Seattle’s ZooTunes combines live music conservation — and fan savings through Lyte

There are a lot of cool venues in Seattle. But how many have penguins working the door?

“People come for a concert and see them the minute when they walk in,” said Romy Brock, concert manager for the Woodland Park Zoo, a Lyte partner. “Pretty soon you hear them say stuff like, ‘hey, maybe we should go check out the rhinos next time?’”

The Woodland Park Zoo is a zoological garden nestled in Seattle’s Phinney Ridge neighborhood that is committed to saving the lives of animals all over the world. For the last 35 years, the zoo has supported its conservation efforts through concerts that both raise money for animal care and introduce new patrons to the zoo.

Called ZooTunes, the summer concert series has sold-out shows from big artists like the Indigo Girls, Ziggy Marley, the Violent Femmes, X, The Roots, Adam Ant, The B-52s, The Fixx and more. The venue’s capacity is about 3,800.

“People get to hear their favorite bands in a great setting,” Brock said. “They say, ‘I can’t even remember the last time I was at the zoo.’ The bottom line is, we do these concerts to bring people in who might not otherwise come.”

Since the Woodland Park Zoo became a Lyte partner last year, ZooTunes has watched its fan experience become even better. Brock said that with a 90 percent sellout rate — and an anticipated six sold-out shows this year alone — Lyte’s fan-to-fan ticket exchange has protected fans — and the venue — from secondary market efforts.

The Lyte partnership has helped zoo patrons avoid incidents like one involving an Indigo Girls concert that drew fans who had unknowingly purchased fake tickets on Craigslist for an outrageous price.

ZooTunes honored the fraudulent tickets so the fans could see the show, but Brock called the experience “awful” for them regardless.

“Now we tell everyone who wants a sold-out ticket to please use Lyte,” she said. “Then they know their tickets are verified, they have gone through Ticketfly and that they are valid. We are all thankful to Lyte.”

Each ZooTunes show brings its own magic. Washington native Brandi Carlile was joined on stage by Dave Matthews in 2011 to wow fans with an impromptu performance.

A downpour threatened to stop fans from attending a Marley concert in June, but “people still showed up,” Brock said. “There was a time when I thought, ‘It cannot rain any harder. But fans are fans.”

The rest of the year is looking great for ZooTunes. A huge show with Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue’s already is sold out for Sept. 9. The Psychedelic Furs and X are scheduled for July 29. Private events and birthday parties round out the zoo’s concert calendar.

“What better than to get together in a big meadow?” Brock said. “We’ve got such a great vibe and great national touring acts performing to support the zoo.”

Check out the ZooTunes lineup at zoo.org/zootunes. Want to learn more about Lyte? Email us at press@lyte.com