Numbskull Shows owner on team chosen to take over operations of Tower Theater

Plus, Poor Man's Poison returns with new EP, 'the Great Big Lie.'

Apr 16, 2023

Numbskull Shows has made a good showing of late, flexing its muscle as a player in the city’s entertainment scene, especially when it comes to booking the small- to mid-tier tours that Fresnans would otherwise travelling to see.

Right now it has at least two of these tours on the books — pop-punk prototypers Descendents (May 12) and the Australian pub-rock punkers Amyl and the Sniffers (Oct. 13).

And it looks to be expanding its operations base.

On Friday it was revealed that Numbskull owner Eddy Burgos is part of 809 Olive Avenue LLC, the team unanimously selected to take over management of the Tower Theater pending a vote by the city council at its meeting next week.

You will remember that the theater was almost sold to a church in a deal that ultimately fell apart amid major backlash from the community.

Also, a year-plus worth of protest and multiple law suits.

Following the city’s purchase of theater (for $6.5 million) it remained unclear exactly who would run the theater (and how) once it cuts ties with its former owner. That is now expected to happen in June.

Several entities put forth proposals, including its former owner (and interim operator) Laurence Abbate; the Fresno Art Museum and Sterling Venue Ventures, which operates out of southern California and was looking to partner with Scottland Concerts and Team Neville.

The latter was of particular note as Susan Neville had managed the Tower Theater box office since 2003 and her son Jeph had been the theater’s technical director and lighting designer.

Ultimately, the city’s evaluation committee chose 809 Olive Avenue LLC, because it “demonstrated a high level of understanding of the scope of work and presented a plan which aligned to the city’s expressed utilization of the Tower Theatre.”

In its evaluation summary, the committee said the company’s proposal “included consideration and coordination of existing programming at nearby Tower venues and focused on providing the community with the best available and diverse options for entertainment and community engagement.”

This seems like good news for keeping Tower as a functioning entertainment venue, though some are already questioning the new entity’s commitment to working with community organizations.

The summary of the evaluation process and the specifics of the deal can be found on the city’s website. I’ve also done a quick rundown of the new company over at The Fresno Bee.

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Let’s Go! Poor Man’s returns with new EP ‘The Great Big Lie’

Poor Man’s Poison has been on a different trajectory since it returned from hiatus in 2019. The Hanford-based Americana band stepped away from live performances, choosing instead to release a series of singles and EPs — most notably 2019’s “Hell’s Comin’ With Me,” which has become a viral video soundtrack and racked up 1 billion (with a B) streams on Youtube shorts in January.

Earlier this month its released its latest EP, “The Great Big Lie,” across digital platforms. It’s two songs and an spoken word outro that clocks at around eight minutes and holds to the kind of country-tinged Americana Poor Man’s Poison made its name on, though “Let’s Go” really swings in a sort of big-band kind of way.

It’s the horns.

The band recently offered some insight on the EP and its creative process in a sit down with the Speakeasy Podcast.