After opening its doors in early 2018, it didn't take long for the multi-venue Avant Garder dance destination to dominate NYC nightlife. Each year, the indoor/outdoor complex that includes Brooklyn Mirage, Kings Hall and the Great Hall attracts some of the biggest names in dance, including a busy 2024 season that saw sellouts from Black Coffee, Swedish House Mafia, David .
Guetta, Gesaffelstein, Diplo, Anderson. Paak, Carl Cox, Deadmau5 and Three 6 Mafia.
This success comes despite the high-profile collapse of Electric Zoo in September 2023 — the Randall's Island EDM festival bought by co-founder Avant Gardner Billy Bildstein and the company's former chief creative officer Philipp Wiederkehr the previous year. Once a staple of New York's festival scene, Electric Zoo's 2023 edition was marred by missed permitting deadlines, rampant overcrowding and security breaches later reported by former ally-turned-critic Mayor Eric Adams.
“It's something I wanted to face head-on,” he says Josh Wyattthe new CEO of Avant Gardner, who officially starts his new role on Wednesday (October 23), but has spent the past few months working behind the scenes to sort out any lingering issues following the Electric Zoo debacle. “If I've had one constructive criticism of the company in the past, it's that they haven't always done a good job of communicating with people [Electric Zoo] interested parties”.
“Over the past eight weeks, I've reached out to every key stakeholder in Electric Zoo and completed them,” Wyatt added about refunding ticket holders, settling with vendors and handling minor litigation issues. “I'm proud of that.”
Wyatt has two decades of experience in the hospitality and nightlife industries, including most recently as CEO of members-only social club NeueHouse and its sister company, photography museum Fotografiska. He also served as president of Equinox Hotels and co-founder/managing partner of Generator Hostels.
Wyatt joins Avant Gardner after the company brought in an unnamed new investor who “increase(ed) the company with growth capital to allow myself as the new CEO to really run the company,” he says, adding that the Bildstein will serve as “my partner on this journey” as founder/creative director. Together, the two will explore the first phase of experiential development within Avant Gardner with a handful of new initiatives, including the launch of a music venue/mocktail bar, as well as new community spaces such as a hi-fi listening room for audiophiles and immersive art and optical studios for visitors.
“That's the trend that's happening right now and it's something we're seeing a lot of our guests asking for—places to relax and rejuvenate,” says Wyatt.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/new-york-nightclub-complex-avant-gardner-hires-josh-wyatt-new-ceo/