JIM KING
BST’ s Great Oak Stage
Dickens at ITB because David [ Levy ] said,‘ You should have an agent who oversees the contract with Mean Fiddler, speak to Barry because Vince will listen to him, and if there ' s a problem Barry will be able to sort it out’. Barry has been something
Caption of a mentor for me ever since and I work with him to this day – this year I am doing Neil Young at BST.” Recalls Dickens,“ Jim and James were
Caption new to festivals at the time but they had been hugely successful with Cream, had great contacts and worked very hard on bringing Creamfields to life. We helped them financially and did our best to assist with whatever they needed.”
With Darren Hughes having left Cream to set up Homelands at the Matterley Bowl, the decision was made to move Creamfields closer to home. In 1999 Creamfields was staged at the old Liverpool Airfield, with Cream handling the production. Among the team of specialists hired to help were John Probyn, Paul Ludford and Sophie Ridley.
Remembers King,“ We were responsible for running the show, and that was the huge difference from the previous year. I remember walking
“ I ' D NEVER HAD THE BENEFIT OF ACCESS TO THAT LEVEL OF RESOURCE BEFORE.”
around the site with James on Saturday morning, looking at all the infrastructure, and having this feeling of immense pride and satisfaction that we had pulled it all together. Then the gates opened, and 35,000 people turned up. The next 12 hours were the most terrifying I ' d ever experienced but by the end of it I’ d caught the bug. I really loved the responsibility of pulling it together, the creativity involved in building something from scratch. I was captivated by the whole process of staging outdoor events and wanted to run the biggest shows in the world.”
Says Barton,“ It was obvious that suddenly Jim knew, and we knew, what he was going to do for the rest of his life.”
Long established as one of the world’ s leading dance event brands, over the years Creamfields has spawned countless spin-off events as far and wide as Chile and Abu Dhabi, Argentina and Hong Kong.
Making Loud Sound
In 2004, King left Cream and founded event production agency Loud Sound. The company has come an awfully long way in the last two decades, with its 2021 rebrand to LS Events reflecting an expanded events portfolio that stretches well beyond live music.
LS Events has managed hundreds of major events over the years, including the Formula E season finale at ExCeL London, the four-day Champions League Festival in London, Operation London Bridge, and AEG Presents-promoted events including BST Hyde Park and All Points East.
“ I needed to take a leap and go out on my own and Loud Sound came from this,” says King.“ Starting from scratch, building a client base, taking on risk and promoting festivals with my own money is the biggest learning curve any promoter can have as it is different when it’ s your money on the line. I have always found that promoters with that background always maintain a true value of money and risk, even when working from someone else.”
Loud Sound’ s now co-CEO Dave Grindle first met King while working with him at Cream where he was handling its DJ agency and they would go on to work closely together on the company’ s international expansion. By coincidence, they both left Cream around the same time, and King hired Grindle to work for Loud Sound.
“ Jim’ s got this incredible determination and natural enthusiasm coupled with an ability to build really strong relationships,” says Grindle.“ People want to come on a journey with him, hence why I ' m still here working with him 30 years later.
WHAT OTHERS SAY...
“ The Holy Grail for all of us who are involved in producing musical events is allowing art and Manon to exist together in harmony. Jim does exactly that but with minimum fuss and with real style. Bravo to that.”
Rolling Stones creative director Patrick Woodroffe accessaa. co. uk 25