GoodWorks Entertainment Group’s first venue purchase was a bold one. The three-year-old company headed by CEO and Co-founder Tyler Grill last month bought Infinity Music Hall’s Hartford and Norfolk locations, in what Grill called an initial step in the company’s plan to develop a network of venues.
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GoodWorks Entertainment Group's first venue purchase was a bold one.
The three-year-old company headed by CEO and Co-founder Tyler Grill last month bought Infinity Music Hall's Hartford and Norfolk locations, in what Grill called an initial step in the company's plan to develop a network of venues.
GoodWorks is a young company, but it's a descendant of GEG Presents, a live entertainment company focusing on act booking and concert promotion that was also co-founded and run by Grill. With a collective 10 years experience putting on and promoting live acts at southern Connecticut venues, Grill now wants to take the show north.
“Over the last decade we shared on a somewhat regular basis show data and artist offers with [Infinity Hall's] previous owner and talent buyer,” Grill said. “Our programming was very similar and the distance between Fairfield County and the Hartford market was ideal for routing bands through Connecticut as they travel between Boston and New York.”
How will shows at Infinity Hall change under your leadership?
When it comes to the Hartford location we plan to expand on the genres/types of talent that Infinity was previously booking over the last few years. We will significantly increase the number of general admission shows that will attract a younger audience. In addition to expanding the programming, we will also make improvements to the production, sound, lights and venue layout.
How do you think development in Hartford's Front Street district benefits Infinity Hall?
The benefit of being on Front Street in general is the cross pollination between all the businesses located on Front Street; we all benefit from each other. The more patron traffic in the Front Street area, the greater exposure we all gain. If we draw 600 fans to a concert, most of them will want to have dinner prior to the show. The more people going out to dinner that see Infinity Hall, the greater the chance they will check out our website and purchase tickets.
You've done a fair amount of entertainment work in Fairfield County. How do you think the Hartford market will differ?
The markets are very similar. One of the main reasons we purchased Infinity Hall was how well their programming lined up to ours in Fairfield County.
Our larger vision is to have a national network of GoodWorks-branded venues across which we can book the same artists. With that said, each market will have its own local flavor that makes it unique.
What community partnerships do you see in store for Infinity Music Hall?
Fundraising events, family programming and an adventure-film series are just some of the ways we plan on working with the community.
