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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Larry Magid is out at Live Nation
Larry Magid in 2005. (PETER TOBIA)

Legendary concert promoter Larry Magid left Live Nation Philadelphia yesterday, addressing the troops at the promoter's Bala Cynwyd offices that he was out -- but not discussing the circumstances 

Live Nation declined to talk about the departure. A report on Billboard.com said Geoff Gordon remains the local president. 

A source told The Inquirer that Magid's employment contract was coming up. He was Live Nation Philadelphia's chairman.

Magid, 67, a West Philadelphia native, Temple dropout and former New York talent agent, was recruited back in the '60s by brothers Herb, Allen, and Jerry Spivak to help run the Electric Factory, their rock-and-roll club in a former tire warehouse at 22d and Arch Streets. First show was Feb. 2, 1968, the Chambers Brothers, admission $3. Shortly after, then-Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo got a judge to shut down the club over allegations of drug use. (The Electric Factory resurfaced in its current location off Seventh Street near Callowhill.)

The Electric Factory evolved into Electric Factory Concerts.

Magid still wields enormous power in the entertainment business. Besides putting together 1985's Live Aid and 2005's Live 8 concerts, he also produced Billy Crystal's one-man show.

Magid stayed on in 1998 when he and his partners sold Electric Factory Concerts to SFX, now known as Live Nation.
Posted by Michael Klein @ 12:30 PM  Permalink | 4 comments
4
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:36 PM, 02/17/2010
    A friend saw Hendrix and Led Zep there [back to back]. $5.00. But then again, $$ brought more back in the day.
    — Ken K
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:36 PM, 02/17/2010
    A friend saw Hendrix and Led Zep there [back to back]. $5.00. But then again, $$ brought more back in the day.
    — Ken K
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:19 PM, 02/17/2010
    Jimmy Hendrix, Who, Paul Butterfield, Buddy Rich, many other major and minor acts played there. The article leaves a 2-year gap in the original electric factory history.
    — riverhealer
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:26 AM, 02/18/2010
    Larry Magid, both a brilliant businessman and a gentleman.
    — cubalaw


4 comments
About Michael Klein
Michael Klein, the editor/producer of philly.com/Food, writes about the local restaurant scene in his Inquirer column "Table Talk." Have a question? Email it! See his Inquirer work here.
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