1. Early life

2. Sterling Venue Ventures

3. Personal life

4. References

Sterling is currently the owner of The Canyon Agoura Hills, The Rose in Pasadena and The Canyon Santa Clarita.^[8][9] It has been most recently announced, that Sterling will open a Canyon Inland Empire club by the end of this year. The 1,500-seat club will be in Montclair.^[10][11] He also operates the Saban Theatre concert venue in Beverly Hills, California and produces concerts at the Libbey Bowl in Ojai^[1]. Rock, country, jazz and comedy heroes of the baby-boomer generation frequent his venues, as well as ‘80s one-hit wonders and the occasional punk show with a mosh pit of young people^[2] Sterling’s venues also host a wide range of private events such as mitzvahs, corporate parties, and weddings.

The opening of Sterling's fifth club comes as music becomes more corporate. Large concert operators sometimes have radius clauses in performers contracts that prohibit them from playing at independent venues within a certain distance of the corporate-owned locations. Sterling has countered with a strategy of trying to build up enough venues so he can offer musicians a regional circuit.^[12]

Since expanding into the Southern California market, approximately 2.5 million people have streamed through the venues doors this year to see notable artists and groups like B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Ray Davies, Etta James, Heart, Pat Benatar, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Mary Chapin Carpenter, local boys Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Eddie Money and many, many others.^[2]

Sterling is also involved in the Fox Sports Grill chain and owned Canyon Club venues in Scottsdale, Arizona and Las Vegas.^[3] Recently, Sterling bought the rights to Los Angeles food franchise CaliBurger and opened locations adjacent to The Canyon in Santa Clarita and The Rose in Pasadena. ^[5] Sterling plans to add a CaliBurger in the rest of his venues as well.

Early life

Lance was born Lance Christopher Sterling in 1965, in Woodstock, New York.^[13][14] He was always into music but didn’t work in the industry until after his college years. He attended the University of Arizona where he studied civil engineering and then worked for several years as a structural engineer for a billboard company.^[15] After some time with the company, Sterling learned he could make more money as a concert promoter than as a civil engineer. He then went to work for Loews Hotel Corporation, where he would run the concerts & nightclubs and food & beverage divisions.

Sterling got his real start in the music industry in the early 1990s, when he met Hard Rock Cafe co-founder Isaac Tigrett, who was then starting the House of Blues. House of Blues went on to book artists such as Eric Clapton and Aerosmith and became one of the industry's best-known venue chains. In 1996, Sterling was charged with going to Atlanta to build and open the House of Blues Atlanta in time for the 1996 Olympics, a feat which he completed in under 60 days. When the company abandoned plans to continue the location in 1997, Sterling decided to run it independently as the Tabernacle, while continuing his work for House of Blues, travelling between Atlanta and Los Angeles weekly. ^[1]

Sterling Venue Ventures

Sterling sold the Tabernacle to SFX Entertainment Inc. in 1999 for $6 million, after turning down a House of Blues offer for $6 million in stock options. He then opened The Canyon in Agoura Hills in 2001, where the opening concert was Pat Benatar. Sterling targets the 30-and-over crowd with legacy acts such as Kenny Rogers, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chris Isaak, Berlin, Styx, and Blue Oyster Cult. His customers are loyal, with the average patron attending nearly 12 shows a year at Sterling’s sub-2,000 seat venues.^[16]

In 2013, Sterling took over the 1,900-seat Saban Theatre, complete with $5 million in renovations courtesy of billionaire Haim Saban. At the restored Art Deco venue, Sterling faces competition from music industry giants such as AEG and Live Nation Entertainment Inc. Both companies are based in the L.A. area and operate many of the region's most popular live entertainment destinations including Nokia Theatre, Staples Center and House of Blues. Sterling opened The Rose and Caliburger^[17] in Pasadena in March 2016.^[18]

Sterling also produces concerts at The Libbey Bowl, in Ojai, CA. The venue, constructed in 1957, is outdoor and enchanting and has hosted numerous performances from some of the most influential artists in the world.^[19] When Sterling is not managing and running venues, or with his family, he is on the hunt scouting opportunities for new locations.

In the most recent Sterling Venue Ventures (SVV) project, Sterling opened The Canyon in Santa Clarita, California, which took over a former 25,000-square-foot Red Robin restaurant and will include another CaliBurger location. The club opened in December 2017. Since opening, the Valencia venue has quickly become the second-highest grossing location Sterling operates.^[20] SVV ranked at almost $20 million in revenue and, after the launch of the new venues, he hopes to increase this initial revenue, as well as the number of performances for this upcoming year.^[21][22]

Personal life

Sterling has a wife, Caryn, and five children ranging in age from 14 to 27 years old. The family lives on a luscious 25-acre property in Ventura County, where they have an avocado ranch and sports fields they open up to some student sporting events and city league programs. The avocados Sterling grows have become the Mission Produce avocados that one can find at local grocery stores.

Aside from his passions of farming and music, Sterling says he loves football.^[23] Sterling’s sons played football, which was a great opportunity for Sterling to take on the role as a coach through Pop Warner. He even started his own Pop Warner kids’ football league in the Conejo Valley with over 200 players form Calabasas to Camarillo. Sterling is also a car hobbyist, having owned over 200 cars in his lifetime.^[24]

Sterling is also known for his compassion and generosity, toward the community and environment around him. At least once a month, he donates use of The Canyon and The Rose to different charities, usually related to education, and he is known to donate to non-profit organizations like Doctors Without Borders, Wounded Warriors, and more.^[25]

References

• Freedom of information legislation (California)
• Freedom of information legislation (Florida)?
• Freedom of information legislation (Florida)
• Freedom of information request
• Freedom of media in Eastern Block
• Freedom of movement in the West Bank
• Freedom of movement under United States law
• Freedom of Panorama
• Freedom of press in India
• Freedom of press in Russia
• Freedom of press in the kingdom of Italy
• Freedom of religion in Abkhazia
• Freedom of religion in Aceh
• Freedom of religion in Adjara
• Freedom of religion in Akrotiri and Dhekelia
• Freedom of religion in Albania
• Freedom of religion in Andorra
• Freedom of religion in Angola
• Freedom of religion in Armenia
• Freedom of religion in Austria
• Freedom of religion in Azerbaijan
• Freedom of religion in Bahrain
• Freedom of religion in Bangladesh
• Freedom of religion in Belarus
• Freedom of religion in Belgium