Nashville, U.S.A. - Live Nation Entertainment and ACM Promoter of the Year Brian O’Connell are leading the charge for a new country festival where the music and atmosphere will rival the serene, natural beauty of the landscape. Watershed Music Festival will take place August 3, 4 and 5 at the iconic Gorge Amphitheatre and is set to feature a versatile lineup of artists, camping, late night sets, impromptu jam sessions, collaborations and more.

Located east of Seattle, the Gorge Amphitheatre provides a picturesque backdrop for the laid back, country vibe O’Connell has envisioned for this truly unmatched festival. Three-day festival passes go on sale May 5th at Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com.

“The Gorge provides a feeling that is impossible to recreate anywhere else,” said O’Connell.  ”It is truly a magical place and provides the perfect setting for a cool, eclectic country event.  We wanted to create something that didn’t exist, from the caliber of artists to the camping and the atmosphere.  I’m excited to be a part of it and see it all come together.”

“In the storied 25 year history of The Gorge, we’ve been fortunate to host many of the nation’s top country artists, but all have been single day concerts,” said Jeff Trisler, President of Live Nation Seattle. “For years, we’ve wanted to host a multiple day country festival that builds on the tremendous success for our annual Sasquatch Music Festival and Dave Matthews Band residency.  We believe this event will bring that same sort of excitement and energy to The Gorge for an entirely new group of music fans.”

Artists confirmed for the multi-day country fest include Dierks Bentley, Kix Brooks, Sara Evans, Brantley Gilbert, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, Thompson Square, Uncle Kracker, Dwight Yoakam, Tracy Lawrence, Reckless Kelly, The Lost Trailers, Steve Holy, Johnny Reid, Jon Pardi, Thomas Rhett, Morgan Frazier, DeeJay Silver and a local stage will feature regional acts each night. More artists are set to be announced in the coming weeks.

The Gorge Amphitheatre, located in George, Wash., is undoubtedly one of the most scenic concert venues in the world and offers sweeping views of the Columbia River Gorge. The area itself is a watershed for the Columbia River, thus inspiring the name of the event. The Watershed Music Festival will feature a limited capacity of 25,000 and will offer lawn terrace seating and premiere camping options.

The amphitheatre has been the home of many historic concerts from bands such as Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Van Halen, Rush, Radiohead, Tim McGraw, Aerosmith, Metallica, Rascal Flatts,John Mayer, The Police, Brad Paisley, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and the annual Sasquatch! Music Festival.

Three day festival passes will start at only $90 and go on sale May 5 at ticketmaster.com.

For more information, visit www.WatershedFest.com, twitter @watershedfest, Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com.

Image Courtesy of   Watershed Festival

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This year, the high profile South Korean boy band, Big Bang, will make their very first world tour titled ‘ALIVE TOUR 2012′ through Live Nation, performing in 25 cities throughout 16 countries including Asia, North America, South America, and Europe.

Big Bang was formed by YG Entertainment and debuted in 2006. The group consists of five members: G -Dragon, Taeyang, T.O.P, Daesung, and Seungri. Unlike many other bands, they do not have an eye-catching appearance, but they do have enough talent to be famous and have changed audiences’ attitudes. Each member has impressed audiences with their talents, can sing and rap well, compose music, dance, and act.

Representing Asia-Pacific, Big Bang emerged to the bigger world audience as a nominee for Best Worldwide Act winner of 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA) held in Belfast, Northern Ireland. There, apart from Queen, Big Bang was the only winner not from North America.

Live Nation has conducted world tours for Madonna and U2, and Big Bang is the first Asian group with whom they have teamed up. Live Nation is currently a promotional agent for K-pop singers in one to two regions in America and Europe.

Alan Ridgeway, Live Nation’s president, said that he is very happy to work with YG Entertainment and Big Bang to show their work to worldwide K-pop fans. He hoped this world tour would be a good starting point for the Korea branch they established last December, and they expect it to contribute to the K-pop fever expansion.

To prepare for the tour,  Laurieann Gibson, who is a well-known director, choreographer, actress, and creative director, will be taking the lead position as director for ‘Alive Tour 2012′. She is known for directing Lady Gaga’s ‘The Monster Ball Tour’, in addition to choreographing “Poker Face”, “Judas”, and “Telephone”. She has also worked with top stars like Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Beyonce, and Katy Perry.

Leroy Bennett will be the stage/lighting designer, and Ken Van Druten will be the sound director. Bennett has previously worked with Madonna, Paul McCartney, and the Eagles, while Druten has worked with Eminem, J-Jay, and Linkin Park.  The visual contents producing team, Possible Productions, will also prepare for Big Bang’s world tour.

YG Entertainment expressed in their press release, “We are in the process of preparing the world’s best concert with the best production team to equal the anticipation of the world fans who are waiting for the first concert they will get to meet Big Bang… With the newly released album and the starting of the world tour, you will be able to confirm Big Bang’s maturity and skill.”

Image Courtesy of    http://www.flickr.com/photos/koreanet/

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Live Nation Entertainment announced recently it has opened a concert promotion office in Seoul, South Korea.

This marks another important step in Live Nation’s international expansion into new markets. South Korea is the 13th largest economy in the world, and the 3rd largest in the Far East, with growth of 6% in 2010. It also ranks as the 12th largest music market in the world, which is largely attributable to K-Pop, whose popularity is now spreading rapidly to other markets outside of South Korea and the Far East.

“We see great opportunity for concerts around the world and our move into South Korea represents another step in the growth of this business,” stated Michael Rapino, President and Chief Executive Officer of Live Nation Entertainment. ”Our strategy is to continue our international expansion into under penetrated regions and identify new markets to deliver our unique live experience product.”

“With a growing interest from international artists to perform in South Korea, this is a natural step for us to be able to serve artists and fans better in Korea,” said Alan Ridgeway, President of Live Nation International and Emerging Markets. ”We also have plans to work with Korean artists both in Korea and internationally to meet the expanding demand around the world for the K-Pop phenomenon.”

“Live Nation Korea will further enhance the touring opportunity for both international and local artists in the Asia region,” says Mats Brandt, President of Live Nation Far East. “Live Nation Korea will, together with our existing offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Beijing, expand Live Nation’s network and capabilities in the region.”

Live Nation Korea will be a fully owned subsidiary of Live Nation, and will be led by Steven Kim and Yongbae Cho, who, together, have more than 20 years’ experience within both the Korean and international live music and promotion industry.

Chuwit Srisomwong / Shutterstock.com

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