The Daily Swarm

Ever wonder where all of those “service fees” and “promoter profits” from concerts go? Here’s one place:

Jack Boyle, the legendary East Coast concert promoter who sold his company, Cellar Door, to SFX (aka Clear Channel aka Live Nation) in 1998 for a reported payday of over $100 million, has put McLean Manor – his 9 bedroom D.C. area estate with complete with “five acres and 12 full baths, five half-baths, eight fireplaces, two fountains and two six-car garages including two limousine bays” – up for auction. And the funny thing is, Boyle never even lived in the place; by the time the renovations were finished, he and his wife’s “lives and interests had moved into a new direction.”

Too bad, because it would be fun to imagine a Billboard’s ‘Legends of Live’ winning concert promoter sitting in his ‘Oval Office’ holding Ticketmaster summit meetings with rest of the concert cabal:

You’ll never see a home better suited for the “power gatherings” that are so important in Washington D.C. circles. McLean Manor will accommodate hundreds of high-level guests, whose drivers can drop them off in the porte-cochere ideally situated for valet parking.

Once your guests come through the secure gates and enter the home, they’ll be struck by the spectacular foyer, which features an impressive floor with concentric circles of dark marble and polished limestone, with stone in a Pueblo pattern, setting a theme that carried into the living area and kitchen, down the galleries, and even up the floating staircases.

No detail has been left unattended, right down to the three-inch-thick solid doors, the 24-carat gold plating on the bathroom fixtures, the three onyx fireplaces and the imported slate roof.

Or, as the real estate agent said to Pollstar:

“With a home like this, you’re not necessarily looking for a local buyer, where a traditional sales process typically centers,” Carter told Pollstar. “But in a place like Washington, your buyer could be anywhere in the world. It could be a diplomat, lobbyist, someone who doesn’t necessarily live in the Beltway.

“The second thing is, a home like this is hard to put a price tag on because there aren’t any comparable homes to base a meaningful appraisal on. The auction gets around that by letting the bidders determine the value. Kind of like hard-to-get concert tickets.”