohio, I saw an entire row of New Kids moms with their kids,” Paul told Pollstar. “They literally wore their NKOTB concert T-shirts … with their kids who were wearing Big Time Rush T-shirts.”