Avant Gardner hires new CEO following Electric Zoo debacle

One year after the infamous implosion of Electric Zoo, Avant Gardner has named Josh Wyatt their first-ever CEO.

Brooklyn club company Avant Gardner, best known for its renowned venue The Brooklyn Mirage, has announced that Josh Wyatt has been appointed their first-ever CEO. Wyatt was previously the CEO of hospitality company NeueHouse and its sister company Fotografiska. Avant Gardner’s founder, Jürgen Bildstein, will remain with the company as its Creative Director.

Wyatt will oversee the future of The Brooklyn Mirage as well as Avant Gardner’s smaller venues, The Great Hall and The Kings Hall. He told Pollstar that “everything is on the table to expand and evolve” these venues, including a mocktail bar for attendees who aren’t looking for alcoholic beverages, and a wider variety of genres including hip hop and latin. “One of the things we’re planning now is to bring more moments where guests can have a diverse set of experiences throughout their journey there.”

Avant Gardner is looking to move forward from Electric Zoo 2023, which ended in disaster after the company had acquired the festival one year prior. After canceling day one and opening hours later than scheduled on day two, thousands of fans were denied entry on the third and final day when the venue quickly reached capacity, leading to chaos as many fans stormed the gates. It was about nine months before news of refunds finally reached those attendees affected by the debacle.

“I don’t think that the company has always done a great job of communicating effectively with its constituents, whether its fans or local community or vendors,” Wyatt told Pollstar. Over the past few months, Wyatt has helped to clean up the mess by communicating with fans and vendors and working with a financial investor who assisted the company with paying out their owed refunds. “We built incredible goodwill and it’s only going to go up from here.”

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As Avant Gardner and their new CEO Josh Wyatt look to the future, he confirms that they have “big ambitions.” For music fans in Brooklyn and beyond, this change in leadership will hopefully mean many exciting new experiences and memorable nights to come.