Phil Bowdery

IMPACT INTERNATIONAL: UK/EURO HONORS

Phil Bowdery

Executive President of Touring International, Live Nation

Methodical Approach

Phil Bowdery says, “It’s fantastic to be back, firing on all cylinders.” The Executive President of Touring International at Live Nation feels “driven and excited. The last few years were hard because of the changing guidance. Planning well in advance is a must and that was taken from us. Now that we’re back on solid ground, notwithstanding the cost challenges, we can get on with putting on amazing shows for artists and fans.”

The last two years made Bowdery “appreciate more than ever what this sector means to people – to fans, to employees and freelancers, to artists, to crew and to promoters.” He says there was only one way of dealing with the obstacles of the past three years: “Promoters deal in bite-size chunks with what is in front of them. Building a show involves getting each brick correctly in place, starting with the artist. A methodical approach is really the only way.”

It’s hard to pick highlights from a career as long and successful as Bowdery’s. He has worked with some of the biggest acts in the world, from Barbra Streisand to Coldplay to Bruce Springsteen to Shirley Bassey, from BTS to Tom Jones to Michael Ball and Alfie Boe. But Bowdery is not one to dwell on past successes, saying, “I work on the basis that the best is yet to come.”

And he mentioned his team, which he kept motivated by providing “biscuits, cake and lots of cups of tea. No seriously, we’re a family. Sophia, Sarah, Gary, Joe, Hannah and Frankie are invaluable to my success and the success of the shows we promote, along with the wonderful production skills of Andrew, Max and Rik.”

Still, he concludes, “getting the industry together through the most challenging time that any of us will ever experience, the sense of satisfaction was, and has been, something I am very proud of. The most important thing is that the live sector has got its muscles back and we’ll be stronger than ever.”