Music magazine NMEáis sponsoring the first-ever US leg of its annual Rock æn’ Roll Riot concert tour this fall.
The NME Rock æn’ Roll Riot Tour – an established event in NME’s native England – will make its American debut October 21 in Providence, RI. The US portion of the tour will be headlined by Brooklyn-based group, The Hold Steady.
The tour represents one more step in NME’s attempts at building an American audience for its weekly magazine, Web site and sponsored events. Earlier this year, the magazine hosted a music showcase at the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference and festival in Austin, TX. NME also sponsored a Kaiser Chiefs US tour this spring.
“We’re now able to start exporting our established tours stateside – and in particular give our US NME.com users the opportunity to interact further with the NME brand,” NME publishing director Paul Cheal said in a statement.
While the UK portion of Rock æn’ Roll Riot is co-sponsored by O2 and Samsung, only the NME brand name is attached to the US dates.
NME is published by IPC Media. Sister publications include Uncut, Loaded and Nuts. NME magazine has a rate base circulation of 68,151. The Web site reports 1.6 million unique viewers per month as of March 2007.
