Pride Month officially starts June 1 and WeHo Pride’s OUTLOUD Music Festival is one of the first to kick off the festivities with a weekend-long celebration highlighting some of the biggest artists out there.
At the center of the action is OUTLOUD Founder and Executive Producer Jeff Consoletti. And while the festival has only been around for five years, the 3-day concert has already attracted top-tier acts including Kylie Minogue, Lizzo, Maren Morris, Kim Petras, Janelle Monae, Kesha, Diplo, Idina Menzel, Carly Rae Jepsen, Orville Peck, a number of RuPaul’s Drag Race alums, and the one and only Grace Jones.
This year, top billing goes to the Pussycat Dolls. While the group—which now consists of Nicole Scherzinger, Ashley Roberts and Kimberly Wyatt—was meant to kick off their US tour with the Pride date, ticket sales forced them to reconsider. Now, OUTLOUD is their only North American date, before heading to Europe.
Also hitting the stage this year are Ashlee Simpson, Jade, Melanie C, Ava Max, Countess LuAnn and, yes, even the Blue Man Group. The festival runs from June 5-7.
Speaking with Brian Particelli for SO.GAY, Consoletti opened up about what goes into creating the perfect lineup, whether the current political climate has affected talent or sponsor turnout, ticketholder price concerns, and his dream “unicorn” to get on the bill in the years to come.
SO.GAY: For those out there who maybe aren’t as much in the know, can you explain the genesis of the OUTLOUD Music Festival?
Jeff: The goal was really to just find a way to connect queer artists in a more meaningful way to their queer fans. The main avenue to do so is through events, so we wanted to create environments for queer fans to gather together outside of just going to bars and clubs. I have an events agency, we do a lot of work across a lot of different avenues, but, particularly music festivals. And, obviously, the gays are spending money at mainstream music festivals. EDC is this weekend, Coachella, Primavera in Europe. Wherever you go, there’s a lot. I just was starting to connect the dots of what are ways to get queer people together outside of just Pride Month and also to empower queer artists to work.
SO.GAY: Can you talk a little bit about booking talent for that first year versus now? Has it gotten easier? What were those earlier days like?
Jeff: Being able to be a trusted person in the music industry and just as a producer certainly has helped, but, I mean, it never gets easier booking talent. It doesn’t matter. I don’t know if it gets easier for Goldenvoice, when they have millions and millions and millions of dollars to book talent. I would assume that as promoters, we’re all up against it, in some way, and whether it’s timing, budget, I think there’s so many factors that can go into what that perfect booking looks like.
I will say that the other piece that’s been challenging, but it’s a positive, is because OUTLOUD has developed so well, the amount of inbound inquiries that we get, it’s like thousands. I don’t have enough events, there’s literally not enough time in the day to be able to program the amount of really meaningful, great, and particularly queer artists that are looking for their shot.
So it’s exciting to me that we’re sought after as that vehicle, but we’re a little bit limited in how much, or how quickly even we can activate them. It’s a good problem to have, and we still want to encourage all of those artists to seek us out, because any opportunity that we have to make recommendations, even if it’s for an event that’s not our own, we do.
SO.GAY: How do you kind of strike that balance between these big headliner names—a lot of them are queer allies, but not necessarily queer themselves— and up-and-coming talent, and, specifically, queer talent.
Jeff: We always try [to ask], what’s the pulse? What’s the moment right now? It’s a really big, pop girl renaissance that’s happening right now. It’s been a throughline of this season, so we were really going deep into either the nostalgia pop acts or the up-and-coming trending pop acts. It’s just the moment right now, so it would have been a miss if we weren’t paying attention to that.
If we could have a bill that was 110% queer-leaning, I think we would. I think we approach it just like any major festival would, where it is that right balance of who is making strides for the community consistently, if they’re not identifying as LGBTQ, and ensuring that there’s a track record of really pointed involvement into what our community is looking for. Where have they shown up for us as a community? Why are the fans rallying around them? I think that’s always really important.
We pay particular attention to ensuring what I’ve described over the years is all of the colors of the rainbow. We want to be as inclusive and as representative as possible. But also, it’s who’s submitting, and who we have access to, and right place, right time. I think part of the OUTLOUD special sauce is really trying to be as inclusive as possible, as colorful as possible across all of the great people that make up our LGBTQIA+++++ community.
SO.GAY: I’ll ask specifically about this year and the Pussycat Dolls in a second, but, generally, how far in advance do you start reaching out, or are people reaching out to you? Is it just an ongoing, never-ending process?
Jeff: It’s neverending. For the bigger names, we’re fishing, unicorn hunting, as we call it, years in advance. We have our nets cast for 2027, and if some of those people aren’t available, it’s already looking forward into 2028, when you’re talking about some of those really big powerhouse names. Their schedules are booking up multiple years in advance, so to really have a shot at a Miley [Cyrus], which is a fan favorite’s always suggested to us, we’re talking to her team for multiple years in advance.
Miley, if you’re reading this or listening at some point, we’d love to have you. Something like this could actually turn out, someone that actually does hear that big interest in wanting to have that artist participate, and how do we connect the dots to make it happen? But the hunt is real, particularly for the top tier of our bill. We’re inviting reps for this year’s show to really just show, if they’re not familiar with the production that we deliver, what we can create for their artist in a future year. It really remains top of mind constantly.
SO.GAY: Looking back at previous years, is there an artist that stands above the rest, where you were just shocked you were able to book them? As an attendee, Kylie Minogue was huge, and that was such an incredible night, just across the board.
Jeff: We had a couple good years. I was fortunate enough to work with Grace Jones at New York World Pride, when we handled that in 2019. So to be able to strike that chord again, kind of hit the lottery twice with her, was really amazing. We got to work with her in New York, and then got to bring her to OUTLOUD in 2023, which was a really great moment. And one of my all-time favorite artists.
Kylie, yet another one of my all-time favorite artists. We had started that hunt literally years prior, and it was one of those hunts where every time we thought the embers were just about out on the campfire, something kind of ignited it back up, and we really stayed dedicated to really trying to push to get her to be a part of our show, and ultimately it worked out. It was a big, big achievement, and I think it really did help to, 2024 in particular, really started to take OUTLOUD to a whole new level of even our national brand recognition, and I think a lot of that is thanks to Kylie Minogue.
Also, I would be remiss to not talk about the undercard. I mean, we booked Doechii before she was really Doechii, we kind of knew that there was something special there. Raye has been selling out the Greek theater today. We had Raye in 2022 in our undercard, and she could very easily come back and headline OUTLOUD now, you know? Adam Lambert, Kesha, artists that had been on pause for a minute, and then had this really big resurgence that ignited on the OUTLOUD stage is something that I’m also really, really proud of, and really exciting to see. I mean, Keke Palmer’s first big festival. Here’s this triple threat of an actor, singer, dancer, etc. She really came to legitimize her performance as singer, rapper, entertainer on the OUTLOUD stage.
Those moments are never lost on me. It’s super exciting to see where we also have unveiled something that’s really special that artists go on to other festivals because of it. I mean, DJ Meredith Marks, the world-renowned phenomenon that’s DJ Meredith Marks, that is a direct creation of the OUTLOUD Music Festival. So, it’s been so exciting to see what we’ve been able to put in front of our fans, and how our fans have really helped to propel those artists forward.
SO.GAY: With the Pussycat Dolls this year, how did that come about, since most of us didn’t even know they were reuniting. We know they tried to reunite a few years back, and that didn’t pan out. So, the fact that OUTLOUD was part of their initial tour announcement, and now their only US stop.
Jeff: We’re so closely tied to the agencies, and the type of artists that we were looking for and who we were going after, and it was one of those right place, right time, conversations, where we were able to be in a room where we were getting early wind that the reunion was happening, and who the group was that was taking shape as part of it. To have it be anchored by Nicole [Scherzinger] was a big deal, and it’s been exciting. It’s not without its challenges. Obviously, they’ve changed their North American plans, but I think what I’m really happy about is their commitment to the Pride community and to what OUTLOUD is, makes the show even more special this year, particularly our West Hollywood show.
I feel like our WeHo audience loves to have everything that’s exclusive and special, and you can only see it here. Kylie’s tour at the time wasn’t even announced yet, so she was just doing West Hollywood. That’s a very WeHo thing, we get it first, and then, will you get it again? I actually love that it’s a special moment, and again, just connecting back to this, there’s a lot of nostalgia music that’s happening right now, pop music from the early 2000s. So, I mean, Ashlee Simpson killed her Vegas residency. It just felt like, okay, this could be a cool moment and something that feels really special. And even separate of their tour plans changing, [the Pussycat Dolls] were always kicking their tour off with us in West Hollywood, which I think was a big statement.
SO.GAY: Now, I also have to ask about Blue Man Group, because that name on the flyer just stands out so much. We have Pussycat Dolls, Jade, Ava Max, Ashlee Simpson, Mel C…and then right there is Blue Man Group.
Jeff: You have to have fun with the lineup when you’re putting it together. My team and I have this list of out-of-the-box ideas. Have they been done before? Have they not? What if? And Blue Man Group is on that list, and I’m from Boston originally, and Blue Man Group had their start in Boston. So I remember being a theater kid in high school and growing up and just going to Blue Man Group and seeing their ads all around Boston, so there was a little bit of that nostalgia around it that I though would be fun to include.
They answered the call and it’s amazing. They’ve been a really fun a group to play with. It’s in the same vein as how DJ Meredith Marks came to be. I had met Meredith at the GLADD Awards in New York a couple of years ago, we had this great night filled with many martinis, and I just was like, ‘How do I get this amazing person who loves this community so much at OUTLOUD? What could we possibly do?’ DJ set!
SO.GAY: Look at her now.
Jeff: She has leaned in and showed up from when that started. So, every year we like to plan a little something special that feels a little different, out of the box, unexpected. I think don’t sleep on the Blue Man Group set this year.
SO.GAY: We’re in a very interesting political climate right now. Has it been harder at all to get certain performers, sponsors or partners because of everything going on right now?
Jeff: I haven’t felt it on the artist side, thankfully. And I think artists want to work, and again, the type of artist that we’re typically going after is an artist…they’re either identifying as part of our community, or they are being a very visible part of our community in some way, so, it really hasn’t detracted that. Their representatives, I would say, as well, are always very excited to take a call from OUTLOUD.
On the partnership side, I would say there’s been a little bit of change. This year, in general, it’s been harder to close high-value, meaningful corporate partnerships, that have significant dollars attached to them. Six figures, mid-six figures, etc.
I feel like, even from when I was working with a lot more Pride organizations 10 and 15 years ago, we were really developing those orgs to be in those conversations, and you were seeing that across LA and New York Pride at the time, right? Like, those organizations had some really big, significant corporate partners. And while we, with WeHo Pride, have some good brands, certainly some high-value corporations involved, the level of them is not as high as what we would used to have. Everyone seems to tread around, like, is that a political choice or not? I’ve noticed that in general.
I think some of it just might be the economy of it all, you know? In addition to how polarizing of a political world we live in, it’s economically a hard place for a lot of people right now. And particularly in the bigger cities, and I think that that trickles down to employees and how corporations are showing up to events. It’s good that they’re at least still showing up, so I look at that as a positive. In general, our sponsor plan and progress this year is about equal to what we did last year, and it’s equal in terms of total fundraising, but we probably have 10 or 15% more brands than we had the previous year. So it just means that, we at least are getting more interest, but the value that they’re coming in for might be a little bit less.
SO.GAY: So you’re hustling a bit more to get more. Going off of that, as the festival does get bigger and bigger, more recognition every year, how do you try and keep it also accessible and inclusive? From a financial standpoint, I know there’s the free Friday show. I think the street fair is also starting to build up even more.
Jeff: I mean, what’s nice about what we’re able to do in West Hollywood is it truly feels like we have a mile-long festival footprint, where there’s an arena right in the middle of it that you buy into if you want to. But if you don’t, you have a lot of opportunity for things to do for free in West Hollywood that are also programmed really, really well. And as we’ve continued to develop what we’re doing inside the OUTLOUD Music Festival, we then have artists that aren’t opposed to wanting to be on a street fair stage, or maybe on both, right?
I think we still do need to, though, look at how the show is set up. It gets more and more expensive to produce everything that we’re doing, both inside OUTLOUD that, yes, the city allows us real estate and helps us with some aspects of public safety, etc, but otherwise, we’re fundraising for OUTLOUD through ticket sales. We are paying these artists premium rates as if they’re performing at a mainstream festival as well. We’re not getting any sort of discount, right? I also, as a fan, I’m just seeing, there’s more and more to do, there’s a lot of competition in the marketplace, and I think as we continue to develop the show, we can be a little bit more strategic with how we put the show together, and how our fan is responding to it.
Budgets aren’t gonna just keep getting exponentially bigger, and even with inflation, with everything that’s rising, we don’t want to have tickets that are suddenly $600, $700, $800. I’m proud that we’re able to offer weekend tickets for between $150 and $200, which is 60% to 80% under what a comparable show is. EDC is this weekend, Coachella, Portola later this summer, their weekend GA passes for the same amount of programming are 50, 60, 70% higher than what we’re charging.
We already get feedback that maybe sometimes the tickets might feel out of reach, and we try to just allow as much opportunity early to be able to hit certain price points for the person that might want that. But aside from always doing that, I think there’s also a way to start to program in a little bit more of a strategic way that can also from our producing angle, lessen the blow a little bit, right?
SO.GAY: You mentioned that the artists aren’t really giving you discounts. What are their expectations like? And, for you, what is the organization like on the weekend of Pride, just trying to move all these big moving pieces around at once?
Jeff: It’s what we excel at. We’re really good at that big logistic, and great, seamless production. So I think having some of that swagger has helped us being able to confirm certain artists over all these years, but then also, it also puts us in a position where it’s like, okay, this artist costs this amount.
When you make things look all bright and shiny and brand new, then everyone thinks that you have millions and millions of dollars to pay. And, the fact is, we don’t. We are equally, a very small business, and I have a very lean team that works really hard and really modestly to produce for our community.
We just try to level set the expectation with our artists as well, where we’re not charging $500 or $600 or $700 for this festival experience. So even if we are having 10 or 15 or 20,000 people come through, the return is very different than if we were charging that much more, right? In turn, everyone’s gotta make certain concessions, because everyone is being paid equitably to what the value of the experience is.
SO.GAY: So those backstage demand lists, I assume, are a little less for this festival.
Jeff: We still have oysters for Grace Jones, you know? There’s just some things you don’t say no to.
SO.GAY: That’s fair, she deserves. You mentioned Miley is someone you guys are always talking with. Are there any other big pie-in-the-sky dream headliners for you, looking forward?
Jeff: I think Miley would be really special, because she doesn’t perform that much.
I’m a Little Monster through and through and I know Gaga’s team really well. We got to produce the concert scenes of A Star Is Born 10 years ago. So I really have a relationship with the team for many years, and I think it would be next level, obviously, to have Lady Gaga do a little festival like OUTLOUD. I think she would. I think she’s one of those artists that would absolutely…the community means so much to her that, when the timing is right, and when the show really could take on a certain meaning for her, and for whatever is happening in her cycle, I think that it would intersect. But that would probably be a career-defining, brand-defining artist, for sure.
SO.GAY: And last question I have for you, this is a SO.GAY staple, but what is so gay about you?
Jeff: I’ve just been so fortunate to build my life around being so gay, and essentially riding the rainbow, around the country, in being able to work for oneself and being an entrepreneur. I don’t know that when I started everything in 2009 that I was connecting the dots that my identity would be what would really lead me into what I wound up doing for the past two decades. And I’m really fortunate for that.
It’s been really meaningful to me that we’ve been able to produce events for our community, whether it’s for Pride, whether it’s nonprofit fundraisers, whether it’s just being able to show up for my community in great ways, and then being able to create something that is benefiting the community I’m a part of is what is so gay about me, for sure.
OUTLOUD Music Festival tickets are on sale now.
