BC Business
Blueprint LIVE | BCBusinessAs part of its new Blueprint LIVE division, the company will be diversifying its live acts with more indie bands.
Blueprint LIVE is the newest division of the always-expanding entertainment company Blueprint, and will offer new genres of live music at its venues with a focus on indie bands. “One of our biggest motivations is to be able to supply people with music that they like that is different from the stuff that we are currently doing,” says Blueprint co-founder Alvaro Prol. “There are tons of great acts and we just wanted to be able to bring them to our venues as well.”
For years Blueprint has had a monopoly over the electronic music scene in Vancouver, with venues under its management such as Celebrities Nightclub and Venue regularly hosting popular DJs from around the world. In 2012, Blueprint launched Contact Winter Music Festival, which has grown to become an annual two-night event at B.C. Place.
With its five nightclubs, four bars, three liquor stores, festivals and hundreds of yearly events, Blueprint is easily one of the biggest entertainment companies on the West Coast. “We are a diverse entertainment company that runs and operates their own venues and concerts with a lot of family values behind it,” explains Prol.
Prol co-founded Blueprint with Bill Kerasiotis and Chris Kerasiotis in January 2013 after merging their respective companies, Blueprint Events and Adelphia Management Group, but the relationship between the three promoters started long before then. Prol has been in the business of music promotion for 17 years and has been working with the Kerasiotis brothers through a strategic partnership since Adelphia Management Group’s inception, says Prol. “In a sense we were always partners, but they had this other company and I had this company. Then many years ago we decided to make it one, but the transition of making it one took a long time,” he adds.
Last week marked Blueprint LIVE’s official launch and the addition of talent buyer Malcolm Croome, who will oversee the division, helping to diversify the company’s live music offerings by bringing indie music acts to Blueprint’s venues. Previously working as the driving force behind live-music company Sealed With a Kiss, Croome has been putting on shows in Vancouver for the past 10 years, booking such bands as The National, Bloc Party and Yeasayer. He will curate the Blueprint LIVE shows and will also be involved in the marketing side of the division. “The industry is always changing so I was trying to align myself with a company that I have a lot of respect for. Blueprint is doing some amazing things with dance and electronic music and I felt that Alvaro stood out with what he was thinking with live music,” says Croome of his move to Blueprint LIVE.
Next up for Blueprint is moving into a 37,000-square-foot newly acquired office space above its Shine nightclub and a continued focus on bringing new music to Vancouver. “We are really a music company at the heart of it all,” says Prol. “We want to continue to push Vancouver to do more and continue to build on what we have here.”