Intimate Shows With A-List Acts Trending

It costs $1,000 to $2,000 to sit on one of the green velvet couches in what was once Chung King Studios on Centre Street in Manhattan. There, a group of Wall Streeters, media and entertainment executives, real estate moguls and celebrities have gathered to see performances — which amplify and raise money for different social causes — by Paul Simon, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Trombone Shorty, Elvis Costello and, most recently, Maren Morris, at a venue in the Hamptons. But don’t bother looking for tickets online — they’re not on sale to the general public.

“Sponsors bring in their people and the rest of the room is curated to expose the nonprofits to a select group of people they otherwise would not be able to connect to,” says luxury real estate broker Greg Williamson, who co-founded The Soho Sessions with global event planner Nicole Rechter. “The demand is enormous.”

The exclusive room, accessible by a freight elevator, seats 175 guests; in the concert series’ four-year history, they have included Jerry Seinfeld, Whoopi Goldberg, Tracy Morgan, John Turturro, Gina Gershon, Steve Guttenberg, Susan Sarandon and Amy Schumer. (The velvet couches are the first two rows.) “We try to have a really eclectic crowd,” Williamson says, adding that the events can raise between $50,000 and $200,000 for the charities.

“It’s very exclusive, but it’s not elitist,” adds Williamson, who along with Rechter is no stranger to live-music events. Since 2017, they have produced with fashion designer John Varvatos the star-studded Love Rocks NYC benefit concerts for God’s Love We Deliver.

The Soho Sessions is one of several small-space series that have sprouted up in unusual venues,
such as hotels, museums, pizza restaurants and backyards, over the last few years. The Wild Honey Pie grew out of its founder’s college-days food and music blogs and now produces events for 50 to 200 fans at Paulie Gee’s, a Brooklyn pizza restaurant, and other locations.

Backyard Sessions is a free, annual summer show held in the backyard of the founder’s parents’ home in Los Angeles. And Sofar Sounds, which predates the others, charges $25 to $30 for concerts held worldwide on boats, in wax museums and even at a one-time home of David Bowie, with tickets available for sale 36 hours before the event takes place. Ed Sheeran, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan and Hozier are among the artists who have performed.

Also jumping on the trend: The All-American Rejects, who played several surprise backyard and house-party gigs earlier this summer before opening arena shows for the Jonas Brothers later this year.
“More of these definitely have popped up,” says Jeremy Lowe, founder and producer of Backyard Sessions, which can host 200 to 250 guests for indie acts, mostly from L.A., such as singer-songwriters Kacy Hill and Debbii Dawson. “Since COVID, people are craving shared experiences, whether they’re with existing friends or new people.”

Because they’re so small, these events often prompt artists to be more spontaneous and interactive. In May for The Soho Sessions, Costello played “Pump It Up” and Stephen Stills‘ “Love the One You’re With” with Trombone Shorty and a backing band that included Larry Campbell, Ivan Neville and Andy Hess. (Costello enjoyed the experience so much that he brought his sons to see Nile Rodgers & Chic a few weeks later.)

When singer Victor Ray showed up at Sofar Sounds’ Teddy Swims concert at London’s D’Stassi Art gallery and joined him to perform “Ordinary People,” Teddy shot Ray’s vocals on his iPhone and sent them to his younger brother. And days after the start of the pandemic lockdown in 2020, singer-songwriter Kevin Garrett, who co-wrote Beyoncé’s “Pray You Catch Me,” united a Backyard Sessions crowd with his “very pure voice,” according to Lowe.

“We don’t call them concerts; we call them parties,” says Eric Weiner, founder of the upstate New York-based The Wild Honey Pie, which charges $65 to $100 for food-and-music events at hotels, restaurants and other small venues. Passion Pit, Phantogram, Hamilton Leithauser, Iron & Wine, Local Natives and Caroline Rose are among the acts that have performed. “It’s about creating a new format of live music that feels different from the moment you walk into the room, whether it’s at a restaurant or a stunning resort.”

As the concert business grows bigger and bigger — Billboard Boxscore’s top 100 acts grossed $9.1 billion last year, up from $7.5 billion in 2023 (neither total includes Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour) — these indie series run their live businesses on a smaller scale. The Wild Honey Pie makes much of its revenue from sponsors, including Spindrift Soda, Grillo’s Pickles and Voodoo Ranger beer, and donates a lot of its revenue to charity. The Soho Sessions donates a portion of proceeds to artists’ preferred causes — concertgoers are also urged to give using QR codes — and is creating a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation. Backyard Sessions, which drew 200 attendees to its Aug. 17 showcase, is free, with some revenue from local sponsors. But Lowe, a vp of talent and partnerships at Dick Clark Productions (which is owned by Billboard parent company Penske Media Corp.), mostly funds the events himself.

Sofar Sounds, which began in a London living room in 2009, charges $25 to $30 per person for gigs at “non-traditional venue spaces,” such as the former homes of Bowie and Aretha Franklin, says Karoline Komolafe, vp of experiences for Sofar Sounds. “That is critical to what we do.” The audience size, which usually ranges from 80 to 200, “creates this intimacy, like you all are in on a secret.” (In 2019, Sofar settled with the New York Department of Labor for $460,000 after state officials found the for-profit company didn’t compensate over 600 of its volunteer event “ambassadors”; Sofar’s CEO pledged to cooperate and pay crew members.)

For the Soho Sessions’ founders, the easiest part about staying small is persuading major music stars to participate: “They’re just digging the vibe so much. They’re playing in front of the most influential people in the world,” Williamson says. The hardest part is managing the demand for tickets, which is why Williamson and Rechter are contemplating expanding to other locations. For now, though, “We’re at this stage where it is new, cool, intimate, exclusive,” Rechter says. “We want to keep it there for this moment in time.”