The cranes are still arrayed outside and the exterior walls aren’t even finished yet, but we now know some of what we’re looking forward to once The Sylvee, Frank Productions Concerts Live’s new 2,500-capacity concert venue opens this fall on East Washington Avenue.
FPC Live, the company created from the merger of Frank Productions and Majestic Live last March, has spent much of the last week teasing the acts, including a missive sent Friday with all but a few random letters of each performer’s name redacted. The full wraps came off today, and the list includes some pretty A-list names, including The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie, Jenny Lewis and Madison’s own Garbage (playing October 16). Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats get the honor of headlining the venue’s grand opening.
Actual dates and ticket-sales information are still to come, but this is the clearest look at what the future of Madison’s local music scene could start to look like once The Sylvee’s up and fully functional. Up until this point, for instance, it looked like the only chance Decemberists fans had to catch the band’s latest tour went down in Milwaukee early last month. Now they’ll be back in our own front yard, playing in the shadow of the Capitol. Death Cab for Cutie, which played the Orpheum the last time they visited Madison, could be an example of the sort of act that now ends up playing East Washington Avenue rather than State Street. FPC Live operates both venues, but Charlie Goldstone, the company’s president of concert operations, suggested in the wake of Live Nation buying a controlling interest in Frank Productions that the Orpheum could skew toward more live comedy and book tour events.
Meanwhile, the genres of the announced acts at The Sylvee this fall are pretty diverse. In addition to the alt-rock acts already mentioned, the docket includes jazz (Kamasi Washington), jazz-pop (Lake Street Dive) electronica (The Glitch Mob, Big Gigantic) and classic rock (Greta Van Fleet).
According to Scott Leslie, one of FPC Live's three presidents, there's more to come.
“We're confirming new shows every day,” says Leslie. “ This is our coming-out party to the world, and we're pretty excited about it."
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect a new scheduling announcement. Garbage will play The Sylvee on October 16; tickets go on sale May 4. Dates and ticket info for other acts has still not been released.
