Ticketing and live event professionals have been working overtime to ensure venues are full this summer and fans have been properly taken care of. But, of course, most people in our industry are fans themselves and have been chomping at the bit to attend concerts, sporting events and much more.
Alan Moffat
So, what events this summer are INTIX members most looking forward to buying tickets for and attending? The responses were wonderfully varied:
Sports
Alan Moffat, Ticket Operations and Customer Relations Manager for The Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, says, “The hot ticket event I am looking forward to this summer is the Toronto FC game on July 9 at BMO Field in Toronto. This game will see the introduction of Italian superstar Lorenzo Insigne to the team and hopefully the start of a new era of success!”
Stuart Levy
Stuart Levy, Director of Ticketing and Insights for “Wicked” at the Gershwin Theatre in New York, states that the live event he is most looking forward to is the U.S. Open at the end of the summer. “Tennis not golf!” he quickly said. “Besides being a fan, I used to run tournaments there, so it is a special place to me.”
Simon Mabb, Managing Director of Romero Insurance Brokers Limited & Club Insure Limited, is feeling the need for speed. “This summer, it is the Le Mans Classic in France,” he says. “Motorsport event racing over 24 hours!”
Fellow maverick Toby Baptist, Vice President of Operations for Designer Tickets & Tours, is feeling the same need. “I'm really looking forward to the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville. It's the second year of the event. Last year was an excellent time. They mix together the best Nashville has to offer from dining, music and, of course, the racing!”
Nick Begley, AudienceView Senior Marketing Manager, is looking forward to a summer with his sports-obsessed family, who spends a great deal of time at ballparks participating in Little League and travel baseball games. “Our passion for the sport is also evidenced by our love of the New York Mets and our family’s goal to visit all 30 MLB ballparks,” he says. “Later this summer, our youth sports and pro sports worlds collide when we attend the Yankees vs. Royals game on July 31! Part of the Parade Games Series at Yankee Stadium, my son and I will be visiting Yankee Stadium — his first visit — with his Hudson Valley Hawks teammates. The game-day experience includes a special opportunity to parade on the warning track before the game.”
He adds with a chuckle, “Despite it being the wrong New York baseball team, we’re really looking forward to checking another stadium off my son’s list and sharing a special day with his travel baseball family.”
The Arts
Derek Palmer
Derek Palmer, Chief Revenue Officer for Project Admission, is also doing the “family thing,” just with live music. He says, “My daughters, Cordelia (12) and Willa (10) are finally starting to show real interest in going to concerts and festivals, so I am excited to introduce them to the live experience this summer. They have been to many sport events, but seeing their eyes when an artist hits the stage will be magical. Living in Austin, it will likely be a country show. But I know they are also eyeing the Shawn Mendes date in October.”
Chris Stasiuk, Box Office Manager for the St. James Theatre in Manhattan, says, “My hot ticket? I will be going to ‘Thor: Love and Thunder.’ I am an Avengers freak! I will also be going to see ‘Come From Away,’ one of the most beautiful musicals on Broadway that will sadly be closing in October. Everyone should be seeing a concert or a show. Support live entertainment!”
No one is a bigger supporter than Lynne King Smith, current Past-Chair of INTIX. She says she is looking forward to seeing Adele perform in Las Vegas “whenever it happens!”
Alan Forsyth, Director of Sales & Audience Services at Mirvish Productions, touts his own. “I have two, and both are in our venues. The Canadian premiere of ‘Harry Pottery and the Cursed Child’ with an all Canadian Cast — including my dear friend, Fiona Reid — and the North American, pre-Broadway engagement of ‘& Juliet,’ the hit musical from London's West End.”
Hatti Simpson, Ticketing and Digital Manager at Woolwich Works in southeast London, was similarly eager to tout her venue’s first-ever summer festival dubbed Woolwich Words & Sounds. The three-week festival will feature live music, comedy, spoken word and family shows. But her personal hot ticket? “I’m very excited to see Haim again this summer at the O2 in London. It’s always a party to see them live … pure, feel-good, summery fun!”
Dream Concerts
Some INTIX members we talked to are finally getting to see some dream bands or soloists live in concert. Jessica “Jess” Brown, Senior Director of Ticket Services & Technology for the Milwaukee Brewers, will be attending The Stadium Tour headlined by ‘80s-‘90s rockers Def Leppard and Motley Crue. “I’ll just say once upon a time in the early 2000s, we dreamed up this line up. And it’s finally come true!”
Hayley Chapman
Hayley Chapman, Senior Director — Ticket Operations & Administration for Toronto-based Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd., is stoked for one particular show, and she was all-too-eager to drop hints.
“I have been ‘Hangin' Tough’ and taking it ‘Step by Step’ through this pandemic. Now it's time to enjoy ‘Summertime’ and ‘Bring Back the Time’ we all know and love: dancing, singing, laughing and showing each other how ‘We Own Tonight.’”
New Kids on the Block, of course! “If you are in Toronto and heading to Scotiabank Arena for this epic concert, be sure to shoot me a note and we can cheers to everything we have been through these past two years and how bright the summer looks!”
Sheena Quinn, Senior Director of Public Relations for the Chicago White Sox, says, “One of the tickets I purchased that I’m really excited about is a Stevie Nicks concert on Sept. 8 at Ravinia in the Chicago suburbs. I purchased a pair as a gift for childhood friend’s 40th birthday this spring, because we both grew up loving her music and spirit. Hopefully, it will be great weather for a great night of memories and music!”
Veronica Lawlor
Crystal Brewe, Chief Marketing and Audience Experience Officer for the Kimmel Cultural Campus, says she is looking forward to “nerding out with my husband at the live recording of ‘Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me’ at Philadelphia’s Mann Center!”
A Break From the World
Some INTIX pros are even traveling far from their home with hot tickets in hand. One such member is Veronica Lawlor, Vice President of Ticket Sales and Operations for the Los Angeles Lakers. “I’m so happy that travel and shows are back to pre-pandemic days and looking forward to seeing Lady Gaga in Paris in July.”
Matthew “Matt” Zarracina, co-founder and CEO of True Tickets, will be headed to London to see The Dandy Warhols. “I’m excited for the new material, but a ‘Bohemian Like You’ encore would be sweet!”
Jessica Lee, Senior Manager of Ticket and Financial Operations for the Atlanta Braves, is going on a “sight-seeing trip to Washington, D.C., in July with some friends. Hopefully, we get approved for our White House tour, which would be exciting. But we do have tickets to a National Women's Soccer League game while we are there. It’ll be my first NWSL game, and I’m very excited! I love seeing the attention that women’s professional sports has been getting, and I’m excited to experience it.”
Not to be outdone, Deirdre “Dee Dee” Naff of AXS says, “My hot ticket this year will be the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. Nine days of concerts and rodeos. The smell of horses, cattle and the sounds of — mostly — country music is my happiest place on Earth.”
Simone Hogan
TicketManager CEO Tony Knopp is staying close to home to enjoy his break from the world. “Summers for us are best spent outdoors enjoying live shows at the Greek Theater in L.A. or the Santa Barbara Bowl, or watching our kids play beach volleyball,” he says. “Nothing beats live fun at the beach in the hot summer!”
Others are just looking for a good laugh. Simone Hogan, Senior Manager of Ticket Operations for the Dallas Mavericks, says, “I am looking forward to attending Kevin Hart! With so much going on in the world, I just need a good laugh!”
Ebony Hattix
Ebony Hattix, Director of Guest Services for FedExForum, home arena of the Memphis Grizzlies, has similar plans. “My hottest ticket is going to be in the fall with Kevin Hart and the Reality Check Tour. I cannot wait to bust at the seams in laughter with all the seriousness going on in the world today.”
Not This Summer, But…
And then there are those INTIX members who don’t have a hot ticket for this summer but are still looking to the horizon. Melissa O’Shea, Box Office Manager for the Royal and McPherson Theatres Society, doesn’t have plans for any concerts between now and the turning of the leaves, “but I’m pretty excited to go to Bret McKenzie in November! He’s half of Flight of the Conchords.”
And, finally, Alison O’Keefe-Wiebe, head of Ticket Sales, Marketing and Sponsorship for the Cavalry Football Club in Calgary, says, “Well, since I have a one-year-old, we don’t get out much. But my wish? My wish would be to go see ‘Hamilton!’”
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