Nederlander to bring concerts to USC's Galen Center

By Randy Lewis

April 24, 2013 12 AM PT

File this under the Universe Abhors a Vacuum in Pop Music Too file: Just as news came down that the long-running Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal City will close in September and be razed to make way for a new Harry Potter attraction, a new pop music venue is about to come online in Los Angeles.

Nederlander Concerts has entered a deal to book concerts at USC’s Galen Center, a sports arena that can handle events for audiences of 5,000 to 11,000 capacity, Nederlander Concerts Chief Executive Alex Hodges told The Times on Wednesday.

“This gives us an indoor place for those shows that need to be indoors, and for winter months it gives us the opportunity to replace some of the shows that would be at Gibson on a 12-month basis,” Hodges said.

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The arrangement is so new that Nederlander, which books the Greek Theatre, the Pantages and several other venues in the Southland, had not yet sent out a press release. “I just made my first offer last week,” he said.

To the question of how many shows he expects Galen to host per year, Hodges said, “Your question is my very own question, and I don’t have a good answer yet.”

“I know this is kind of a sad moment for a lot of people who played the Gibson. But from a business point of view in the market, this gives us a little advantage to grow the businesses,” he said.
“We really can take a look more at some indoor venues, especially now that we have this unique one-on-one role with the Galen Center.”

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