The now ever-changing landscape of Milwaukee's live music venues has shifted once again, as on Friday, the Pabst Theater Group announced that they had reached an agreement to assume exclusive booking operations of the Miller High Life Theater from the Wisconsin Center District. All previously existing outside bookings will remain as planned, but the change begins for all public, ticketed entertainment events effective immediately. The Wisconsin Center District will retain the naming rights and sponsorship opportunities for generating revenue, as well as the right to book the venue for any conventions or non-entertainment events.
For the Pabst Theater Group, the venue becomes another asset in their wide variety of entertainment venues. The 4,087-seat Miller High Life Theater will now be the largest of their full-time operations, nearly doubling the capacity availability of the Riverside Theater. The former Milwaukee Auditorium building is the entertainment group’s fifth venue of operation, in addition to the Pabst Theater, Turner Hall Ballroom, Riverside Theater and The Back Room at Colectivo on the East Side. Non-exclusive booking arrangements also allow for the Pabst Theater Group to operate concerts at Fiserv Forum, as well as the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s Bradley Symphony Center.
“When our industry was abruptly and completely shut down by the pandemic, it showed us and everyone else just how important live entertainment is not only to its fans, but also to the economic health and imaging of our city,” said Gary Witt, President and CEO of the Pabst Theater Group via statement. “Part of our mission as an almost 20-year old Milwaukee company is to make sure that the city around us thrives. And with that, the common goal in our agreement with our friends at the Wisconsin Center District is as we have done in the past with each of the venues that are now a part of the Pabst Theater Group, to reawaken and help to give a soul and identity to another historic and beautiful venue, the Miller High Life Theatre.”
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At the time of the announcement on Friday, five events operated by the Pabst Theater Group are already on the books for the Miller High Life Theatre, including Sunday night’s Glass Animals concert, which had been moved from the Riverside Theater due to overwhelming ticket demand. This past Tuesday’s concert from Mitski received the same treatment, just days after tickets originally went on sale in fall of 2021. The new operating agreement will allow for flexibility in terms of booking larger-scale events and overflow options for well-performing ticket sales.
The new agreement also is another interesting wrinkle in terms of the larger landscape of Milwaukee music venues, following the announcement of two concert halls being built in the Historic Third Ward on the Summerfest grounds. Those venues are slated to be operated by Madison’s Frank Productions. For Milwaukee’s music fans, however, it will create an even busier concert calendar, now with a variety of settings to see world class entertainment.
