When you think of the landscape that is the live music business, most people think of its lengthy history getting dominated by promotion conglomerates like Live Nation and AEG. While they have definitely played a huge role in drastic concert ticket sale growth we have seen in recent years it seems that the personality these companies once had has faded away. In the wake of this growth some new promoters have found gaps in the market. One example of this is the young and ambitious Prime Social Group out of Columbus, Ohio. Prime Social Group took the Midwest by storm with the growth of their Breakaway festival over the past few summers. What started as a small single festival in Columbus has since grown to a massive 4 city hip-hop and EDM event brand. All things considered, The Breakaway 2018 season has been their most ambitious and successful by far. Looking at the lineups alone can give you a good idea why.

Going into the summer this year when we started to see the familiar Breakaway lineup posters drop it was clear this season was going to be different. The lineups consisted of the biggest headliners we have seen yet from this festival and oh boy was there something for everyone. Popstar Halsey drew massive crowds in Columbus while EDM super duo Odesza simultaneously did the same in Grand Rapids. A few short weeks later Wiz Khalifa brought the heat in Nashville followed by Charlotte. Eager concert goers from their respective cities swarmed the Breakaway stages by the thousands showing every person who has ever doubted this brand it is here to stay. It was truly thrilling to witness this event thrive in four states hundreds of miles apart. The future of music festivals is undeniably bright.

Photos by Jake Hicks and Franky Hernandez