Stephen Drysdale: The Man Behind The Drysdale Group
I first met Stephen Drysdale back in 2012. He was on the verge of organizing his first event with Eric Prydz at Arena Nightclub, with his brand new company Drysdale Group.
Over the last few years his involvement in the Montreal entertainment scene has evolved into something quite unique.
Today, Stephen Drysdale and his team from the Drysdale Group are working with top tier event producers in Montreal and Ottawa, offering them a turnkey management service for their VIP sections.
Over the last few years we’ve frequently bumped into each other and over multiple conversations I’ve gotten to know a bit more about who he is and what his story is.
In the beginning
Stephen Drysdale grew up in the West-Island of Montreal, where he still resides. His first experience working in the nightlife and entertainment industry was 6 years ago, back when he was 24 years old. In 2010 St-Catherine street was home to a hot spot called Tonic Club Lounge where Stephen began promoting on Friday and Saturday night.
Tonic Club Lounge eventually became Arena Nightclub and that’s when things changed for Stephen. He went from promoting nights to producing events with international DJs. At the time, Arena was owned by Otto Chan, Amir Yayon, and Wally Patel who were interested in hosting events with international electronic DJs.
They asked Stephen and his brother Dan Drysdale to get involved because “we knew what acts were trending among 18-24 year olds… so they asked us to handle their bookings.” Stephen didn’t have the contacts to make the bookings himself but knew who did; Jean-Louis Labrecque.
Along with his brother Dan Drysdale and Jean-Louis Labrecque, they booked, produced, and promoted shows at Arena Nightclub with Eric Prydz, Jordy Dazz, Adrian Lux, Deniz Koyu, Cedric Gervais, and Bassjackers.
Drysdale Group is born
The official launch of Drysdale Group was for Eric Prydz on July 23rd 2012. The name Drysdale Group was given to them by Steve Scuba. “We had promoted a few nights prior to Eric Prydz and all of our friends would come and circle around my brother Dan’s bar. It became a thing and eventually people would say that’s the Drysdale Group’s spot. When we were thinking of a name Steve Scuba said why don’t you call yourself the Drysdale Group”.
Gigi Hilton, Stephen Drysdale, Steve Scuba, Dan Drysdale @ Arena in 2012
“We decided we did not want to be tied down to a specific club… Arena was not always open so we gave them first right of refusal on things we we’re planning”. From there they started working on shows at different venues and in collaboration with different promoters. One of those shows was Tommy Trash and Dada Life at Parc Jean Drapeau for Concordia’s frosh.
“After Dada Life I took a step back from the Montreal Nightlife scene. I took some much deserved me time. My brother had phased out as well and we concentrated work wise on our day jobs at our family’s transportation company. Slowly I realized how much I missed the industry and step by step I made my come back.”
Drysdale Group makes a come back
In 2014 Evenko brought Montreal the Ilesoniq Music Festival at Parc Jean Drapeau. Stephen sold a few tickets as a promoter for Evenko. During the festival he was with a long time friend Bryan Shipley, and together they saw a business opportunity.
“We we’re at Ilesoniq in the VIP section and we saw and opportunity to improve the way they set up and marketed their VIP sections. I come from the “club world” where we put a lot of emphasis on our VIP clients experience. Evenko has all this knowledge and experience in producing massive shows but had never really had to touch the whole “bottle service” thing until Ilesoniq arrived.”
Stephen and Bryan realized that event producers we’re having trouble offering a VIP bottle service experience up to par with that of what a nightclub offers. “At a nightclub the whole experience is based off of and marketed around a VIP experience with bottle service.”
“This led to us to thinking about offering Evenko a turn key VIP service for their music festival Ilesoniq”. At this point Stephen Drysdale asked Bryan Shipley to be his business partner and together they brought Drysdale Group back to life.
Stephen Drysdale and Bryan Shipley
There was one piece of the puzzle missing and Stephen found it when he met Brahm Mauer from Brahm Mauer Bar Services during a Matinée Brunch at Suite 701. “Brahm asked me for a connection to Evenko and it clicked.” Stephen asked Brahm “what you do at weddings and galas with your bar services, can that be implemented into a VIP Section at a music festival?” His answer was absolutely.
In collaboration with Brahm Mauer Bar Services, the Drysdale Groupe submitted proposals to Escapade Music Festival and Ilesoniq. “This is when our company evolved. We went from promoting/booking shows to providing event producers a transparent and reliable third-party solution to VIP hosting. Through our independent model, we now offer an innovative turn-key VIP framework which increases revenue while fostering relationships amongst the producer’s highest clientele.”
Both Escapade and Ilesoniq we’re a success and Drysdale Groupe lived to see another day. Their turn key solution to promoting and managing the VIP section at Ilesoniq resulted in a significant increase in sales. “Standing in the VIP section at Ilesoniq and looking at everything was a very emotional moment for me… This was an idea we came up with at Matinée… And it’s actually working… Holy fuck this actually worked. Convincing people to give you a shot on a scale that big… It was such a great feeling that someone believed in us and that we delivered.”
VIP Section at Ilesoniq Summer 2015
The Business Model
Drysdale Groupe offers 3 different business models to event producers: flat management fee, profit sharing, or revenue sharing. Each has their own set of benefits and allows the client to pick what works best for their situation.
Taking the VIP experience out of the Music Festival
The end of summer 2015 was coming to a close and there was only one thing left on Stephen’s mind; creating their own brand of a party at a high-end venue. “I wanted to take the VIP section experience we created out of the music festival and implement it into an evening at an intimate venue. That’s how Grand Bazaar was born.”
Putting some of the most influential and successful minds in the city together along with Brahm Mauer (Brahm Mauer Bar Services), David Dayan (Groupe Dayan Property Management, Ryu Montreal, École Privé), Bryan Shipley & Stephen Drysdale (Drysdale Group), Thomas Vernis (Tomahawk Group, Tommy Cafe, Santos, Dolcetto & Co.) a new partnership was born creating the brand Grand Bazaar Montreal.
The event is an evening of food, drinks, and music that happens 3 times a year: New Years Eve, Halloween, and Grand Prix. Grand Bazaar NYE 2015 was held at a brand new venue called, Le Studio located in Montreal. Le Studio, was recently purchased by Brahm Mauer and David Dayan, two partners of Grand Bazaar. The event will always be the same format; classy dress code, beautiful crowd, open bar, and delicious high-end finger food.
There was no shortage of beautiful people in attendance, along with many of Montreal’s young entrepreneurs, a couple NHL hockey stars, and the Man Georges Saint-Pierre himself. The vibe has been spoken about as one of the best in Montreal this year.
The Montreal scene in 2016
“The scene in Montreal is getting more artistic. Look at what Alexandre Brosseau did with the decor at Sousbois, it’s absolutely amazing. Then look at what the team behind École Privé has been up to, not to mention the branding and experience they’ve created around their name. The industry in general is putting much more thought into the smaller details. The crowd is becoming more critical. It is making us push the boundaries and I’m proud to be a part of the movement“.
Looking into the future
In 2016 there are many great things to come for the Drysdale Groupe and their associates.
- Sugar Ball —> May 6th @ Windsor Station
- Grand Bazaar –> April 16th 2016 @ Science Center
- Grand Bazaar Grand Prix —> June 2016 @ Le Studio
- Escapade Music Festival —> June 25th & 26th @ Rideau Carlton Raceway
- Ilesoniq —> August 5th & 6th @ Parc Jean Drapeau
- Hit The Beach —> July 23rd 2016 @ Beachclub
- Grand Bazaar Halloween —> October 2016 @ Le Studio
- Kids For Kids —> November 2016 @ St-James Hotel
- Grand Bazaar NYE —> December 31st 2016 @ Le Studio
Cover photo credit: Monique Simone
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