Coming out of my cage and out and doing just fine. Got out of down because I want it up. Shot it out. Good morning everybody, it's common since radio in the morning, and happy fancy Friday to all of you. And this is going to be epic, my friends. The Evolution Festival twenty twenty four, right there in beautiful Forest Park. It was as if it couldn't get any better than last year. It's crazy September twenty eight, twenty nine. And believe me, you might think that seems like it's
a long way away. It is not. This is coming. It's going to pop up. And the Evolution Festival, headlined by the Killers. I was just the first band out the blocks. And again another victory for Steve Shankman and all of the great people putting this festival together. And they dreamed big and it is a big, big deal now and congratulations on that. Steve Shankman. Welcome to the show, buddy. How you doing, Good morning Jamie on this happy Friday. How you doing the first September twenty eighth
and twenty ninth, there's only seven months away. Yeah, And just the lineup between the Killers at back and Jane's addiction and then you guys always managed to kind of nail like an old school talent, and so Blondie is going to be there. Man, how about that one of the most charismatic stars out there in icon You know the mission behind evolution, You know, I sold Contemporary the Old Contemporary ninety eight, which became Live Nation after that.
And when we saw no festival in Saint Louis after Lufez basically folded, I said to Joe, who had worked for me back in the nineties and was doing festivals all around the country, Let's go together and make this happen. And the mission really is to have an elevated experience to celebrate our community and embrace our diversity in Saint Louis. So you're right. I thought last year was the Killer show, but this is the killer show this year now because
the killers are on it. And if you don't know what mister you know, listen to mister Brightside, then you don't go to a Missoi football game or go to a wedding because mister Brightside it was in the Wall Street Journal has replaced my good Friend's journeys. Don't stop believing it is the top song at weddings now that my band and all bands play, So having the Killers
is great. The whole idea, too, behind us is to have a lot of diversity in the artist's seventies, artists, eighties, artists nineties. Yes, we do have Blondie. And when you think about blonding you think about all the hits that she's had. I mean, you know, we can talk about the Killers. We talk about Beck. I mean Beck's been around for a long time too. I mean he was like the beginning of alternative, yeah, and folk and hip hop and electronic I mean Loser Sea
Change colors, Jane's addiction from La I mean Perry Tall. How do you beat those vocals on the pioneers of the business. So one act after another, twenty eight acts, you know, like two days of music and a really inexpensive ticket when you think about for one hundred and thirty bucks sixty five dollars a day. You can see these kinds of entertainers at the Evolution Festival in Forest Park. Yeah, Brandon Flowers is like one of my heroes.
The guy's got a great voice. He's a great entertainer and that is quite a catch for you guys. And now Rogers and Killer Mike. I think Killer Mike was the one who was It wasn't he arrested at the Grammys or something. He got three Grammys and an arrest, but that was so bad. I don't think he did. He didn't do any jail time. It was a battery charge from what I understand. Yeah, if I walked in on you at the Patriot and pushed you a little bit, and I guess
that could be battery. Well, here's a guy killer you know, and keeping the local people involved. I mean his DJ track star lives in Saint Louis. So these guys have been together for a long time. They were part of Run the Jewels, you know, hip hop and rap again. Diversity. We have to celebrate all the major music genres and we have to bring in people that are part of the fabric of Saint Louis, and that's everybody. This is a very inclusive festival this year and a dynamic entertainers.
Well, that that thing made me mad. I'm a conservative, a libertarian, and that was way way over the top and nothing happened. It was all trumped up. But to do that to this dude was really so I'm glad everything's cool with him. And then you have Helly King and Todd Rundren And now here's a guy who I've listened to for a long long time, and I'm so glad you have him. And I'm not quite sure a lot
of people listen to him as much. But but but they but they should and they do given how you have them here, Pete Yarn is outstanding. Yeah, well Pete Yarl was her last entree to the to our list. But el King, you know Rob Schneider's daughter, Rob Schneider, the entertainer, you know, the comedian. I mean, when you think about x'es and o's, I mean my ten year old twins, they're coming to the show. They love and they love and Todd runggerd Hello, it's me.
I saw the light. We're talking about hit after hit, Grammy Star after a Grammy Star. I mean, we have a we have an artist on the show that's an actress. Uh she she's a country star. I mean, I mean we're talking about Lola Kirk, Lobe Kirk. Assimon Kirk's daughter Simon was the drummer and Bad Company. I mean she said she did the movie Gone Girl. I mean, we got actresses, we got icons,
we got we got killer music from the Killers. We got standards, uh from people like Pete Yarn, and then a lot of local like I said as well, because we like to expose sun Volt for example. Yes, now the lead singer from Uncle Tupelo, so Jeff Jared is my partner in contemporary for twenty years. He curates the shows. He knows the right acts to put together. And we are so excited. And you know, it's not just entertainment. It's food. Last year was barbecue. This year it's
other kinds of foods and barbecue, all kinds of spirits. All We have added a third stage in the center of the festival. We had at a third entrance so people could get in easier. We listened to a survey of a thousand people that told us here's some things we love, here's some things you can improve upon. And even after fifty five years, Jamie, you know me, for the last thirty years plus, we've got to improve upon things to make people happy here. And we bring a lot of people from
out of town to visit Saint Louis in Forest Park. We don't open until like one o'clock in the afternoon. So people have plenty of time to go to the zoo, the history museum, they can go down to the garden, but come and see our great town. This is we're celebrating the good things about Saint Louis. Yeah, well, not for the bad. Let's talk about the good. So that's why Evolution Festival each year evolves into something new. And I'm glad what you said it. Last year was great.
Brandy Carlisle, black Keys, black crows, ice Cube. I mean, nobody sees ice Cube, yet he was at our festival. Yeah, same thing with the celebration of Yipopa having sugar Hill Gang last year. Man, Brandy Carlisle was just I'll never forget that. I've loved him for a long
time. But that concert. To see her there, I've seen her a couple of times, but to see her there, beautiful forest park, gorgeous night and man was that great And this I was really impressed, and a lot of people were, because you know how festivals go, You never know sometimes it seems like, you know, go wait in line for this way. That was one of the most organized, well organized festivals I've ever seen, right down to you know, so many food choices, and bathrooms,
and I mean it was really great, really comfortable. Well thank you for that. We have a great team of three hundred people to put this thing on. And again, this is not our first rodeo. We opened Riverport in nineteen ninety one and we had a little riot out there, you remember that, But but we're not having any We're not having any riots at Evolution. But it's you know, it's building a city. There's nothing in the
park where where we're at, at Langenburg Field and Cricket Field. We got to fence it, we got to secure it, we got to put electric in, we got to bring lighting in, stage, sound, the whole deal. And it takes an army to do it. And you're right, there wasn't any incidents. We didn't have any arrests, we didn't have any liquor problems. Nobody had to go to the to the hospital. I mean, it wasn't Woodstock. It's an elevated festival. I love heavy metal,
but I'm too old to be doing heavy metal shows. I have to do things that I can take my kids to now, and I got some young ones as well as my older ones. But I just think Saint Louis needs to turn out and show the Coachello's and the Lallapool Loses and the Bourbon and Beyond's and all the other cities in America that Saint Louis is a music town. We got great venues, the Factory, the Pageant, Delmar Hall, Riverport. I mean, we are a music town. People have come from
here in music, people have come to here in music. We have it all, so we have to celebrate it. And a festival is not just a concert. It's an experience, an immersive experience. It's two days of fun and people together just enjoying themselves. I will tell you that my sons and I at one point we're talking about, well, we need to get
to Coachella. We need to Coachella. I never imagined that Coachella would come to us, you know what I mean, Like it would be not necessary to go to Colorado or over the hell, you know, some desert somewhere. It's like it's right here, you know. Great. Well, listen, a lot of festivalgoers, like the festival in New Orleans this year. They have the Stones, they have Neil Young, they have the Killers. These are five day festivals, these are huge, mega festivals. We don't
need a mega festival. We need a nice festival that Saint Louis's last year twenty five thousand, hopefully this year thirty thousand. You know, that's fifteen thousand a day. I mean, it's not in the size of Riverport, so it's still going to be an intimate experience. It's not Lollapalooza. If you want to go there three hundred miles away, go to Chicago and enjoy Lolla Pluza with three hundred thousand of your faith, of your favorite people.
This was an easy place to get around. You didn't wait in long lines. You're right. We had lots of bathrooms. The VIPs had those special air conditioned bathrooms. But September twenty eighth and twenty ninth is a month later. We're out of the heat of summer, We're in the fall, and I'm looking forward to this myself. As you can tell, I've been doing this fifty years and I'm still pretty enthusiastic about music. Right. The fact that we can do this in Saint Louis and give this a as THEA.
Shar Jones, our Mayor, said, this is a gift of Saint Louis Greater Saint Louis wrote a quote about how the inclusiveness of this festival, this is not this is not a place where you only certain people can go. Everybody can come. And I know you like that even though you're a conservative, you like that. Oh yeah, of course I do. Yeah,
that's what that's what should define a conservative. So yeah, absolutely, And I have to tell you and you also and thank you for honoring the most beautiful park in the country and truly a gem, which is Forest Park. And you know you didn't take it out the West County, didn't you? Right in what you go right to the most beautiful place on earth as far as I'm concerned. Uh, and certainly in Saint Louis Forest Park. So there you go. And we're sitting in a very tree lined area at Langenberg
Field. The creek is right there and walk over that you the VIP area by the boat house. Listen, it's convenient. The metro ink comes within five minutes of the entrance. I mean, you know, you don't have to drive to the park and worry about where you're going to put your car. So it's easy, it's accessible, it's open, it's inclusive. I love the lineup. I think this is gonna be some of the best concerts. I mean, look at it this way. You got nine to ten
of the major acts. You're seeing ten concerts for what kind of money. I mean, it's small money compared to what you're getting on the other end. And the sets will be a little longer this year, the major acts and play a little bit longer. Oh good. And I think the real party is not going to be in front of the stage. A lot of these bands know each other and they've worked with each other before, and I think it's going to be a big party for them as well. First year
we had to get acts to come. This year, they're calling us. Oh by next year. By next year, who knows who may be on the bill. You know what I'm saying. You just don't know. And it's going to be a great week. And Billy Joel, my old friend Billy Joel. I did him in Saint Louis at eighty one with Harry Chapin. He was the opening act. He's playing on Friday night with Sting. Then you go right into Evolution Festival for two days, a concert weekend,
and what I would call one of the concert capitals of America. I mean I've been all my life. I've put on content. It's from the Keil Opera House, from the stages in Illinois to Mississippi Knights. I think Saintlis has some of the greatest fans and we certainly have some of the greatest radio. And you guys are great to get behind it. Yeah, I thank you and John Beck and all the people that iHeart for being part of this. Yeah, we love it. Man, you are You're amazing. Just
a quick question. So, so Billy Joel opened for Harry Chapin. That's right at Keil Opera House. He was the opening act and I stood in the back with Harry and Harry said, someday this guy's going to be a big start. Wow. And then you know Harry met his death very young. Yeah, in a car accident. But you know, it's fun to see these acts still going. I mean, Chicago, Billy Joel, Elton John's three year farewell tour the Stones with a new album, Don't underestimate age
anymore. Yeah, people in their seventies are like people in their fifties. I mean they're on the go. I mean they're doing things, They're buying tickets, they're going to sporting events. This is a great town for entertainment in sports. And I'm just glad that. Well, everybody says, Steve, what you could have retired, You could have moved away. Move Where where am I going to go? Where I'm going to find? What I find? And say, Louis, you talk about the park. I was
chairman of the zoo for seven years. And when you pull up from hamp and you see the Shankuin Family Plaza with the animal always sculpture, Why would I go so I can go anywhere I want to go. Your family goes here, the family goes there. Yeah, but why would you want to live anywhere but Saint Louis? We got we just got all the best food we got. I mean, it's just it's an incredible place to live and
raise your kids. Schools are great and uh and again you know, you get on a plane, you go somewhere else for a week or two, and you come back home. You were You're you're you are the reason why this is such a great town for music and and indeed entertainment. And I have to tell you Todd Rundgren, who I'm sure you probably were responsible for bringing him back here in the nineties when he was at Riverport. I remember
that, and for some reason I was tasked. I was working on Channel four at the time, and for some reason I was I asked with like going out and and hitting him up for an interview as he left the Ritz and you don't mess with Todd Runggren because he's got a he's sharp as attack. And I asked him the dumbest question you could possibly ask a guy, because I didn't know what else to ask him, So I said, so, when are you coming back? And he goes, I don't know.
I haven't left yet. Oh that's funny. I mean it was like he was like looking at me like I was crazy. I know. I'm sorry, mister Rungren, but oh god, I was like in the early nineties. I was all of like twenty seven years old. But anyway, it's so great that he's still kicking it and and what a what an amazing and this is here. I'll ask you a dumb question. Are you on the Walk of Fame yet? There in my hometown of U City? Well, I did grow up in U City. I went to U City High School.
I'm on the wall across from Nelly Nelly's Hall of Fame. I am that, says Cardinal Haynes. H. Well, that's a Joe Edwards called not for me, oh Awards and Walk of Fames. I mean, I think the people that have gotten that honor that you know, the Tina Turners and the Chuck Berrys, they're much more deserving than me. I'm behind the scenes. My job is to bring the talent in, take the and put the show on. Well, so I'm gonna I'm waging the campaign, and
so's everybody here. I know, Joe, and by the way, I'm a U City boy too. I read your U City high on one, so I know you did. But if you need to be, I know it's not important to you because you have so many things that you're doing. But that's that's why I'll take it over. You go ahead and relax, and then I'll i'll I'll make sure it happens because I think it needs to.
I I appreciate that my my Hall of Fame is right here in my office and my house with all the beautiful plaques and pictures and autographs of artists, and there I am with Ringo Starr and Barbara Bacha Bond girl in a picture and you know it's all captured. And again, listen, it's not about the accolades man the plaza at the Zoo that we put our name on. Us inspire other people to give money to charities and to organizations and institutions
like the Zoo. And I was young when I did it. And it's good because you know, the transition of wealth is happening if it hasn't happened already. So now we've got to get the sons and daughters of people that have done well to start giving money. Philanthropy is the key to success. And they have a great town forgiving, one of the best in the country. So you know, the show stands on its own. I will stand in line with people at the front gate when the gates open in September twenty
eighth, and I'll talk to people. I will tell them who I am. They don't believe it that I'm going to come out and ask them how they're doing. And when I had Riverport, I used to ride around the golf cart and I'd see people that could use a ride and pick them up at the trunk gate and they'd be reading the program while they're driving to their seats in my cart. They go, wait a second, is that your brother? I said, let's be Zuckerman. Why would you be driving?
Because I want to hear what people have to say. We did a survey after last year's festival, one thousand people. We got a ninety four percent approval rating on a first year festival and eighty three percent, so they're coming back. So I need that eighty three percent and another seventy percent to get to the around thirty thousand over the two days. But it's all about the
fun. It's all about the camaraderie. Again. We have enough bad things to talk about in Saint Louis, and we accentuate the negatives sometimes, but we have to now celebrate evolution because it's our time, it's our town, and it's evolution. And again I said this once before when we were doing shows at Bush Stadium. Last year's show sold out. This year, don't be left out. You remember the super Jams back of the seventies, So listen, We're not going to sell out, I hope, because we've got
lots of space. But buy your tickets when the price is low, and that's why we offer lower pricing in the beginning of the sale. Evolutionfestival dot com all kinds of tickets with chairs, without chairs, VIPs for people to want a little bit of a more elevated experience. The main thing has come and support Saint Louis. It's not about contemporary and just listen to my partner Joe Liddey, support St. Louis. Billboard magazine had a headline about the
Killers coming and Beck coming to Saint Louis. Okay, Billboard wouldn't have picked up a concert in Saint Louis. They don't pick up a venue in Saint Louis. But when they heard festival in Saint Louis, they wrote about it. Ebony Magazine, a month before our festival started. Last year put us in the top ten hip hop festivals in America. So this is highlighting what we have in Saint Louis. Don't let this opportunity pass us by. If
you didn't come last year, it's okay because it's this year. Yia tickets support the people and these bands that are coming here. Without Evolution Festival, Jamie, you know how the business works. You wouldn't see Blondie in September. You wouldn't see the Killers, they weren't coming to Saint Louis. We were on their tours. They're coming to the festival because artists love the festival. Laid back yet high dynamic performances. You're going to see this year.
It's gonna be one band after another. It's going to be a killer festival, sir. We got Killer Mike and we got the Killers. And like you said Nile Rodgers seven times on Sunday Night Live, the most out of all or ants on the show. I mean, it's just an array of unbelievable experiences. All right, that's what a festival is. Okay, it sounds good, State Evolutionfestival dot com and it's really cool. They have a Concier's there chatbot conchier, so you have any questions, it's right there.
And yes, the greatest promoter who ever lived. Ladies and gentlemen, Steve Shankman, you are the best man. Congratulations on yet another great festival and we'll see you soon. The good count on that be talking to you soon too, ask my friends. Yeah, this is thanks, thank you. Yeah, last year's was It's great. And believe me, as festivals go, you know how sometimes you feel like you can't. It's too busy and it's do this. They organize this thing to the t. It's fantastic.
You guys have a great rest of your weekend. Alex, thanks a ton. I'll see you on Monday.