Charlie Levy & Live Nation Partner on soon to open The Van Buren

National concert producer/promoter Live Nation and local producer/promoter Stateside Presents have announced that they have entered into a partnership for the soon to open The Van Buren.

The Van Buren is a new 1,900 person concert venue opening this summer at the corner of 3^rd Avenue and Van Buren in downtown Phoenix.  Built in 1930, The Van Buren property, which was recently added to the Phoenix Historic Property Register, features classic wood-bow truss ceilings, brick masonry and other notable architectural flourishes.  It was originally built and operated as a car dealership.  The Van Buren will open on August 23 with Cold War Kids performing in a show that is already sold out.

For concert goers, The Van Buren will include a unique indoor and outdoor dining bar at the venue’s entrance, a special VIP lounge and state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems.  The venue will also include a special events room to take advantage of the strong Phoenix convention business.

The Van Buren is being launched by Charlie Levy of Stateside Presents.  Levy also owns the Crescent Ballroom and Valley Bar, two live music venues within walking distance of The Van Buren.

Live Nation is the world’s largest live entertainment company.  Locally, Live Nation manages Comerica Theatre in downtown Phoenix and Ak-Chin Pavilion at 83^rd Avenue and McDowell.  Live Nation also produces many of the large national concert tours that come through Phoenix at venues like Talking Stick Resort Arena and the University of Phoenix Stadium.

“Live Nation brings its national experience to help continue growing the Phoenix music scene. This partnership is great news for the blossoming downtown scene, while cementing Phoenix as one of the country’s leading music markets. It’s awesome to see a music district taking form,” commented Levy.  “The deep relationships Live Nation enjoys with the world’s biggest acts and tours will help ensure that music fans here can regularly enjoy the top performances by the best artists anywhere.”

Ron Bension, president of House of Blues Entertainment, the Live Nation division involved with The Van Buren, said, “Tapping more deeply into Phoenix is the next logical move for us. It is a vibrant music market, which we’ve enjoyed with Comerica Theatre. What a great opportunity to build a new state-of-the-art club while partnering with the area’s pre-eminent independent operator.  Charlie and his team have done a great job establishing Crescent Ballroom as the premiere room in Phoenix with performers like Twenty One Pilots, Walk the Moon, Cafe Tacuba, Neutral Milk Hotel, Macy Gray, Modest Mouse, Tig Notaro, Jimmy Eat World and Henry Rollins.  We’re excited to be collaborating with him to create another amazing experience for both fans and artists.”

The opening of The Van Buren cements downtown as the live music hub of Phoenix.  When The Van Buren opens, downtown will have the full range of live music venues – from intimate club to large arena.  Downtown live music venues will include:

^ Charlie Levy/Stateside Presents Venue; * Live Nation Venue

Coupled with more than 4,000 apartments and condos either recently opened, under construction or under pre-development and ASU’s recently opened downtown campus/dorms, downtown Phoenix is finally on the verge of maturing into a vibrant, interesting 24/7 urban environment.

Artists currently scheduled to appear at The Van Buren include: