Comments (0) Most Innovative Promoter - 2011
Pegstar
What makes Pegstar an "innovative" promoter? A few years ago, founder Jagi Katial didn't buy into the conventional wisdom that Houston was a terrible town for indie-rock, and has reaped the benefits ever since. Katial kept making offer after offer to bands whose first instinct may have been to bypass Houston in favor of Dallas, Austin or New Orleans, and enough accepted that now a different kind of word of mouth is going around — that Houston had some of the most enthusiastic crowds on their tours. Things really went into overdrive when Pegstar partnered with Free Press Houston to start Free Press Summer Fest and then take over Fitzgerald's. This year Summer Fest was stacked with headliners like Weezer, Ween and Cut Copy who weren't even on tour — flown in specially for the festival — and Fitz's rarely if ever has an off night, with capacity crowds upstairs and down. Another promising trend Pegstar is bringing to Houston is that several recent shows have been free for patrons 21 and up.
