It's no secret that Live Nation's Barry Gabel's favorite artist is Lyle Lovett. Gabel sat down with WKYC to talk about music and concerts and the upcoming concert season in Northeast Ohio.
"The amount of activity is tremendous always in the summertime but, what's really special this year, is the different genres," Gabel said. "And the diversity of everything from rock, country, classic rock, Hall of Fame inductees..."
Gabel said the amount of venues is increasing from Quicken Loans Arena, Blossom Music Center, Jacob's Pavilion, the Hard Rock Rocksino and the Akron Civic Theater.
To highlight that diversity, Justin Bieber takes the stage tonight (April 26) at Quicken Loans Arena and Paul McCartney will play two show Aug. 17-18.
Gabel says there are 26 shows at Blossom Music Center this summer, kicking off May 20, and almost half will feature country stars, like Dierks Bentley.
And getting tickets to shows has changed immeasurably. Instead having to go to where the tickets are being sold, you can get the information right on your cell phone. "Some fans say that the best app I ever downloaded was the Live Nation app," Gabel said.