Summertime ... and the listenin’ ain’t easy
Posted on Sunday, June 29, 2008
Summer surrounds us and so do the sounds of silence, at least at the Riverfest Amphitheatre in Little Rock now that Riverfest has receded into the past. But unlike in some recent summers, there is hope; there are actually dates on the calendar when music will be heard down by the Arkansas River.
At press time, at least five shows have made it past the talking stage and onto the calendar of Pollstar, the official Web site of the concert industry.
They are: July 11 — The Corey & Jay 10 Year Bash (identified on Pollstar as Edgefest II ) will feature guitar-heavy neo-metal acts Puddle of Mudd, Shinedown, Rev Theory, Saving Abel, Egypt Central and Drowning Pool July 17 — Skillet, an alternative Christian rock act July 25 — B. B. King and Willie Nelson Aug. 5 — A bill of modern pop rock with Paramore, Jack’s Mannequin, Paper Route and Phantom Planet Aug. 26 — Bob Dylan So what if there were no shows in June and none announced for September. Five is better than zero, right ?
There was a time when a dozen or so shows would be sprinkled throughout the summer. The man behind that era and those shows, Butch Stone — whose contract ran out in 2002 — would like to do it again.
“The city needs to find a way to get me back,” Stone muses. “Initially, we were the only game in town, but now they have to bid things out, and if they bid it out again, the venue will become too expensive to make it work.
“ I can’t go anywhere without someone walking up to me and asking, ‘What happened ?’ I know people want shows there, but the city can’t decide if they want a venue or a park. They’ve put up some buildings that take up a lot of parking space, but I’d love to do it again.” Not far from the amphitheater, Chris King, co-owner of Sticky Fingerz Chicken Shack and the Revolution Room, two of Little Rock’s major music destinations, contemplates what might be if he had his druthers.
“We’ve always had an idea to bring a festival situation to the neighborhood,” King says. “But financially, it’s a difficult thing to pull off, and right now, even more so with what’s going on in the economy and how that affects people’s disposable income. It’s a good facility down there. Of all the traveling festivals that have been around, the only one I recall coming here was the Vans Warped Tour, back maybe eight years ago.
“ There are a lot of superstar tours out there that are not coming to our market, and a lot of the reason is the economy. Coldplay, George Michael, Springsteen will be in St. Louis in August and then we could fantasize about Tom Petty, who’s never played here. There’s Lenny Kravitz, and at some point, R. E. M. will have to return. I’ve never seen the Allman Brothers Band and would like to. “ If there are any investors out there, someone who likes to gamble, here’s my pitch to give me a call.” THE POOR MARKET ? Erin Hurley, who handles the booking of acts at Juanita’s and The Village, is hoping to get more involved in bigger shows, too. He recently was involved in putting on a Shinedown show at the Bill Baker Amphitheater in Harrison, but will not be involved when Shinedown brings its tour to Little Rock on July 11.
“We’re partnering with the outfit that’s putting on the Paramore show here,” Hurley says, “and we’re going to do a series, Music in the Park, starting with the Skillet show July 17, where we’re aiming at doing five shows on Thursday nights, all with low ticket prices, about $ 10. Potentially, we might even have some free shows.
“ With people having to pay gas prices what they are now, we should be lowering ticket prices as an incentive for people to come out. We want to start these shows after 5 or 6 p. m., so fans can just come there right after work.” Tom Wood, the main man at radio station KMJX-FM, 106. 7, “TOM-FM” and a longtime observer of the central Arkansas concert scene, wonders whatever became of concerts in the 21 st century.
“We must have some kind of a reputation out there as not only a secondary market, but a poor secondary market,” Wood says. “We don’t get a third of what the city could support. If you think about it, Bon Jovi used to come here, and that band still records and tours. Then there are acts like Santana and Tom Petty, who’ve never been here. Steve Winwood is another.
“ I’m not any kind of an economist, but maybe we should look at going to unrealistically low ticket prices, say $ 35 or $ 45. Maybe there are other artists like Bob Dylan, who seems to like to come back here every few years. He’s got that spirit, where the art drives the work, still in him more than 40 years later. He doesn’t need the money, so he must like doing the work, and he keeps his tickets affordable.” Many artists, Wood notes, have opted to take the casino route in touring, playing where they can count on their rooms as part of the venue, with good paychecks and a plethora of places to play, thanks to a proliferation of casinos in many a state — with Arkansas, of course, an exception. DINOSAUR AMPHITHEATERS Over at Alltel Arena, General Manager Michael Marion has to deal with the cold, hard facts of the touring business. Even though he’s not in the amphitheater world, he keeps up with it and points out that amphitheaters may be going the way of the drive-in movie.
Live Nation Inc., the world’s biggest concert promoter, bought up amphitheaters a few years ago, and has already begun selling them off to those offering big bucks for prime real estate. Those already sold include the Starwood Amphitheater near Nashville, Tenn., and the Germain Amphitheater in Columbus, Ohio. Up for sale: amphitheaters near Chicago, San Antonio and Sacramento, Calif.
“The amphitheater business has probably seen its heyday,” Marion says. “It’s not as viable as it used to be. It’s a tough business that’s waning, and that doesn’t bode well for here, in terms of getting much going. You can look at Mud Island in Memphis, which used to have 13 or 14 concerts every summer and not much in recent years.
“ Memphis’ music scene has been affected by the spread of casinos around Tunica, which draws away a lot of that discretionary income. We’re doing well here at [Alltel ], so I’m not sure that the casino business has had that much effect on us. I’m more concerned about gas prices than casinos, which I’ve read are starting to feel the pinch themselves.” Fans continue to find their way to festivals that occur once a year, such as the recent Bonnaroo in rural Tennessee and the Austin City Limits Festival in Austin, Texas, in September. A new one, the Rothbury Festival, will be held July 3-6 at a ranch in Rothbury, Mich. There’s Rocklahoma, a festival for fans of 1980 s “hair metal” bands (Cinderella, Tesla, Warrant, Extreme ) July 10-13 in Pryor, Okla.
And for those Arkansans craving an actual homegrown festival experience — camping and all that — there’s the second annual Mulberry Mountain Harvest Music Festival, Sept. 11-13, north of Ozark. Leftover Salmon and Umphrey’s Mc-Gee will headline, and the other acts include The Wailers, The Avett Brothers, Perpetual Groove, Split Lip Rayfield, Hot Buttered Rum, New Monsoon, Big Smith, Great American Taxi, Cornmeal, Boom Box, Hackensaw Boys, Oakhurst, My Tea Kind, Blue Turtle Seduction, Elephant Revival Concept, Family Groove Company, Green Mountain Grass, Ben Miller Band, Dirtfoot, Speakeasy, Mountain of Venus, The Shotgun Brothers Band and 3 Penny Acre.
See www. mulberrymoun tainmusic. com for more information.
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