Danny Zelisko is looking to downsize. And that is exceedingly good news for avid collectors of music memorabilia and sports enthusiasts alike.
The famed Phoenix concert promoter, who celebrated his 50th year as a promoter in 2024, has a lifetime of memories for sale at his Danny Zelikso’s Closet store on eBay, opening his vault of keepsakes to fellow collectors and fans.
“I unwittingly put together this collection through the years,” Zelisko says. “As a kid, I collected baseball cards and I started getting them signed. I started going to baseball games and I kept all my ticket stubs. I started writing away to people for photos and I kept baseballs that I caught and got them signed.”
When he launched career as a concert promoter in the ‘70s, “one
thing led to another and I basically kept up that same kind of collecting mentality,” he says.
“I kept tickets from I don't know from how many shows. And at every show it seemed like I got something signed or got a T-shirt or a poster. I just kept collecting and collecting. In the mid-’90s I realized I didn't have enough room in my offices to hold on to everything. So I started collecting storage spaces. I got up to five storage spaces that were full.”
Danny Zelisko's Closet is 'a monumental collection' of memorabilia
You can see a small sampling at Danny Zelisko’s Closet on eBay, from an autographed poster of The Who Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 (signed in person in 1996 and listed at $700) to a Sade T-shirt from the early ‘90s that’s listed at $2,000.
“Apparently, that is a thing,” Zelisko explains with regard to the $2,000 Sade shirt. “We did our research, and that shirt is worth thousands of dollars. I don't know why.”
You'll also find a large assortment of signed photographs, ticket stubs, backstage passes, tour memorabilia and other promotional items. As Zelisko likes to say, it’s “a monumental collection.”
Danny Zelisko’s Closet is already up and running, with new items being added all the time.
He can’t post everything he has for sale, though. There’s just too much, he says. More than 2,000 items are for sale at the moment on his eBay store.
“We photographed over 6,000 T-shirts,” Zelisko says. “We have thousands of photographs signed by musicians, set lists, posters, unsigned and signed, just everything that could come from being a promoter. And I've been doing it my whole life.”
When he opened the store on eBay, it was mostly “obscure stuff that only people who are real fans would be looking for,” Zelisko says. “We've sold quite a bit of stuff that way. But we have a lot more stuff to add to what's available.”
Danny Zelisko calls it 'a good opportunity for me to revisit everything'
As to why he’s decided to part with these treasures he’s collected, Zelisko says a big part of the reason is that, at 71, it feels like time.
“As time goes on, I mean, good news, bad news,” the promoter says. “I'm older now. So that's the good news. The bad news is I don't get to stick around forever. And I figured it'd probably be a good time to try to start clawing back some of those storage facility fees that I've been paying for over 30 years.”
Those storage spaces have been costing Zelisko an average of $300 a month for each space.
“It's time to stop the madness,” Zelisko says. “It’s not so much about trying to make money from this stuff, rather to try to pay myself back for holding on to everything for so long. And I knew there would be a time when I would have to deal with this because I’ve got family now and I don't want them to have to deal with this stuff. Plus, it's a good opportunity for me to revisit everything.”
It was prior to the COVID-19 outbreak that Zelisko hired someone to start archiving the contents of those storage spaces.
“We're taking pictures of stuff,” Zelisko says. “We're trying to describe stuff. We're trying to place the time of when it was collected. I've kept all the contracts and the show files from all those years in the ’90s into the 2000s. I've got all the backup that somebody needs if they want it, or why I have certain things."
As to what the best items are, 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder'
It’s hard to say what the most desirable items in his closet are.
‘Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder,” Zelisko says.
“For instance, I have one poster signed by Nirvana when they played After the Gold Rush. I paid them $750, and it was a $5 show. I've got guitars signed by some of the greatest names on earth. There's posters from nearly every show, whether they're generic record company posters or ones I had made for the date that got signed. It really comes down to a matter of ‘What are you interested in?’ I can tell you what I got.”
He’s encouraging fans and collectors to reach out via email at info@dannyzeliskopresents.com.
“I think the best thing is for people to say, ‘What do you got for so and so?’” Zelisko says.
“Because we have most everything identified, but we don't have everything on a public site yet, which is what we're working on, so that people can see what I have. In the meantime, I'm gonna just ask people to write me at the e-mail address, and if they’ve got a question, ask me. That would be the quickest way, because I don't know what people want, other than the obvious. Everybody wants the biggest names. And there's a lot of that.”
But there’s a lot of memorabilia from smaller acts, as well.
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Prices are based on what the market will bear but haggle if you must
The prices are based on what similar items are going for on eBay and other collector sites.
“We want to remain on the low side so that anybody has a chance to get in and get something,” Zelisko says.
“But obviously, our goal is to try to get what these things are worth. And basically, they're worth whatever somebody's willing to pay. There's no other way to gauge it other than previous sales. There's a number of different auction houses and places where you can actually review what has traded hands over time. So we review it. We don't just guess at it and say, ‘Well, I want this much.’”
He’s open to entertaining offers if you feel the need to haggle.
“I want to be realistic because the fact is I don't want to be arguing with people over $10 or even $100,” he says.
“I'm hoping people understand that they can get stuff that was legitimately collected by somebody who gives a (expletive) about this stuff and the people it portrays as well. I want to make sure people get legitimate, real stuff.”
'Whatever I feel like I want to keep, I'm gonna keep.'
A portion of the proceeds from memorabilia he sells in September will benefit The Joy Bus, a nonprofit organization in Phoenix that delivers free, chef-prepared meals and friendly visits to cancer patients throughout the Valley.
‘I'm gonna use a number of different charities,” Zelisko says. “The first one I wanted to do something for was Joy Bus. Having been a cancer patient, I didn't need Joy Bus, fortunately for me, but there's a lot of people that do. And I think it's a great institution to support. So I want to see that they get something from what I'm selling, while I'm trying to liquidate all this stuff.”
He’s not liquidating everything. Where’s the fun in that?
“It’s like going through your closet,” he says. “You’ve got clothes that you wear all the time. You’ve got clothes that you keep and don't know why. I want to get rid of that stuff. It doesn't mean that they're not collectible pieces or good stuff.”
As for the stuff he doesn’t plan to sell?
“There's personal things I really, really like that I'm always gonna keep,” he says. “This isn't a fire sale by any means. I'm trying to lighten my load. If there's 100 things, I want to get rid of 95 of them. I'm not selling stuff from groups that I'm currently working with. It's only groups I used to work with, or people who have retired or passed or whatever. Whatever I feel like I want to keep, I'm gonna keep.”
Ed has covered pop music for The Republic since 2007, reviewing festivals and concerts, interviewing legends, covering the local scene and more. He did the same in Pittsburgh for more than a decade. Follow him on X and Instagram @edmasley and on Facebook as Ed Masley. Email him at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Famed Phoenix concert promoter is selling 50 years of music history
