Analysis
“ONE OF A KIND” EX-CAA AGENT PAUL FITZGERALD PASSES
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eading live music figures have been paying tribute to music agent Paul Fitzgerald, who died aged 54 following a long illness. The ex-CAA agent enjoyed a distinguished 25-plus-year career in showbusiness after starting out at Louis Parker’s Concorde International Artistes in the early 90s. Fitzgerald, who is survived by wife Ellie and daughter Lulu, was the longtime agent for The X Factor Live tour and worked with artists such as Leona Lewis, Steps, JLS, One Direction, Olly Murs, Nicole Scherzinger, Diversity, Ella Henderson, Beverley Knight, and Craig David. “Fitz was one of a kind,” CAA co-head Emma Banks tells IQ. “Entrepreneurial from his core and with a great love of his clients, he was a trailblazer in his work with X Factor amongst other projects. He was always open to pursuing new projects and avenues with his trademark enthusiasm. “Paul had a can-do attitude that went from work into his life generally. He was much loved at CAA. Agents across the company in every department globally knew Paul through their interactions at our company retreats or other times that Paul would visit them. “Paul has left us all far too early and our hearts break for Ellie and Lulu. Gone but never forgotten.” Fitzgerald, who launched entertainment industry consultancy MYBX in 2018, is credited as a mentor by his former CAA assistant, Chris Ibbs, who was elevated to music agent at the company last year. “Paul was a true legend in every sense of the word,” says Ibbs. “A fabulous agent and great friend. His infectious humour was only matched by his huge kindness. It was an honour to work for him, and without his guidance, I simply wouldn’t be where I am today. Thank you, sir. Rest easy.” SJM Concerts’ Simon Moran and Matt Woolliscroft speak similarly highly of Fitzgerald, both personally and professionally. “I always got on really well with Paul,” Moran tells IQ. “We did a lot of business with him over the years. He was very hard working and tenacious. As they used to say on The X Factor, he had the ‘likeability factor’ – he was a really great fella.” “I worked with Paul across many of his biggest artists including the early touring of One Direction, JLS’s incredible run after their appearance on The X Factor, The X Factor tour itself, Beverley Knight, and many others,” adds Woolliscroft. “He was a sensible and easy going person to do business with. Loyal to his contacts and hard working for his clients. “We’d stayed in periodic contact after his illness had meant he’d had to step back from his work, and I was in awe of his positivity. I have missed our more regular contact since he ‘retired.’ He once joked to me, ‘I have never been cool in my entire life’ – he was probably right, but he was a good man with a good heart, and I will miss him.”
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iq-mag.net
Nova Rock’s loyal fans did not let the weather spoil their weekend
FESTIVALS FORCED TO TAKE A RAIN CHECK
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number of European festivals, including Nova Rock (Austria), Eurockéennes de Belfort (France), and Love Saves the Day (UK), were hampered this month by severe weather conditions. The most recent victim is France’s Eurockéennes de Belfort, which was forced to cancel its opening two days due to “apocalyptic” storms. The 35,000-cap festival would have hosted acts including Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Stromae, Diplo, Joy Crookes, Big Thief, and Girl in Red between 30 June and 1 July. Thursday and Friday single-day ticket-holders will receive a full refund, with those with three-day and four-day passes receiving 66% and 55% refunds, respectively. Elsewhere, Barracuda Music CEO Ewald Tatar tells IQ that Nova Rock’s biggest challenge was recovering from “the rain of the century,” which hit the country mere days before the festival was due to open its gates. “During the 3-4 final days leading up to Nova Rock 2022, it rained more in the region than during the period between November 2021 and the beginning of June 2022 in total,” explained Tatar. Fortunately, only a few performances were cancelled due to the downpour. No such luck for UK festival Love Saves Day, which was marred by a torrential downpour and “lack of cover” on the second day of the event. The festival’s Lonely Hearts Club stage was flooded at around 7pm, which led to the cancellation of Arlo Parks’ performance. Around this time, the site’s bars were also closed before later reopening. In response to a large number of attendees leaving and several complaints on social media, the festival’s promoter, Team Love, said: “Fundamentally, it would not be possible to provide cover for 30,000 people simultaneously during a biblical downpour without putting all the stages intoThousands tents and of completely changing the whole identity of the festival – butread professionals with that being said, we will look to provide IQ more cover andMake every day. shelter next year at the event and to ensure that the site-wide sure you get the response system is strengthened.”
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