The Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau has signed a deal with a concert promoter to draw more shows to the city's outdoor riverfront venue.

Awakening Events, a national event company with roots in central Arkansas, has exclusive rights to book and promote ticketed concerts at First Security Amphitheater in Riverfront Park through 2023, the city's marketing arm announced Wednesday.

The agreement with the Convention and Visitors Bureau requires that the promoter present at least three "A-Tier" concerts at the downtown venue in 2019, which means drawing artists who tour nationally or globally and have the documented ability to sell 2,000 or more tickets. The promoter is required to present six "A-Tier" concerts each year from 2020 through 2023.

The Convention and Visitors Bureau plans to announce the 2019 concert lineup within the next month.

"We think there's a benefit to bringing in a national player to attract more talent," Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO Gretchen Hall said. "We're excited to kick off this partnership and grow our live performances."

Awakening Events -- which is based outside Conway and has another office in Nashville, Tenn. -- produces more than 250 concerts each year. The company has also worked with Verizon Arena in North Little Rock and the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion in Northwest Arkansas, as well as venues around the country, including Madison Square Garden in New York, The Forum in Los Angeles and Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colo.

The company focuses on contemporary Christian music as a tour promoter, but it has also promoted shows for artists including Willie Nelson and REO Speedwagon, owner Dan Fife said. The company has been asked to draw a variety of artists to First Security Amphitheater.

"Diversity of lineup is very important to us," Hall said. "They want to be able to offer a wide variety of entertainment."

Awakening Events is partnering with fellow promoter Starr Hill Presents, which is based in Charlottesville, Va. That company is owned by Coran Capshaw of Red Light Management, whose roster includes the Dave Matthews Band and Chris Stapleton.

In addition to six shows in 2020, the two promoters hope to present an additional series of free or low-cost events modeled after "Live at Five" concert series in other cities that attract after-work crowds.

Fife said he was excited to draw outdoor concerts back to the area. The first concert he ever promoted and booked was Peter Frampton playing at Little Rock's riverfront venue in 1992. Fife said he hasn't seen as many live performances in recent years.

"We're excited to bring outdoor concerts to central Arkansas again," he said. "In the '90s and up through the mid-2000s, there seemed to be thriving events on the river."

News of the deal came the week after the organizers of RiverFest announced that the longtime staple of summer in Little Rock that took place at First Security Amphitheater would not be happening in 2019.

Fife acknowledged that the company had a short window of time to book artists for the remainder of the outdoor concert season, but he said he was hopeful there would be shows in July, August and September.

He said his knowledge of the central Arkansas entertainment market would be helpful.

"In any city or any region, it takes a promoter that is in the market, that has an office in the market, that has people in the market, that has their finger on the pulse of that market's music scene," Fife said. "The last 10 to 15 years, there really hasn't been a promoter who had been local at the time."

Hall said the Convention and Visitors Bureau will continue to book all nonconcert or nonticketed events. The Convention and Visitors Bureau manages the venue on behalf of the city and runs more than 120 events there annually. She said the promoter would work around long-running community events that take place there, including the Easter service and Movies in the Park.

Metro on 04/04/2019