History

30 Years Live! A PromoWest Productions Rockumentary from PromoWest Live on Vimeo.

The Company

PromoWest Productions is the largest full-service, independently owned and operated entertainment company in the Midwest and was named in the top 10 largest rock promoters by Pollstar Magazine. Celebrating its 34th anniversary in 2018, PromoWest takes pride in bringing today’s biggest names in music featured in an intimate setting, while showcasing up-and-coming artists as well.

EXPRESS LIVE! Announce from PromoWest Live on Vimeo.

Venues

PromoWest owns and operates EXPRESS LIVE!, Newport Music Hall, The Basement and A&R Music Bar in Columbus, Ohio; Stage AE in Pittsburgh, PA; and Bunbury Music Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio. EXPRESS LIVE! and Stage AE are the first indoor/outdoor venues of their kind featuring a reversible stage allowing the venue to accommodate both indoor and outdoor concerts.

PromoWest Business Profile

Recognized as one of the nation’s most successful independent promoters, President and CEO Scott Stienecker has staged several noteworthy Columbus concerts. Retained by The Ohio State University in 1997 to produce the U2 and Rolling Stones concerts, and more recently booking Jack White at The Schottenstein Center, Stienecker is a staple to the central Ohio live music scene.

Stienecker also staged the first evening concerts at Cooper Stadium and the Brewery District as well as managed live entertainment for the Ohio State Fair, bringing record numbers in attendance.

PromoWest Productions was the original developer of Polaris Amphitheater and worked as a consultant for construction of The Schottenstein Center.

In October of 2001 PromoWest Productions opened the country’s first one-of-a-kind indoor/outdoor concert venue, PromoWest Pavilion (now EXPRESS LIVE!). EXPRESS LIVE!, located in the Arena District in downtown Columbus, has an indoor capacity of 2,200 and an outdoor capacity of 5,200.

In 2003, PromoWest Productions assumed management of the building located next door to EXPRESS LIVE!, now known as A&R Music Bar. In February 2005, PromoWest opened The Basement on the lower level of this building to host local and small national and regional acts.

In 2009, PromoWest launched PromoWest Live, a locally produced live music show featuring footage of concerts at PromoWest venues. The show airs weekly on NBC after Saturday Night Live in the Columbus and Pittsburgh, PA markets.

In 2010, PromoWest opened the country’s second indoor/outdoor concert venue, Stage AE, modeled after the original PromoWest Pavilion.

In 2014, PromoWest Productions celebrated its 30th anniversary and announced the purchase of Bunbury and Buckle Up music festivals in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Below are some highlights of shows produced over the last 30 years:

Newport Music Hall

Neil Young, REO Speedwagon, James Brown, B.B. King, Todd Rundgren, Meatloaf, Cheap Trick, 10,000 Maniacs, Great White, Robin Trower, Bad English, Winger, Jerry Lee Lewis, Black Flag, The Monkees, Violent Femmes, Billy Crystal, American Authors, Chromeo, GWAR, Neon Trees, Passenger, Schoolboy Q, Jay Leno, Billy Ocean, Bad Company, Joe Walsh, Megadeth, Red Hot Chili Peppers, St. Vincent, The Kooks, The Naked and Famous, The Neighbourhood, Keane, Slayer, George Clinton, Melissa Etheridge, George Thorogood, Bo Diddley, Quiet Riot, Alice in Chains, Sonic Youth, Pearl Jam, Alice Cooper, Primus, Huey Lewis and the News, Sleigh Bells, Phantogram, Wale, Santigold, Crystal Castles, The Smashing Pumpkins, Big Sean, Atmosphere, Joe Satriani, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Candlebox, Better Than Ezra, Foo Fighters, Anthrax, Kings of Leon

Buckeye Lake

Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi, Grateful Dead

Palace Theater

Smokey Robinson, Melissa Etheridge, The Black Crowes, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld

Cooper Stadium

The Judds, Rush, Aerosmith

Convention Center

Tom Petty, Nine Inch nails, Marilyn Manson, John Mellencamp

Polaris Amphitheater

The Eagles, Van Halen, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Janet Jackson, Depeche Mode, John Mellencamp, James Taylor, Santana, Aerosmith

Ohio Stadium

The Rolling Stones, George Strait, U2

Schottenstein Center

Jack White, AC/DC, Kings of Leon, Deftones

Nationwide Arena

Avenged Sevenfold

EXPRESS LIVE!

Buddy Guy, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Mumford & Sons, fun., A Day to Remember, Slayer, Goo Goo dolls, Incubus, 311, Modest Mouse, Bone Thugs & Harmony, The Killers, Arctic Monkeys, George Clinton, Arcade Fire, My Chemical Romance, Gnarles Barkley, Alice Cooper, Death Cab for Cutie, The Black Keys, Gwar, Jane’s Addiction, Beck, B-52s, Billy Idol, Cake, Dan Fogelberg, Evanescence, Garbage, Jewel, John Mayer, LL Cool J, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Moby, Muse, Neville Borthers, Rob Zombie, Slipknot, Snoop Dogg, Stone Temple Pilots, The White Stripes, Wilco, Soundgarden, Melissa Etheridge, The Flaming Lips, Backstreet Boys, Bob Dylan, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Bastille, B.B. King, Broken Bells, Chvrches, Fitz and the Tantrums, Foster the People, Iggy Azalea, Korn, Lorde, Modest Mouse, Panic! At The Disco, Santana, Skrillex, The 1975, Twenty One Pilots, Young The Giant, Marilyn Manson, The Postal Service, Alabama Shakes, Ke$ha, Queens of the Stone Age, Kid Cudi, MGMT, Jonas Brothers, Childish Gambino, Ed Sheeran, Wilco, Darius Rucker, Matt & Kim, Cold War Kids, Lupe Fiasco, Wiz Khalifa, Incubus, Cage the Elephant

Stage AE

Daryl Hall and John Oates, Motley Crue, ZZ Top, Incubus, A Perfect Circle, My Morning Jacket, The Avett Brothers, Queens of the Stone Age, Rise Against, Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson, Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller, Sigur Ros, Modest Mouse, 311, Heart, Boston, A Day to Remember, The Lumineers, Tenacious D, Soundgarden, Fall Out Boy, Social Distortion, The Black Crowes, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Old Crow Medicine Show, Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, Lyle Lovett, Bastille, Arctic Monkeys, Of Monsters and Men, Jack White, Hozier, The 1975, Austin Mahone, Fitz and the Tantrums, The Neighbourhood, twenty one pilots, Skrillex, Sleater Kinney, The Replacements, Volbeat, MGMT

ABOUT THE OWNER

Scott Stienecker is president and CEO of PromoWest Productions, founded in 1984 by Stienecker after inspiration from a KISS concert at age 16 sparked his interest in concert promotion. In 2014, PromoWest Productions celebrated its 30th anniversary and announced its purchase of Bunbury and Buckle Up music festivals in Cincinnati, OH. PromoWest now owns and operates five venues in Columbus, three in Pittsburgh and has now made the recent expansion into the Cincinnati market.

The Beginning

Stienecker graduated from St. Mary’s Memorial High School in 1978 and attended Bowling Green University before transferring to The Ohio State University to join the OSU Pep Board and begin co-promoting concerts for the university. Two notable concerts he co-promoted with Belkin Productions include Black Sabbath and AC/DC at St. John Arena.

In 1981 Stienecker accepted an internship in San Francisco with concert promoter Bill Graham. The following year, he was hired by Parallax Productions based in Berkley, CA, to book concerts in secondary markets throughout California. Stienecker promoted concerts for artists such as The Clash, The Talking Heads and The Go-Gos.

Starting PromoWest Productions

PromoWest Productions was founded in 1984, when Stienecker got word that the Columbus Agora was being shut down. He purchased the building, now known as Newport Music Hall, and started PromoWest with the mission to bring quality, big-name entertainment and emerging talent to central Ohio. PromoWest presented its first act, Neil Young, at Newport Music Hall to a sold out crowd on September 9, 1984.Today, Newport Music Hall is famously known as the longest continually running rock club in America and has hosted legendary performers and today’s hottest acts including AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Ed Sheeran, Metallica, Black Sabbath, The Strokes, Chromeo, Chvrches, Passenger and The Smashing Pumpkins.

Polaris Amphitheater

In 1994, Stienecker partnered with Dave Lucas of Sunshine Promotions to build and operate the 18,000 capacity Polaris Amphitheater. The venue was sold to SFX Entertainment in 1997.

PromoWest Pavilion (Now EXPRESS LIVE!)

Stienecker had a vision to build a “smaller Polaris Amphitheater and larger Newport Music Hall,” resulting in a one-of-a-kind indoor/outdoor concert venue opening in the Arena District, then PromoWest Pavilion, in 2001. PromoWest Pavilion is now known as EXPRESS LIVE!.

PromoWest Live

In 2009, PromoWest Productions started broadcasting a weekly TV show featuring live performances from PromoWest venues, as well as incorporating live interviews and behind the scenes footage, which airs on NBC in the Columbus, Ohio and Pittsburgh, PA markets.

Stage AE

PromoWest partnered with Art Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, in 2010 to build Stage AE, the second venue of its kind, modeled after the original PromoWest Pavilion.

Today

Through his 37 years in the concert business, Stienecker has produced more than 8,000 concerts that include some of the most influential artists in music such as Marilyn Manson, The Eagles, Jack White, Beck, Santana, Mumford & Sons, Tom Petty, Incubus, The Killers, fun., Lorde, The Pixies, Alabama Shakes, The 1975, Charli XCX, Jane’s Addiction and Imagine Dragons. Stienecker has grown PromoWest Productions over the past 30 years to become the largest privately owned concert promotion company in the Midwest. It currently produces more than 500 events every year.

Scott Stienecker Affiliations:

Co-chairman of Touchdown Club of Columbus

Member of Young Professionals Organization (YPO)

Voted one of the “40 Most Successful People in Columbus under age 40” in 1995

Provides a scholarship fund at St. Mary’s City Schools called “Carpe Diem”

PromoWest Owned and Operated venues/festivals:

EXPRESS LIVE! (indoor/outdoor), Newport Music Hall, The Basement, A&R Music Bar – Columbus, OH

Stage AE (indoor/outdoor), Club AE – Pittsburgh, PA

Bunbury Music Festival – Cincinnati, OH

PromoWest Fest – Columbus, OH

Polaris Amphitheater (1994-1997) – Columbus, OH