‘Ron Delsener Presents,’ Documentary of Legendary Concert Promoter, Coming

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Legendary New York concert promoter Ron Delsener is the subject of a new documentary about his six-decade career. The feature-length film, Ron Delsener Presents, is directed by Jake Sumner for RadicalMedia. Film distributor Abramorama has acquired U.S. distribution rights for the documentary which follows the city’s most influential concert promoter, a visionary who impacted the live music business. The story includes exclusive interviews with Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Paul Simon, Jimmy Buffett, Cher, Art Garfunkel, Lenny Kaye, Lorne Michaels, Bette Midler, Gene Simmons, Patti Smith, Steve Van Zandt and many more. The film will be released in theaters across the country beginning with a weeklong engagement at NYC’s QUAD Cinema on May 30, 2025, followed by multiple engagements across the tri-state (NY-NJ-CT) area and select cities nationwide.

In a colorful career spanning almost sixty years, the concert promoter and impresario has been behind virtually every major contemporary music concert in New York City. From The Beatles at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, to bringing David Bowie to Carnegie Hall and Patti Smith to the Palladium, to somehow convincing Simon and Garfunkel to come back together to play the biggest concert ever in Central Park, Delsener was behind it all.

The director, Sumner, said, “For generations most of the live music in New York City and most of its iconic venues were presided over by one individual and his small team, and that was Ron Delsener. Ron’s personal story tracks the tale of live music from a cottage industry to the dominant cultural force and global business it is today. He is probably one of the only living sources of the live music business’s entirety, or at least a version of it. So, we trailed Ron Delsener at concerts across the New York City area and eventually sat Ron down in a red chair at the legendary Beacon Theatre and had him tell us his story in the music business, a feat in itself given Ron’s uncontainable energy and short attention span.

“The scope of Ron’s story, breadth of archival footage and source material (largely found in Ron’s basement) and personal testimonies and interviews from across the music business, spans decades and reveals a somewhat unknown history of live music. I’m thrilled that this singular New York story about never ending hustle and the power and magnetism of music and show business, is getting a theatrical release and will play in front of audiences.”

Ron Delsener Presents is Sumner’s first feature documentary.

Ron Delsener Presents takes audiences behind-the-curtain through the last half century of the live music business, chronicling the tactics that drove live performance from disorganized, low-fi events to international tours, arenas, and, eventually, into a global empire. Now 88 years-old, Delsener retired in 2022 from the now-multi-billion industry he helped to create.

Watch interviews at the Ron Delsener Presents documentary world premiere at the 2023 Tribeca festival

Abramorama founder Richard Abramowitz said, “During the 70s, Ron Delsener produced more memorable music in New York than anyone else, helping to form the musical tastes of a generation. There are too many to list but for a small sample consider: Bob Marley and the Wailers, Bruce Springsteen, John Prine, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt, The Kinks, Richie Havens, Simon and Garfunkel, even… Benny Goodman and Ella Fitzgerald! Each show was a convening of enthusiastic music-lovers in Central Park under the stars in what felt like the center of the universe. Many thousands, maybe millions, owe Ron a huge debt of gratitude. I know I do.”

Delsener and guests will be participating in multiple Q&A’s during the run at the QUAD in New York.

Related: Listings for 100s of classic rock tours (Thanks, Ron.)