{"id":145802,"date":"2025-03-28T12:09:20","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T16:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2025\/03\/28\/tour-promoter-disco-donnie-went-from-road-warrior-to-club-owner-and-the-change-hasnt-been-easy\/"},"modified":"2025-03-28T12:09:20","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T16:09:20","slug":"tour-promoter-disco-donnie-went-from-road-warrior-to-club-owner-and-the-change-hasnt-been-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2025\/03\/28\/tour-promoter-disco-donnie-went-from-road-warrior-to-club-owner-and-the-change-hasnt-been-easy\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour Promoter Disco Donnie Went from Road Warrior to Club Owner \u2014 and the Change Hasn\u2019t Been\u00a0Easy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tJames Estopinal<\/strong> is having an existential crisis.<\/p>\n

\n\tFor most of his professional life, Estopinal has operated as Disco Donnie, an old school concert promoter known for throwing festivals and taking dance artists on tours across the country. Estopinal was what many called a \u201cpure play\u201d promoter, meaning he didn\u2019t own any venues himself; 100 percent of his attention and capital was spent building artists\u2019 touring careers and supporting acts on the road.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Concert\"<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tMusiCares and Amber Health Partner for Mental Health Study on Touring Artists &\u00a0Crew\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

\n\tUnfortunately for Estopinal, it has become increasingly difficult to sustain oneself as a full-time road warrior, renting out venues and battling club owners each night for his artists\u2019 fair share. After a bumpy festival season in 2024, Estopinal and his partner, Patrick Tetrick<\/strong>, crossed the concert world\u2019s Rubicon last summer and opened Silo, a brand-new nightclub in Dallas\u2019 burgeoning Design District. Silo is not a typical nightclub \u2014 it\u2019s a 30,000-square-foot transformed historic grain storage facility with beveled walls, 40-foot height ceilings, a 1,200-square-foot stage and a massive 100,000-watt sound system made by German loudspeaker company D&B Sound. Silo is Dallas\u2019 first ever concert venue built for the electronic dance world and, to most people, opening their city\u2019s hottest new nightclub would be the ultimate flex on a high-profile 30-year career in music and touring.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Estopinal is not like most people.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m really struggling to suddenly be a club owner; it\u2019s just not how I\u2019m programmed,\u201d he tells Billboard<\/em>, noting that the transition from tour promoter to venue management has been difficult. As a promoter, Estopinal was taught early on not to trust venue managers and to always be skeptical of the line they\u2019re pushing.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve always had a love-hate relationship with club owners,\u201d Estopinal says. \u201cThey\u2019re shady and I\u2019m always trying to do the right thing. Like 90 percent of them have some shady shit going on and I never imagined myself being on that team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMaking the leap from promotion to club operations is like a public defender suddenly joining the district attorney\u2019s office, or an environmental activist going to work at a big oil company. Traditionally, the nightclub owner is the adversary of the show promoter, due in large part to the economic model of concert promotion.<\/p>\n

\n\tConcerts typically make money in two ways: ticket sales and food and beverage sales. In a perfect world, the artist and the promoter keep 100% of the ticket sales, while the venue keeps all the food and booze money. That part\u2019s easy \u2014 the tricky part is splitting up the show costs and deciding who pays each bill. Typically, venues will cover bar staffing and basic production needs, but the bigger the show, the more ticket takers and bouncers need to be hired, and the more expensive backline becomes.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Southwest<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tSouthwest Is Ending Its Two Free Checked Bags Policy. For Touring Musicians, That’s a Big\u00a0Loss\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tThese types of details should be worked out in advance, typically months ahead of time when the promoter is paying the deposit to book the venue. But it\u2019s not uncommon for surprise expenses to pop up when the bill is settled between the parties. That\u2019s when the gamesmanship begins, Estopinal explains, with both sides going line by line through bills, arguing over money.<\/p>\n

\n\tEstopinal says he loathes the idea of hitting acts that play Silo with last minute expenses. As a promoter, when it \u201ccame to the settlement, I would always fight back,\u201d Estopinal says, especially when club owners tried to make him pay their house nut \u2014 essentially a standard fee the venue would charge every touring show to recover unspecified expenses. To Estopinal, the house nut is like a hotel charging a $40 resort fee or an Airbnb rental charging a $100 cleaning fee \u2014 \u201cthey\u2019re junk fees that are just a cash grab.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tShakey Settlement<\/strong>\t<\/h3>\n
\"Inside
Inside Silo Dallas
\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\n\tEstopinal remembers a show settlement in El Paso, Texas, when a club owner shook him down for a last-minute $1,000 \u201crent\u201d charge.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe deal was that he kept the bar and I got the door. Rent wasn\u2019t in the original deal and I told him I wasn\u2019t going to pay him rent,\u201d Estopinal explains. \u201cSo, he opens his drawer and pulls out a gun and puts it on the desk. So, I say, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re threatening me now? Fine, take your $1,000 blood money.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEstopinal says he returned to the tour bus and stewed in anger for a while, before going back inside to confront the club owner again. Six security guards were summoned to the office, and \u201cone got me in a headlock and they all kind of picked me up in a lateral position, carried me out down the stairs and put me back on the tour bus,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI never got my $1,000 back, but I did hear that he later got arrested for something else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThen there was a Skrillex<\/a> show Estopinal promoted in the 2010s at a country western bar in San Antonio, Texas. Skrillex finished his set at midnight and his crew wanted to break down the show and leave, but the bar owner wanted to stay open to keep selling beer. The owner even had his resident DJ go on after Skrillex\u2019s set and play Skrillex music.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSuddenly all the fans that were leaving at the end of the Skrillex set turned around and came back in,\u201d Estopinal says. \u201cAll so that the club owner can sell beer for two more hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe tour managers approached Estopinal and told him to find the owner and shut down the faux Skrillex set so they could leave. \u201cBut I couldn\u2019t find the owner anywhere. I noticed they had four bodyguards stationed around the DJ booth, and so I went back to the dressing room and said, \u2018Hey, I can\u2019t get this guy to turn the music off. You guys are just going to have to load out.\u2019 They told me, \u2018We can\u2019t load out with all these people in here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Pinnacle<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tHow The Pinnacle, AEG Presents’ New Flagship Nashville Venue, Brings Value For Artists\u2026\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tWorried that he might lose the rest of the tour if he didn\u2019t quickly act, Estopinal took two shots of tequila with the tour manager and then \u201cran into the front of the DJ booth, dove inside, unplugged all the wires and pushed all the equipment on the floor,\u201d he says. While the security guards weren\u2019t able to stop Estopinal from silencing the bootleg set, they did \u201ceventually get a hold of me and started wailing on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe police eventually showed up, placed Estopinal in handcuffs and got him to fork over $2,000 to pay for the broken mixers and busted CDJ player. An expensive night, but minor when compared to the extortion Estopinal encountered when he tried to throw a rave with several big-name promoters in San Bernardino, Calif., in 1999. What had originally been forecast as a 5,000 to 8,000 person show quickly ballooned into a 25,000-person riot with fans swarming the box office, desperate to buy tickets.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was cash only and we\u2019d have people come up to the window with a huge wad of cash and be like, \u2018Give me 16 tickets,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cThe money was coming in so fast that one of the ticket takers just started sweeping the cash onto the ground. There was no place to put it. And she just keeps selling tickets, ankle deep in cash.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEventually, Estopinal lost control of the show and \u201cthe police called in the riot squad, and they arrived in helicopters and tear gassed the front of the venue,\u201d he says. Once the dust eventually settled, the venue manager approached Estopinal and told him the police wanted $40,000 in cash, right away. \u201cI asked, \u2018Can I give it to them myself?\u2019 And they told me, \u2018No, that would be illegal.\u2019 The whole thing sounded illegal to me, but my only goal was not to have that party shut down. So, I went and got the $40,000 in cash and gave it to the venue manager. I don\u2019t know where it went, but the event never got shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tPromising Signs<\/strong>\t<\/h3>\n
\"Inside
Inside Silo Dallas
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\n\tThe concert world has changed significantly since Estopinal\u2019s riotous rave in 1999, mostly for the better, he concedes. The corporatization of the business led by Live Nation and AEG has standardized the show settlement system, and major talent agencies have become much more vigilant about sticking to the language of the contract and avoiding last-minute surprises.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve spent a lot of time thinking about how I can change the dynamic as a club owner and make the venue more artist-friendly,\u201d Estopinal says. \u201cI can try to make the tickets as cheap as possible and not let people bribe the doorman to cut in line or slip in through a side door that the promoter doesn\u2019t know about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe\u2019s also decided to make Silo available to community groups during off hours and has even struck a deal with a local Dallas church to lease the club for its Sunday services.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"AEG<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tAEG Presents to Open New 4,000-Capacity Venue in\u00a0Austin\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tPastor Richard Ellis with the Dallas-based Reunion Church told Billboard <\/em>that he happened to stumble upon Silo while looking for a new home after the church ended its lease at the Dallas Convention Center.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI met with Donnie\u2019s partner Patrick Tetrick<\/strong> and he told me, \u2018I probably shouldn\u2019t tell you this, but it would be good for us to have you in here,\u2019\u201d recalls Ellis. \u201cSometimes a club like that can have a reputation and one can soften that reputation by having a church in the building on Sundays.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEstopinal says he has other community uses for Silo in mind and notes that having a church in the building makes him feel better about crossing over into the venue world.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tProtect The Enterprise<\/strong>\t<\/h3>\n
\"Inside
Inside Silo Dallas
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\n\tEstopinal also says he has started to bring a lot of his own experience to Silo and do some of the club\u2019s bookings in-house, tapping into his own expertise. One of his first lessons came during the opening of Silo in September when he ignored his own advice about splurging on a big headliner for opening night.<\/p>\n

\n\tEstopinal says it\u2019s a \u201cclassic mistake\u201d to book a big a headliner for an opening night concert at a new venue because \u201cif there\u2019s any type of delay due to permit issues or construction, you\u2019re not going to be able to open the venue and you\u2019re still going to end up owing the artist the money.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor reasons he can\u2019t explain, Estopinal ignored his own advice and booked superstar DJ Tiesto<\/a> as the opening artist for Silo. \u201cThe day of the show arrived and we still don\u2019t have the permit needed to open the venue\u201d due to a disagreement with the local fire marshal about Silo\u2019s sprinkler system, he says. \u201cThe show sold out and I\u2019m just sitting there imagining, \u2018How am I going to get out of this one?\u2019\u201d Estopinal recalls. \u201cThen Tiesto\u2019s agent calls me and says, \u2018I got some bad news. Tiesto\u2019s plane had depressurized, and he had to turn back.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Wayne<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tVeteran Booking Agent Wayne Forte Is Auctioning Off a Private Meeting to Raise Money\u2026\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tEstopinal described the news as divine intervention: If Tiesto was cancelling on Silo, then he didn\u2019t owe the Dutch DJ a dime \u2014 crisis averted.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAnd then, oddly enough, about an hour later, my phone rang again,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was the fire marshal\u2019s office. The permit issue had been resolved, and I was cleared to open Silo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEstopinal says he was shocked, but also clear-eyed in what he had to do. Tapping into his instincts as a promoter, new club owner and lifelong hustler, Estopinal grabbed the phone and immediately dialed Tiesto\u2019s agent.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI told him, \u2018You better put him on a new plane immediately and get him out here tonight or else!’\u201d Estopinal remembers. Tiesto made it in time to play the gig and the show opened without a hitch.<\/p>\n

\n\tSurprisingly, Estopinal said he didn\u2019t feel bad about the episode, noting that club ownership and tour promotion had one key component in common.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou\u2019ve got to protect the enterprise,\u201d he says. \u201cNo matter what side you\u2019re on, you want the show to go on.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Aller \u00e0 la source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Estopinal is having an existential crisis. For most of his professional life, Estopinal has operated as Disco Donnie, an old school concert promoter known for throwing festivals and taking dance artists on tours across the country. Estopinal was what many called a \u201cpure play\u201d promoter, meaning he didn\u2019t own any venues himself; 100 percent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musique","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}