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Made in America: Interview with Geoff Gordon

Will there be another Budweiser Made in America festival on the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia on Labor Day weekend next year?

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Made in America: Interview with Geoff Gordon

POSTED: Sunday, September 2, 2012, 6:35 PM

Dan DeLuca, Inquirer Music Critic

Geoff Gordon, regional president of Live Nation, backstage during the Made in America festival along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Sunday, September 2, 2012. ( Yong Kim / Staff Photographer )

Will there be another Budweiser Made in America festival on the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia on Labor Day weekend next year?

On Saturday night, Jay-Z referred to this year's fete as "the first annual Made in America festival."

On Sunday, Geoff Gordon, the regional president of Live Nation and the man in charge of booking the talent and promoting the two day concert event in Philadelphia said "hopefully. That's what our goal is. To bring it back as one of the big festivals on the concert calendar, along with the others like Bonnaroo, Sasquatch, Coachella. That's the direction we want to move in."

Gordon said that in 2012, Made in America will not make money. "Right now, we're looking at a red number. This is an investment in the future."

Gordon wouldn't disclose how much money the city is receiving from Live Nation, but said "we're not paying them nothing." He said that Made in America drew 40,000 ticket buyers per day, and that despite being under the 50,000 capacity, said he wanted to be surprised by the crowd size. "With a festival, you have to prove to the consumer that it's going to be a good experience. People don't know until they walk in the door whether it's going to be an underproduced event, Or of it's going to blow their minds. And I think we definitely came down on the (idea) of blowing people's minds.

Gordon said he was particularly pleased with the diversity of the crowd and the lineup and "I thought Jay-Z crushed it, Like he always does. And the EDM (electronic dance music) tent was amazing to me. That was just packed all day"

For next year, he said, Live Nation, the city and Budweiser aim to put on another fest - again, with deep involvement by Jay-Z - of approximately the same shape and size.

"We're going to tweak it. I'm sure there are some things that will change. but overall, this is what we're trying to do."

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Comments (3)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 1:34 AM, 09/03/2012

sweet. what a great thing for the city. labor day weekend was a blast.

— slanted and enchanted

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:54 AM, 09/03/2012

I hope that the people that attended appreciate the fact that many many people had to work on Labor Day Weekend so that they could enjoy themselves. My appreciation goes out to those workers.

— rjw817