Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Doug Kauffman founded Nobody In Particular Presents in 1987 and became a fixture in the Denver music industry, promoting concerts by emerging alternative rock acts as well as jazz, folk, rock and blues artists. He rented and then bought Englewood’s Gothic Theatre, and in the early Nineties, to save the Ogden Theatre from demolition, he purchased it with a loan from the City of Denver and turned it back into a live music venue. He then partnered to control concert promotion access to the Bluebird Theater as well. NIPP grew into a 25-person company, promoting concerts at numerous music venues in Denver, from Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Pepsi Center to the Denver Botanic Gardens and the Lion’s Lair, a small dive bar. In 2001, NIPP filed a lawsuit alleging antitrust violations against Clear Channel Entertainment, one of the largest radio and entertainment conglomerates in the world, claiming Clear Channel muscled artists into turning over promotion of their concerts rather than risk losing airplay and promotional support on the five local radio stations owned by Clear Channel. The lawsuit was settled three years later; Kauffman was pleased with the agreement, which many saw as a clear victory for independent concert promoters.
Time Code
Doug talks with G. Brown about making the move to Colorado as a working musician (0:50), his introduction to the concert promotion business (3:34), renting the Gothic Theatre and booking new bands such as Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails and Beastie Boys (5:25), acquiring the Ogden Theatre with an assist from John Hickenlooper (7:49), discourse with Joe Walsh (13:30), emerging from an industry-changing legal battle with corporate bullies (19:35), leasing the Ogden Theatre and the Bluebird Theater to AEG (28:15) and the ruination of the big-act concert business (30:40).
