American Dream Mall Adds Concerts To Draw Crowds, With Live Nation Deal

American Dream mall is turning up the volume in its plan to be more entertainment than retail, with a multi-year partnership with Live Nation to host concerts and events at the 3 million square-foot complex in the New Jersey Meadowlands.

Rap star Ludacris and Japanese rock band Band-Maid are among the acts already announced by Live Nation for its first concerts at the massive entertainment and shopping venue.

American Dream, in recent months, has been making creative use of its entertainment space by hosting evening concerts in its Nickelodeon amusement park. It has hosted concerts there by DJs Steve Aoki, Pauly D and Tiesto which, according to social media posts and Tik Tok videos, have drawn large and enthusiastic crowds.

“We’ve seen massive success with our past concerts and our partnership with Live Nation will only make this grow,” a mall spokesperson said when asked about attendance figures at the DJ shows.

In addition to concerts, such as the scheduled May 7 performance by Ludacris, Live Nation plans to use American Dream for launch parties for new releases, and tour-kick-off parties, pop-up shops for performers, and fan events. Live Nation plans to use all of the mall’s open spaces and attractions, which include an indoor water park, indoor ski slope. and ice rink, in addition to the amusement park as possible locations for events.

The mall and Live Nation did not disclose the financial terms of the deal, or reveal how American Dream will be compensated for the use of the space.

The mall’s design, with large open courtyards, and tiered floors overlooking those open areas, lends itself to events and large gatherings. For DJ events in the amusement park, access to rides has been included in the ticket price.

The DJ “takeovers” of the amusement park have given the mall a way to draw crowds to the amusement area at night, after the typical daytime visitors of families and children have departed.

Live Nation sees “a lot of potential at American Dream to showcase a diverse lineup of entertainment options designed to enhance the customer experience and drive new audiences to the entertainment and retail center,” said Geoff Gordon, regional president, Live Nation Northeast.

“We are excited to partner with American Dream and create a new and unique live platform that connects live performers and their fans in an exciting new way,” Gordon said.

The partnership with Live Nation will take American Dream “to a new level,” said Don Ghermezian, CEO of American Dream. “The impact and value Live Nation brings as our content provider gives artists another unique platform to inspire their fans.” he said.

The first Live Nation events under the partnership will be Ludacris, May 7; Rapper J.I, June 17; DJs Two Friends, June 18; Rapper Lil Tjay, July 22; Rapper Shek Wes, August 13; Japanse band Band-Maid, October 13.

Live Nation also plans to hold the New York-New Jersey “Barbercon” event – a tradeshow and exhibit for the barbershop community – at The Rink space at the mall on July 17.

American Dream has struggled to establish itself as a retail center. Its opening was long delayed by construction and financing challenges. Then, after it opened in late 2019, its momentum was derailed by the pandemic.

The owners of the mall reportedly are working to restructure their debt and extend their payment timeline, and the revenue and attendance numbers they have reported thus far are troubling. The mall still has a lot of unfilled retail space.

But the latest traffic-counting numbers available from location analytics firm Placer.ai show crowds at the mall strongly exceeded pre-pandemic levels every month in 2021, and that growth has continued in January and February of this year.

“The American Dream has seen steady growth in visits indicating that the launch of more retail elements and entertainment experiences have successfully driven growing crowds,” Ethan Chernofsky, vice-president of Marketing at Placer.ai said. “The relative success speaks to the lingering promise for the location to serve as a major focal point for retail and entertainment in the area,” he said.

Next week another long-delayed attraction is scheduled to open at American Dream – the Dream Wheel giant observation wheel. That opening, and the Live Nation deal, could mark a turning point for American Dream.