Three Twin Cities venues win big at national concert industry conference

To industry professionals around the country, the Twin Cities’ concert bookers are rock stars.

Three major wins went to Minnesota outlets and their representatives at the IEBA Awards (International Entertainment Buyers Association) in Nashville on Tuesday night. The awards — which went to venues ranging from the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles to Barclays Center in New York — are voted on by members of the nonprofit trade organization, the biggest of its kind.

First Avenue’s long-tenured head talent buyer Sonia Grover won the award for club buyer of the year. The Minnesota State Fair’s team of Nate Dungan and Theresa Weinfurtner won for fair/expo of the year. And the Orpheum Theatre and its vice president of programming Rick Hansen tied with Ruth Eckerd Hall in Tampa Bay, Fla, for theater of the year.

“The Minnesotans won in all the categories we were up for,” boasted Hansen, who was at the awards ceremony to celebrate with his fellow winners. He thinks the three wins make one big statement about the Twin Cities’ concert market.

“Everyone here in town already knows these are great places to see concerts, but it was nice to get that recognition from our peers from around the industry,” Hansen said.

The Orpheum’s win came on the heels of the merger between the theater’s two parent organizations, the nonprofit Hennepin Theater Trust and the for-profit Hennepin Theater Group. The Minnesota State Fair has also been in transition on the booking end: Weinfurtner recently took over for longtime entertainment director Renee Alexander, who became the fair’s new CEO, while renowned local musician Dungan remained a rock-solid presence overseeing the fair’s free stages.

First Ave’s owner Dayna Frank celebrated Grover’s win on social media by posting, “I can’t think of a single thing more appropriate in this world.” She also jokingly called Grover “the former Susan Lucci of the music industry,” referring to her several nominations at another big industry ceremony, the Pollstar Awards, before she finally took home a trophy for best nightclub talent buyer in 2017.

One other Minnesota native was a high-profile winner at the IEBA Awards: Stacy Vee, who now lives in Los Angeles booking festivals like Coachella and Stagecoach for Goldenvoice, won for festival buyer of the year.