Artie Kwitchoff has been one of Western New York’s most consequential concert promoters for more than three decades — a figure who helped launch the Goo Goo Dolls, preserved historic Buffalo venues, and kept independent live music alive in a region where corporate consolidation threatened to swallow the scene whole.
From Manager to Promoter
Kwitchoff’s entry into the music industry came through artist management, most notably guiding the early career of the Goo Goo Dolls as they rose from Buffalo’s punk underground to multi-platinum success. That experience gave him both industry connections and a deep understanding of what artists need from local markets. He worked with Funtime Presents, building a promotional operation that eventually merged into the Delsener-Slater and SFX corporate chain, then Clear Channel Entertainment (now Live Nation). Kwitchoff managed Clear Channel’s Buffalo office before leaving in late 2004 to revive Funtime Presents as an independent operation with partner Donny Kutzbach.
Saving Buffalo’s Venues
In 2005, Kwitchoff and Kutzbach purchased both the Town Ballroom on Main Street — a venue Kwitchoff had booked for two decades — and the Sphere Entertainment Complex, a multi-room facility housed in the former Town Casino that once hosted Nat King Cole and Bobby Darin. The acquisitions were more than business moves; they were acts of preservation, keeping historic venues in the hands of people who prioritized live music over private-event rentals.
Independent in a Corporate World
Funtime Presents has promoted major shows at venues ranging from intimate clubs to the Outer Harbor concert pavilion, bringing national touring acts to Western New York while maintaining relationships with the region’s grassroots music community. In an era when Live Nation and AEG dominate the concert industry, Kwitchoff and Kutzbach represent the independent spirit that built Buffalo’s scene in the first place — promoters who know every sound engineer, every bartender, and every local band worth watching.