Venues Today March 2011 by VenuesNow

MARCH 2011

VOLUME 10 NUMBER 3

WWW.VENUESTODAY.COM

THE NEWS BEHIND THE HEADLINES : SPORTS : MUSIC : FAMILY SHOWS : CONVENTIONS : FAIRS

Rebirth in the Bay Area California & Texas NBA All-Stars Bonnaroo Turns 10

CONTENTS

PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Linda Deckard linda@venuestoday.com SENIOR WRITER/ASSIGNMENT EDITOR Dave Brooks dave@venuestoday.com

12 >> New Greensboro (N.C.) Amph. opeing this summer

10 >> Farmers Field, Los Angeles

MARKETING/SALES ASSOCIATE Samantha Le samantha@venuestoday.com ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER Lisa Brink lisa@designsmorgasbord.com DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS: RESOURCE GUIDES Rob Ocampo rob@venuestoday.com RESOURCE GUIDES COORDINATOR Nazarene Kahn resourceguides@venuestoday.com

58 >> Super Bowl delight by Legends Hospitality

41 >> Leon Russell and Elton John

NEWS 6

Huntington Beach, Calif., Feb. 6-10

WILL THE REAL MR. SUNSHINE PLEASE

my, California continues to push the industry forward

GOLDEN STATE >> Despite a struggling econo-

STAND UP? >> Pitting the television show

against the real Mr. Sunshine, Ernie Hahn

42 Q&A >> Rick Merrill, GM for Gibson Amphitheatre

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ >> Can Tim Leiweke

at Universal CityWalk, Universal City

46 OAKTOWN GETS DOWN >> The East Bay

A COMPLEX SITUATION >> Greensboro

comes back to life with ambitious downtown project

seeks a prominent place in Olympic and

50 L.A. RISING >> Q&A with Nick Masters, Chairman

collegiate competition rotation

of Live Nation Southern California

LONE STAR STAMINA >> Texas holds strong

2011 NBA ALL-STAR GAME >> Staples Center,

Los Angeles, Feb. 20, 2011

MARKETING

20 KEEP AUSTIN WIRED >> ACL Live at the Moody

56 CODE WORD: MARKETING >> QR Codes combine the efficiency of UPC codes with the

24 ANIMAL HOUSES >> Livestock shows and rodeos

universalism of smart phones mean multiple move ins and outs of the hoof and claw kind

CONCESSIONS

DALLAS DINNER DATE >> New restaurant con-

cepts make Dallas a must-play for food lovers

58 DOUBLE DAY OF EATING >> Legends Hospitality posts a record per cap despite weather

BOOKINGS 32

hurdles at Super Bowl XLV

DESTINATION: PLANET EARTH >> Paul Van

D E PA R T M E N T S

Dyk reigns as world’s Biggest DJ

34 MARCH 2011 HOT TICKETS 36 MARCH 2011 TOP STOPS 38

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

TALKING POINTS

A DECADE LATER… >> Bonnaroo heads into

10th year with high hopes

63 IN HIS OWN WORDS >> Adam Friedman,

MANAGEMENT

former CEO for Nederlander Entertainment

> > O N T H E COV E R < < Senior Writer Dave Brooks traveled up to Oakland to meet Another Planet Entertainment President Gregg Perloff and visit his latest creation, the Fox Theater (VT Photo).

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Vanessa Bentley vanessa@venuestoday.com COPY EDITOR Pauline Davis Pauline@venuestoday.com CONTRIBUTORS Liz Boardman Jessica Boudevin Kristen Blush Linda Domingo Gil Kaufman Lacey Lampe Pamela Sherborne Lisa White

54 NEDERLANDER EFFECT >> Boutique promoter brings vibrancy back to San Jose and San Diego

2010 TEXAS TOP STOPS

Theater built for recording, TV and live events

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Josh Huckabee (714) 378-5400 josh@venuestoday.com

2010 CALIFORNIA TOP STOPS

deliver football to Figueroa Avenue?

through challenging times

CALIFORNIA SPOTLIGHT

STADIUM MANAGERS CONFERENCE >>

TEXAS SPOTLIGHT 14

32 >> DJ Paul Van Dyk

ACCOUNTING MANAGER April Armbrust april@venuestoday.com

ADVERTISING SALES SOUTHEASTERN U.S. Jim McNeil (207) 699-3343 jim@venuestoday.com NORTHEAST, MIDWEST AND WESTERN U.S., INTERNATIONAL Rich DiGiacomo (310) 429-3678 rich@venuestoday.com FAIRS & FESTIVALS, TEXAS Josh Huckabee (714) 378-5400, ext. 21 josh@venuestoday.com AUSTRALASIA John Benett, +61 418 734 303 john@venuestoday.com MARKETING & ADVERTISING SALES Samantha Le, (714) 378-5400 samantha@venuestoday.com EDITORIAL OFFICE P.O. Box 2540 Huntington Beach, CA 92647-2540 18350 Mt. Langley, #201 Fountain Valley, CA 92708 Phone: (714) 378-5400 Fax: (714) 378-0040 E-mail: info@venuestoday.com SUBSCRIPTIONS (714) 378-5400, Ext. 21 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATE: $200 (U.S.) Printed in the United States ©All materials copyrighted Venues Today 2011 ISSN 1547-4135

FROM THE EDITOR

emember the Olympic Festivals? Hill Carrow, Sports & Properties Inc., Cary, N.C., certainly does. And he’d like to see the event revived. Carrow, who just completed directing the 2011 U.S Figure Skating Championships at the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum Complex, produced the Olympic Festival in 1987 in and around Raleigh, N.C. The beauty of the event was that it brought international sports tourism to town and it used every venue available, primarily the university venues in Raleigh and the Research Triangle corridor, but also Greensboro. There was no RBC Center at the time and they needed ice. It featured 34 sports in the late 80s and it got bigger from there. Carrow recalls that that was the problem — it got bigger and, finally, there was no one in the Olympics organization available to ride herd on it and they gave it up. “Talk to anyone in the Olympic sports world and they’ll have a plan on how to bring it back,” Carrow said. He goes so far as to predict in the next few years there will be a revived version of the Olympic Festival, perhaps more modest, but definitely just as international. It was particularly sad that the Olympic Festival folded just when the sports tourism industry was blossoming, Carrow told me. He is one of the founders of the National Association of Sports Commissions and that group now has 500 members and will be meeting in Greensboro in April. Carrow sees a lot of potential in amateur and collegiate sports for second tier markets, something Greensboro is industriously developing. Carrow would attribute the success of skating there to the grassroots approach to marketing and to the aggressive showcasing on the part of the coliseum staff. They went so far as to move the hockey dashers into the Special Events Center and simulate what the staging would look like when they put a practice ice rink in the venue. However, Carrow does not really see a future for rotation of Olympic events, with four or six cities in a repeating cycle, something Greensboro’s Matt Brown would relish (see story page 12 ). And while the NCAA Final Four men’s basketball tournament seems destined to play well-maintained “domed cities” in major markets that can accommodate mega-crowds, there is still plenty of amateur and collegiate sports product out there that is looking to second tier cities for fresh markets and new fans. Then the bidding comes down to added value and sports commissions and, most of all, “you’re only as good as your venue,” Carrow said. Greensboro has added an ACC Hall of Champions which helps keep the Atlantic Coast Conference thinking about that site. The obvious opportunity for venue managers in second-tier cities therefore is to be a “more frequent host” — sort of the hinterlands answer to Las Vegas residencies. God grant you many years to book multiples.

LINDA DECKARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF linda@venuestoday.com

Allen Corbett, AEG, and Roger Newton,

Kirk and John Rinehart of Maloof Sports

Carol Roberts-Spence talks future book-

Harvey Lister, AEG Ogden, flew in from

Bi-Lo Center, Greenville, S.C., join the

and Entertainment talk about the future

ings for the under-construction Wagner

Australia for the AEG Expo, where he met

hordes in the lobby of the J.W. Marriott

of the Sacramento Kings with Mike

Noel Performing Arts Center at the

up with Bob Newman, AEG Facilities

during Pollstar Live in Los Angeles. Both

McGee.

University of Texas, Midland. with Bob

COO. AEG Expo was held just prior to

said they will be attending our own SEVT in November in Columbia, S.C.

Birk, Paradise Artists.

Pollstar Live on the L.A. Live campus. (VT Photos)

MARCH 2011 VENUES TODAY 3

FRONT ROW

TALKING POINTS

TIM RYAN PRESIDENT/COO HONDA CENTER AND ANAHEIM (CALIF.) DUCKS UNIVERSITY: Cal State Long Beach HOW THE BUSINESS HAS EVOLVED: I was having dinner with Fred Rosen the other day and we determined that the business hasn’t changed as

DELMOS WADE

much as some people think. You’ve still got fans,

MUSICIAN

athletes, entertainers, agents and promoters.

RICK MCLAUGHLIN GENERAL MANAGER

CURRENT LOCATION: Long Beach, Calif.

You’re still trying to entertain fans and show

CEDAR PARK (TEXAS) CENTER UNIVERSITY: St. Francis University in Loretto, Pa.

FIRST STAR MOMENT: I played in a boy band as a

them a good time. What’s different is that the

youngster, but I didn’t think of myself as a real per-

experience has gotten so much better with the

FIRST JOB IN THE INDUSTRY: I started as the

former until I played in front of people I knew. For

premium side of the business, whether it’s food

assistant controller of the Pittsburgh Civic Arena.

me, that was a dance at my junior high school.

or suites.

MENTORS: There are two people that I call on a lot.

GROWING UP IN RAP: When I was in hip-hop mode,

MOST MEMORABLE EVENT: That’s always a tough

One is Brad Mayne from the American Airlines

if you stepped on stage and weren’t ready, you got

question, but having the fortune to be on the ice in

Center in Dallas. I was on the committee that hired

eaten alive. We used to play a club called The Good

2007 at the moment we won the Stanley Cup was

Brad when I was with the Hicks Group. And Richard

Life in L.A. and, if you were bad, the crowd would

one of the few times I would use the word ‘surreal.’

Andersen (now at Northlands, Edmonton). I met

chant “pass the mic” and then separate into two

MENTORS: It’s been a real pleasure to work with

him when he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

sides, creating a path to the door.

our owners Henry and Susan Samueli, but I would

MOST MEMORABLE EVENT EVER ATTENDED: The

UPCOMING GIGS: I’m playing a couple showcases

never point to one mentor as getting me into the

1999 Stanley Cup final game in Buffalo, N.Y., when

at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, this year

business. I’ve been grateful to be around a lot of

Dallas won the cup in Game 6 after triple overtime.

with Ariano and LD. They’re real up and comers

driven people. Individuals I come in contact with

I’m fortunate enough to have my name on the

and we’re going to all play a couple sets together.

are still mentoring me and I also hope that I can

Stanley Cup. I was the executive VP and CFO for the

MENTORS: I started to get a taste of instrumentalism

mentor people along the way — that’s what keeps

team at the time.

when I met Joe Sample. He’s a pianist and I did sound

the fire lit.

DREAM CONCERT: U2 – no hesitation. I would love

for him at the Newport Beach (Calif.) Jazz Festival.

WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING IF YOU WEREN’T IN

to have them any time.

He’s a member of the Jazz Crusaders. Then I met a

THE BUSINESS: I would love to be playing golf on

FAVORITE PART OF MY JOB: The challenge of man-

producer named Greyboy and, instead of swagger, he

the Champions Tour. I enjoy fly fishing, too. They’re

aging people, staff, fans and the event itself. The

was searching for music that had soul and vibe.

both the antithesis of this business in that they’re

more balls I have in the air, the better.

HOBBIES: I love soccer and I’m a huge Manchester

generally quiet, deeply personal experiences.

STARSTRUCK MOMENT: We had Michael Jackson

United fan. I’m also a big reader and will devour

HOBBIES: A lot of people think of me as someone

in Pittsburgh and he did an unbelievable show. I

anything by Kurt Vonnegut.

who loves the social spotlight and, while that is

was really blown away by the performance. I’ve

DREAM SHOW: Opening for Stevie Wonder at the Red

great, I truly love my time alone with my wife,

seen McCartney and the Rolling Stones and both

Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colo.

Michelle, and our two dogs.

were great performances.

delmoswade.wordpress.com

(714) 704-2432

(512) 600-5188

4 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

SNAP SHOT 3

STADIUM MANAGERS ASSOCIATION Huntington Beach, Calif., Feb. 6-10, 2011 p h o t o s b y V E N U E S T O DAY 5

(Captions read from left to right unless

4 >> A group of 14 students attended

Jerry Anderson with Populous and Milt

Red Bull Arena, to a client dinner.

otherwise noted.)

this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s SMA and had the opportunity

Ahlerich, VP, security, NFL.

9 >> Nicholas Langella and Brian McMurthy

1 >> Greg Clarke from Niagara Dispensing to interact with stadium professionals.

7 >> Sumeet Kishnani, project manager

from the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis

Technologies is seen here with Shaun Oliver

Pictured here (right) is student Peter

for Langen Engineering and Environmental

take in the warm California weather.

from Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.

Charshafian from the University of New

Services is seen here with Jeff Becker of

10 >> Matt Walker, a professor at the

2 >> Chris Bigelow of The Bigelow

Haven in Saddle River, N.J. with Michael

Amano McGann Revenue Control Systems, University of Florida and a frequent

Companies, Peter Sullivan with the

Zanca from the Billie Jean King National

Dr. Brian Crow with Slippery Rock Univ.,

speaker at Sport, Entertainment and

University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale;

Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.

Bill Squires from New York Giants/New

Venues Tomorrow talks up the Columbia,

Tom Sadler, president and CEO of the

5 >> SMA Advisor and Co-Founder Rick

Meadowlands Stadium in E. Rutherford,

S.C., conference to student Chelsea

Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority,

Nafe of Tropicana Field in Tampa, Fla.,

N.J., and Todd Nevill, Central Parking

McCauley from the University of New

and Troy Holberg from Hunt Construction.

enjoys a laugh and a smile with keynote

System.

Haven in Saddle River, N.J.

3 >> Cory Meredith from StaffPro and

speaker and famed agent Ron Shapiro.

8 >> Barry Freilicher, VP-business

11 >> Delaware North Sportservice

his wife, Katherine, are joined by longtime 6 >> Speakers included Andrea Schultz

development, Sportservice, welcomes

sponsored the closing night Gala.

friend Tony Pereira of the Seattle Mariners.

longtime friend Steve Urbanowycz, GM,

Pictured are Jerry Freed and Rick Abramson.

6 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

from the Department of Homeland Security,

Put It On At The Point 4,400-Seat Arena 250' x 125' Arena Floor Hospitality Bar Overlooking Arena

80,000 sq. ft. Exhibit Space 20,000 sq. ft. Meeting & Pre Function Space 1,200 Climate Controlled Stalls Inside & Outside Practice Arenas

ARENA Call 1-866-796-7111 or Visit SouthPointCasino.com 9777 Las Vegas Blvd. So. Las Vegas, Nevada 89183

VENUE NEWS

Will the Real Mr. Sunshine Please Stand Up?

fter months of anticipation, the venue world was finally brought to the small screen with the premier of “Mr. Sunshine,” a TV comedy based on the life of a 40-year-old arena manager in San Diego. The show’s Feb. 9 premier was seen by 10.6 million people and earned warm reviews from critics like Robert Lloyd of the L.A. Times, who called the show “promising.” Of course, Venues Today is more interested in the industry’s reaction to the show, including the thoughts of the real Mr. Sunshine, Ernie Hahn, a 43-year-old venue manager at what was formerly known as the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Valley View Casino Center). A surfer by day, and a GM by night, Hahn seems eerily similar to his fictional counterpart — but how much of it is true?

b y DAV E B R O O K S

MATTHEW PERRY CO-CREATOR MR. SUNSHINE LOS ANGELES 41 YEARS OLD

ERNIE HAHN GENERAL MANAGER VALLEY VIEW CASINO CENTER SAN DIEGO 43 YEARS OLD

Mr. Sunshine Versus The Real Mr. Sunshine CHARACTERS

BEN

ERNIE HAHN

TITLE

Director of Operations for the Sunshine Center in San Diego

GM for the Valley View Casino Center (formerly San Diego Sports Arena)

DEALING WITH ICE THAT WON’T MELT

Hires clowns with fire axes to hack up the ice in a last ditch effort to clear the floor before the circus moves in.

“Just turn the chillers off and the ice will melt,” Hahn said. “Why would you allow clowns to go on the ice with axes? Were they revolting? Did they not get their per diems?”

HOSTING THE CIRCUS

The circus comes to town and an elephant breaks out of its cage and terrorizes building staff, until Ben can coax it back to captivity with peanuts.

“Occasionally our chairs or tables will disappear when the circus comes to town, but I would never let an elephant escape,” Hahn said.

NEGOTIATING WITH SUPERSTARS

In an attempt to impress a pretty girl, Ben tells his talent buyer, “You tell Bruce Springsteen that I’m the Boss,” and then quickly backtracks when she leaves, whispering, “Don’t tell him that. Tell him he gets whatever he wants.”

“If Springsteen went on tour, there would be 80 to 100 venues that would love to have him,” Hahn said. “It’s going to be tight for the building and the promoter because the act dictates what they need.”

MANAGING STAFF

Ben can’t remember the name of his director of Maintenance (or any of his employees) and makes a rule that his operation staff can only respond “yes” to his questions. His only meaningful relationship is with Alice, his director of Marketing, although he never lets it leave the “friends with benefits” stage.

“In an arena, you need to know who’s working for you. This is a relationship business,” Hahn said. “To be a GM, you have to manage the building, manage the shows and manage the staff. You’ve got to know who you’re working with so if there are problems, you can get to the bottom of it.”

THE FUTURE

ABC has taped 13 episodes of the show and put it in a strong time slot, following “Modern Family” on Wednesday nights at 9:30 p.m./8:30 p.m. Central.

“We’re all cheering for it,” Hahn said. “If it’s successful, I hope they reach out to San Diego to learn more about the nuances of the business.”

8 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

VENUE NEWS

Rendering for the new Farmers Field, Los Angeles, and the rest of the L.A. Live destination.

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ Can Tim Leiweke deliver football to Figueroa Avenue? b y DAV E B R O O K S

ou certainly can’t accuse him of being timid. AEG CEO Tim Leiweke is undertaking his most ambitious project yet, attempting to bring the National Football League back to Los Angeles after a 16-year drought. His plan got a major boost in early February when he announced a $700-million naming rights deal with Farmers Insurance to name the facility Farmers Field. But to build a world-class stadium and attract a team to Los Angeles, Leiweke is going to have to overcome a number of hurdles. 10 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

STEP 1: DEAL WITH DOWNTOWN AND JERRY BROWN On Feb. 9, the L.A. City Council unanimously agreed to create a special panel of city officials to begin negotiations with AEG. “It is this ad hoc committee that will be the one giving direction to negotiators and resolving the deal issues,” Chief Legislative Analyst Gerry Miller said at the meeting. Leiweke said his company is willing to pay $250,000 for an independent analysis of the project. Leiweke might also ask for exemptions to state environmental laws that allow local residents to use public hearings to hold up big

development projects in court. In 2009, the legislature granted that immunity to Ed Roski, a rival Southern California developer with a plan to bring an NFL team to the nearby City of Industry. Newly-elected Governor Jerry Brown, who received campaign contributions from Leiweke, would have to sign off on the deal. STEP 2: REBUILD WEST HALL AEG wants to knock down the L.A. Convention Center’s 980,000-sq.-ft. West Hall to make room for the stadium. AEG has offered to build a new, bigger 1.7 million-sq.-ft. hall just up Pico Boulevard, and add 4,000 parking spaces.

VENUE NEWS On Feb. 16, Leiweke submitted his formal proposal, asking the city to issue $350 million in bonds which AEG will repay through a three-to-five-percent ticket surcharge at the stadium. Leiweke offered a preview of the plan during the press conference for the Farmers Insurance naming rights deal. “If there is ever a shortfall — and there will be on an annual basis, we predict—when there’s a shortfall, each and every year, on paying that debt service, we will step up and we will pay the shortfall until the bonds are paid off,” Leiweke said. “We will never ask for a dollar from the general fund or from the taxpayers. I promise.”

and agent Casey Wasserman buying into the venture. AEG has bought minority shares in the San Diego Chargers, which has lobbied for years to replace the aging Qualcomm Stadium. Also on the short list are the Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, St. Louis Rams, Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the L.A. proposal during a press conference at the Super Bowl. He pointed out

that relocation hinged on the contributions the team would be required to make to pay the debt service on the stadium. “The financing of a project in L.A. is still a very difficult proposition. There are some great opportunities, but we have to recognize that cost is associated with that and address it in a way that incentivizes everyone to make those kind of investments.” Interviewed for this story: Tim Leiweke, (213) 742-7155; Tony Tavares, (775) 853-4712

STEP 3: SEE THE LEAGUE LOCK BACK IN Negotiations to move a team to Los Angeles can’t really start until after the NFL owners and the National Football League Players Association reach a deal. Their current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires on March 3 and without a deal in place, it’s unlikely any owners will entertain relocation. “If both sides are still this far apart, it creates a level of uncertainty which is not conducive to either the buyer or the seller,” said sports consultant Tony Tavares, now with the Dallas Stars, who helped usher in the Anaheim Ducks hockey expansion franchise, and later reconstituted the Montreal Expos baseball team into the Washington Nationals. While the league is certainly well capitalized to get through a lockout, the full financial implications of such an event are hard to predict. It wouldn’t be uncommon for a distressed franchise to drop in value following a prolonged labor dispute, Tavares said. “A labor agreement needs to be reached before the details of a relocation can be hammered out,” he said. STEP. 4: ATTRACT A TEAM Since the Raiders left the city in 1995, many had tried, and failed, to bring a team to Los Angeles. Billionaire Ed Roski, who partnered with AEG to build the Staples Center, has a competing plan to bring a team to the City of Industry. But with Leiweke’s recent announcement of his record naming rights deal, all of the momentum seems to be behind AEG’s downtown plan, with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa throwing in his political support, and superstar Magic Johnson MARCH 2011 VENUES TODAY 11

VENUE NEWS

A COMPLEX SITUATION Greensboro seeks a prominent place in Olympic and collegiate competition rotation b y L I N DA D E C K A R D

y summer, $22 million worth of improvements will be complete at the Greensboro (N.C.) Coliseum Complex, making it an even more versatile sports, entertainment and meetings campus. The first showcase event for the renovation and expansion completed so far was the 2011 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships Jan. 22-30, which drew 110,787 attendance in nine days. The $2.2 million in ticket sales was the third highest outside of two events in Spokane, Wash., in 2010 and 2006, and pushed Greensboro into the profit side for this event, said Matt Brown, managing director of the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. They were willing to lose money in exchange for the 11 hours of TV coverage, but were certainly happier not to. Skating’s 2011 championships marked its first experience with housing everything under one roof. The 85 X 200-ft. practice rink was 30 feet from the dressing room and housed in Greensboro’s Special Events Center. It drew 25,000 spectators. “Adjoining that, we had another 30 X 30 rink set up for FanFest where the awards ceremonies for some of the novice and junior winners were made,” Brown said, listing other activities at FanFest as demonstrations, TV and media shows, skater autographs, vendors and a cafeteria. “There was a lot of movement and decorations; it had the feel of a major national championship, even when there wasn’t something in the arena,” Brown said. FanFest drew 50,805 attendees. 12 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

Having all skating events in one compact place was a crucial part of the bid for the championships submitted by producer Hill Carrow, Sports & Properties Inc., and when it came down to Greensboro or the $300 million, AEG-backed Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., Brown firmly believes having the practice rink on site, room for a FanFest and the ability to curtain down to 9,300 and look good on TV, tipped the scales. “It was pretty dramatic when they selected us,” he said of his small Southern city. The skating championships also drew potential future customers, including the U.S. Gymnastics Association, which sent representatives to witness the effect of hosting all aspects of a competition event under one roof. Greensboro is bidding on gymnastics for 2013. Brown said he also booked visits from Roger Dixon, Qwest Center Omaha (Neb.), who is interested in bidding for the 2013 skating championships and is one of the few in the country that has a venue that mirrors the Greensboro venues in complexity. “I think they’ll be the leading contender,” Brown predicted. For future skating competitions, Brown went so far as to “predict we’ll be on a fouryear or a six-year cycle. The demand year leading up to the Olympics is a premium year. We felt we achieved and exceeded every expectation.” His goal is to turn the bidding into a rotation. “I think the number of cities willing to take on this kind of work and plan for it and consume that time, 10 15-hour days in a row, using 400 volunteers and a statewide advertis-

ing campaign…I question how many cities are willing to take that on. I think they feel second tier cities are their niche rather than getting lost in major cities because of pro sports. And I think they like the hospitality in Spokane and Greensboro. Our size is the right size,” Brown declared. The next “test” of his expanded venue will be the March 10-13 Atlantic Coast Conference men’s and March 3-6 women’s basketball tournaments, which will mark the debut of another new aspect of the Greensboro Complex, the ACC Hall of Champions museum. Greensboro has undertaken six construction projects, all of which “create more initiative to have us fight through the economy issues and be on the forefront of hosting events and generating more revenue,” Brown said. They include: • Schiffman’s Diamond Club, open for U.S. Figure Skating and to be utilized during the ACC tournaments, is a 300-member exclusive club from which fans can now walk out onto a 350-sq.-ft. terrace and see the arena floor below. The revitalization cost of $234,000 was 100 percent covered by sponsorships. • A 12,500-sq.-ft. reception room, The Terrace, is on three different levels to create an amphitheater viewing-style room. “We were able to raise $1.6 million through a contribution from Ovations Food Services and two local family-owned companies which provided us with the HVAC system and did all the prep work for the plumbing,” Brown said. That venue will open for the ACC tournament. It is located between the colise-

VENUE NEWS

The Greensboro complex includes, from far left, 7,600-seat amphitheater below future expansion site and shed back of house; Greensboro Aquatic Center; Special Events Center and ACC Hall of Fame; and Greensboro Coliseum, The Terrace pre-function room and War Memorial Auditorium. Bottom center is the 30,000-sq.-ft. pavilion.

um and the auditorium, and serves as prefunction space for both. • A 7,600-seat amphitheater built on a portion of the adjoining property, a former CocaCola/Canada Dry bottling plant, the coliseum bought two years ago. “We expect to be quite successful with 20 shows a year, MayOctober, and we’re getting quite positive response from national promoters about that venue,” Brown said. It will open the first weekend in May. The $700,000 cost is covered by a combination of sponsor money and city contributions. • The 8,000-sq.-ft. ACC Hall of Champions is a tribute to the ACC history of student athletes in all sports. It opens March 2 in time for the women’s ACC tournament. “We spent $2.3 million from the state of North Carolina to build that museum — a straight appropriation because the ACC is headquartered here,” Brown said. Greensboro has the women’s tournament through 2015 and the men’s tournament returns from 2013-2015. Admission to the museum will be $7, with liberal $2 discounts for numerous groups. Income from admissions will be spent 100 percent on improvements, Brown said. The venue will be run by volunteer docents. He envisions attracting local school group tours. “Our next phase is on physical wellness, obesity, and athletic education components.” • The $19 million, state-of-the-art Greensboro Aquatic Center. It is rated a fast pool and is

probably the best facility on the East Coast, Brown said. It will host the 2012 U.S. Masters National Championship, an April event. “We defeated Indianapolis, which is the premier aquatic center in the country. We didn’t even have water in our pool yet and we won that bid,” Brown said. The center was funded with a $12 million bond referendum and the balance from the hotel/motel taxes. It opens the end of July. Of all the improvements, the Aquatic Center will have the biggest impact on bookings, Brown said. The Greensboro Coliseum Complex is hosting 850 event days a year, with 1.3 million-1.5 million attendance, Brown said. He expects attendance to easily hit 1.7 million with addition of the Aquatic Center. The overall goal is to generate hotel room nights and economic impact for the community, he said, adding that the Aquatic Center will run at an operating deficit, certainly, but by attaching it to the existing complex, he is able to cut that loss by at least $500,000. “It will become a model for the future,” he predicted. “We’re not hiring 20 people. We’re going to hire two people and absorb the rest in our existing staffing. You can’t afford it as a standalone.” Brown said Greensboro is not done expanding either. He still has portions of the Canada Dry property to develop and, if he had his wish, the next addition would be a House of Blues-type entertainment venue. “There is a 17,500-sq.-ft. venue with the old steel trusses

that has a lot of character. I think it could be converted, but that’s quite awhile down the road; plus, we’d need a partner.” He also has a space in mind for a highroof stadium, like the Fargo Dome, for university football. The University of Greensboro is growing and will eventually border the coliseum property. They’ve talked about some mixed-use development with the university. It’s all spelled out in a master plan done by Rosser International 10 years ago. Since then, they’ve renovated the arena twice and will continue to enhance it with complementary development. “This community will never be able to replace a 23,000-seat arena,” Brown said. Enhancement is the preferred plan. As to retail and restaurants, that won’t be happening on the coliseum’s 55 acres, but he hopes to be a catalyst to that type of development across the street. “We’d prefer it be done privately and in close conjunction with the sites we have. We don’t have the tools, methodology or funding source to do that ourselves,” Brown said. They do, however, own and operate their own fair, the Central Carolina Fair, and their own monthly flea market. “We want to push the envelope to generate economic activity in our community, local, national, regional,” Brown said. “We go after them all.”

Interviewed for this story: Matt Brown, (336) 373-7406

MARCH 2011 VENUES TODAY 13

VT SPOTLIGHT

LONE STAR STAMINA Texas holds strong through challenging times b y J E S S I C A B O U D E V I N & DAV E B R O O K S

du Soleil’s Alegria. Venues Today interviewed venue managers from the highest grossing facilities to learn how they stayed afloat in challenging times.

exas wasn’t able to escape the economic woes that hit much of the U.S. during 2010, yet, despite the challenging environment, Texas venues held their own by tapping into new markets, differentiating their venues and booking strong shows, like Cirque

Mark Miller SMG-Reliant Park, Houston What was your most memorable event of 2010?

TOPSTOPS

TEXAS•2010

Based on concert and event grosses from Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2010, as reported to Venues Today. VENUE, LOCATION

NO. OF SEATS

TOTAL GROSS

ATTENDANCE SHOWS

> 15,000 AND MORE CAPACITY 1. Reliant Stadium at Reliant Park, Houston

72,744

$31,900,000

2,144,077

2. American Airlines Center, Dallas

20,021

$25,344,163

447,128

3. Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Houston

16,550

$16,406,913

369,105

4. AT&T Center, San Antonio

18,000

$11,327,148

238,321

5. Toyota Center, Houston

19,000

$8,291,149

110,566

The 2010 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship South Regional. At that time, we were coming off of a record breaking run of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo with their 2.2 million in attendance. We then went right into the South Regional where we had the second highest total in attendance for any preliminary round session in tournament history. Ultimately, was 2010 a good year or bad year for business? It was a good year. Feld now has over 50 performances a year here and their motor sports shows always do really well in our market, as well as the Disney on Ice performances and the expanded run of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from two to three weeks.

> 10,001-15,000 CAPACITY 1. UTEP Don Haskins Center, El Paso

11,767

$1,712,300

29,752

2. Berry Center, Houston

11,000

$1,063,139

16,442

3. United Spirit Arena, Lubbock

15,000

$850,948

13,029

4. El Paso (Texas) County Coliseum

11,000

$216,111

3,311

5. Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio

11,700

$164,570

2,169

1. Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie

6,333

$8,450,172

158,709

2. State Farm Arena, Hidalgo

7,500

$4,242,588

52,681

3. Cedar Park Events Center

8,500

$1,607,489

24,883

4. Dr Pepper Ballpark, Frisco

10,000

$1,466,680

20,236

5. AmericanBank Center, Corpus Christi

10,000

$792,114

15,081

1. Verizon Wireless Theater, Houston

3,000

$1,692,704

43,150

2. Palladium Ballroom, Dallas

3,400

$1,323,211

42,081

3. House of Blues, Houston

1,529

$987,004

30,849

4. Bass Concert Hall, Austin

2,847

$911,756

10,779

5. House of Blues, Dallas

1,625

$776,288

30,415

> 5,001-10,000 CAPACITY

> 5,000 AND FEWER CAPACITY

Compiled by Josh Huckabee, HotTickets@venuestoday.com

14 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

What are your expectations for 2011? I feel confident about 2011, though reports have shown that Houston has been a little later in feeling the negative effects of the economy. Sales have been strong for this first quarter and it helps that we host this year’s NCAA Championship Final Four. Contact: (832) 667-1791

Dave Brown American Airlines Center, Dallas What was your most memorable event of 2010? 2010 was a terrific year with a number of soldout shows at the American Airlines Center. We hosted the Eagles, Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, Black Eyed Peas, Michael Buble and Roger Waters. However, if we had to pick one, we CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 >

MARCH 2011 VENUES TODAY 15

VT SPOTLIGHT

Houston Rodeo packs a crowd at Reliant Stadium

LONE STAR STAMINA CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

greatly enjoyed hosting Lady Gaga for two sold-out nights and look forward to her return here in March. What is your sales pitch to booking agents to bring bands to your arena? We don’t spend a lot of time working on our sales pitch. We look at it as more of a partnership between the artist and the venue. Our ticket grosses are always near the top of each tour and we routinely set merchandise sales records. We also take ownership in each show as if it’s our own promotion and engage our marketing resources to make each show as successful as possible. Contact: (214) 665-4240

Jorge Vasquez University of Texas El Paso, Don Haskins Center What was your most memorable event of 2010? Without a doubt, the most memorable show was Cirque du Soleil Alegria with eight performances. The expectations were high, but we could not have asked for a better outcome. We could never have imagined it would be so successful because it had never been to the market. We showed promoters and the industry that El Paso supports good product and pays top dollar. What are your expectations for 2011? I’m extremely hopeful and we see signs of a healthier economy and, for us in the event and music industry, that’s a good sign. There are 16 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

acts that are touring now that had been dormant for some time. What is your sales pitch to booking agents to bring bands to your venue? We are in a metropolis of 2.8 million — only 25 minutes to Las Cruces, N.M., and less than a mile to Cuidad Juarez in Mexico. We proved that entertainment sells here – Shakira, George Lopez, T.I. and Jay Z have all enjoyed sell out shows. Contact: (915) 747-5481

Elizabeth Wade Berry Center, Houston What was your most memorable event of 2010? Cirque du Soleil, which returned 11 months after their visit in 2009. They played here for a week and then went down to the Toyota Center and grossed another $1.4 million. We also did two sold out nights of Toby Mac with Skillet in November. Ultimately, was 2010 a good year or bad year for business? Absolutely great. We constantly run into the problem that we don’t have a huge marketing budget so we have to rely on word of mouth. In addition to everything else that we do, we can produce your event. That’s something that we offer our clients that not everyone does. You don’t need to pull things in from all over town. We can do anything anybody else can do inhouse.

What are your expectations for 2011? I think we’ll do the same amount of concerts. We’re in the Christian market because we don’t serve alcohol. I see an increase in corporate business, too. What is your sales pitch to booking agents? We emphasize the good things. We’re the fourth largest city in the country and we have a downtown. The suburbs are an hour away. So there’s still a market here, separate from downtown. Also, our ownership group stays aware of what everybody else charges and tries to stay about 20 percent under that. Contact: (281) 894-3900

Kent Meredith United Spirit Arena, Lubbock What was your most memorable event of 2010? The Eagles in Concert. This was the second time they played here in 10 years. We were about to convert for their show in October when we received word the show was postponed due to illness of one of the band members. They very well could have canceled, but they rescheduled for the end of the month, came all the way from Florida back to Lubbock and played the date. What are your expectations of 2011? Hopefully 2011 will be just as good or better. People are entertainment starved in Lubbock and support all the touring shows. Contact: (806) 742-7362

VT SPOTLIGHT

JC Hrubetz Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio What was your most memorable event of 2010? It’s a toss up between the Shrine Circus and our San Antonio International Farm and Ranch show. Ultimately, was 2010 a good year or bad year for business? It was mediocre. Business in 2010 wasn’t the best but it certainly wasn’t the worst. What are your expectations for 2011? We expect a blockbuster year. We’ve actually opened a new convention facility on our property that is booked solid so that’s part of the reason we’re expecting such a big year. Contact: (210) 226-1177

Jim Salamenta AmericanBank Center, Corpus Christi Ultimately was 2010 a good or bad year for business? There aren’t many buildings out there with the exception of some of the more major markets that will tell you 2010 was a good year. It was better than 2009, but 2010 was still a challenge for us. We ended up doing well in 2010 despite the tough economic times, but it wasn’t easy. What are your expectations for 2011? I’m an optimist, so I am expecting a much better year in 2011. The year did start off a bit slow, but we are seeing signs of life recently. As we are in a challenging market here in Corpus Christi, we work very closely and aggressively with our corporate SMG booking team, along with our “neighboring” SMG buildings — Ford Park in Beaumont and Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo

— to maximize the opportunities, and bring quality entertainment to our great cities. What is your sales pitch to booking agents to bring bands? We really are willing to work with all respective promoters in regards to bringing a show to Corpus. Both the promoter and the tour need to be assured that we’ll be both creative and aggressive in our marketing. The tour really needs to feel that the building cares about the success of their show and that we’ll do whatever it takes to make it a success. Everybody wins if the show is successful, but most shows don’t “sell themselves.” One thing we’ve got that most other venues don’t is the beach. We are across the street from the Gulf, the view is spectacular! There’s a “calming” effect here that tours seem to really enjoy. Contact: (361) 826-4905

Aaron Goldsmith Dr Pepper Arena and Dr Pepper Stadium, Frisco What was your most memorable event of 2010? The Texas Rangers/Kansas City Royals exhibition game here on April 3. We had over 11,000 fans. It was right on the doorstep of baseball season so everyone was getting geared up and it was a great way to start off the season. What are your expectations for 2011? We hope to build on what happened in 2010. We have a terrific fan base in North Texas for baseball, especially with the Rangers doing so well. We will be a go-to destination for a bunch of families. What is your sales pitch to booking agents to bring bands to your arena? What makes this such a great venue is that we’re in a suburb of Dallas, about 25 minutes north of downtown. We’re a booming suburb and there are so many families out here and many of them love baseball and want to come out. It’s always a great time to come out and enjoy baseball. Contact: (972) 731-9200

MARCH 2011 VENUES TODAY 17

VT SPOTLIGHT

Outside ACL Live at the Moody Theater.

KEEP AUSTIN WIRED ACL Live at the Moody Theater built for recording, TV and live events. by LISA WHITE

istory is being made on the second floor of a nondescript building on Willie Nelson Boulevard in Austin, Texas. This facility is the new home of Austin City Limits, the longest running music series in American television history, and ACL Live at The Moody Theater, the largest indoor performance facility the city has seen since the University of Texas Bass Concert Hall was 20 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

built in 1981. “It’s both a television studio and a soundstage, which makes this venue unique,” said Colleen Fischer, ACL Live’s director of booking. Nestled in the W Austin Hotel’s building, the $40 million, 85,000-sq.-ft. venue is a stateof-the-art facility with a capacity that adjusts from 1,500 to 2,750. Along with hosting between 60 and 100 concerts annually, the KLRU-TV-produced

PBS program Austin City Limits will tape shows about 45 days a year using the adaptable space. “Everything in the building is designed to be reformatted for either the television show or a live concert,” Fischer said. A smaller and lower 4-ft. stage will be used for studio shows, while a larger stage will be set up for concerts. “The stage can come apart and be configCONTINUED ON PAGE 22 >

Celebrating the best of live performing arts and world-class concerts.

www.woodlandscenter.org For booking information, contact Jerry MacDonald at 281-364-3010 or jmacdonald@woodlandscenter.org.

VT SPOTLIGHT

KEEP AUSTIN WIRED CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20

ured in different sizes, depending on the need,” Fischer said. Regardless of the format, no seat is further than 75 feet from the stage. The venue is part of a $300 million project by Stratus Properties that took about five years to develop. It centers around the trendy W Hotel, which opened Thanksgiving week in 2010 and includes 37 floors of hotel rooms with a condo tower above. The theater and studio

“Because the facility just opened, we’re concentrating on having a diverse booking schedule,” Fischer said. “It will represent a very broad range of music.” The first big-name show Valentine’s Day weekend with Willie Nelson was fitting, since the country crooner is part owner of the venue, along with his nephew Freddy Fletcher, basketball great Magic Johnson and KLRU. His two sold-out performances included a 41-piece orchestra.

“WE ALSO WILL BE UTILIZING TRADITIONAL MARKETING METHODS, SUCH AS TELEVISION, RADIO AND PRINT, BUT AUSTIN IS VERY TECH-SAVVY, SO WE WILL BE EMPLOYING SOCIAL MEDIA A GREAT DEAL.” — COLLEEN FISCHER were completed just in time for the first show on Feb. 10, the family friendly Imagination Movers, playing to approximately 1,500 fans. “The building was still being worked on the day of the first show to get the dressing rooms squared away,” said John Wheatley, stage manager. The ACL Live concerts will not be taped for the Austin City Limits television show. But while the shows will be scheduled separately, the same act may perform at a concert and a taped show on different days. While concert tickets are priced between $5 and $100, depending on the performer, television show tickets are free for a select audience of up to 800. Those attending the taping of Austin City Limits will be connected to sponsors, staff and the performers. Tickets for tapings also will be awarded to austincitylimits.org blog drawing winners. Concerts at ACL Live, which carries the tagline, “Where music history is made,” will be as eclectic as the venue itself. 22 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

In its first month of operation, two $5 concerts, Cody Canada and the Departed and Los Amigos Invisibles with Trombone Shorty, also were featured, in addition to Robyn, a Swedish pop star; a KLRU public TV gala with Steve Miller; and performances by Styx and Diana Ross. The building is one of the few live music venues to have achieved LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Its sustainable site selection in downtown Austin is in a walkable location that provides bicycle parking and transportation stops to cut down on fuel emissions. Because water is a precious resource in Central Texas, the venue includes high-efficiency plumbing fixtures that use approximately 30 percent less water than traditional fixtures. In addition, the facility’s green space will utilize about a fifth of the water of an average landscape. With energy efficiency in mind, non-stage

lighting was installed, in addition to interior lighting that uses a third less energy than a conventional building. LED stage lighting also uses less energy and produces less heat. “LEED certification was a very important aspect of this building, and extra money was spent for this initiative,” Fischer said. Another focus was the lighting package, which includes High End Systems’ next generation optics, automated luminaries and digital control consoles. ACL Live’s sound package, the Meyer Sound M series Compact High Powered Curvilinear Array, has custom mezzanine and balcony fill systems, along with digital control consoles. “The lighting system was well thought out, and the sound was important, because this also is a television studio,” Fischer said. The facility also includes design features geared to enhance performer convenience, including three loading docks — two full semi and one full bobtail — and tour bus support that’s wired for data and shore power. As for the interior, it pays homage to Austin City Limits’ 36 seasons on television. The wide hallway gallery outside the mezzanine-level seating includes 100 feet of photos and artifacts from the show. Though acts will be booked one to two months out, ACL Live is relying on social media for the bulk of its marketing. The budget for getting the word out will be about $10,000 per show. “We also will be utilizing traditional marketing methods, such as television, radio and print,” Fischer said. “But Austin is very techsavvy, so we will be employing social media a great deal.” In terms of ticketing, ACL Live uses Veritix and has partnered with independent Austin retailer Waterloo Records for in-store distribution. “People in Austin are excited about this venue,” Wheatley said. “There are many clubs in the city, but no facilities quite like this one.” Interviewed for this story: Colleen Fischer, (832) 9694879; John Wheatley, (512) 415-0007

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VT SPOTLIGHT

ANIMAL HOUSES Livestock shows and rodeos mean multiple move ins and outs of the hoof and claw kind b y PA M E L A S H E R B O R N E

“WE HAVE DONE SURVEYS AND FOUND THAT THE NUMBER ONE REASON PEOPLE COME TO THE FORT WORTH LIVESTOCK SHOW AND RODEO IS FOR THE LIVESTOCK.” — SHANNA WEAVER Gettin' piggy with it at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

t the Fort Worth Livestock Show and Rodeo, the biggest celebrities aren’t the cowboys or the country stars who take the main stage. “We have done surveys and found that the number one reason people come to the Fort Worth Livestock Show and Rodeo is for the livestock,” said Shanna Weaver, publicity manager — this year’s show included 22,000 animals during its Jan. 14-Feb. 2 run, which also attracted 930,000 humans — about 10,000 more than last year. Texas venues host some of the largest livestock shows in the U.S. The 2,144,077 visitors 24 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

to the 2010 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo set a record for that event. The paid rodeo attendance of 1,264,074 in 2010 was also a record. The show runs March 1-20 this year, and officials are hoping to see increased attendance again. Logistics is of the greatest concern for Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Joel Cowley. Each year, 27,000 livestock entries will come and go during the 20 event days. “You just have to be sure you can accommodate the exhibits and exhibitors in a schedule that makes it enjoyable for everyone,” Cowley said. “If they have to wait to get into the barn, they probably aren’t going to like it.”

The Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo, Austin, also set attendance records in 2010, with over 300,000 patrons. That represented a 13 percent increase over 2009. It is set to run March 11-26 this year and will have about 6,000 livestock entries. Jim Bainbridge, senior public relations coordinator, PRCA, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, said that organization puts on more rodeos in Texas than any other state in the U.S. Last year, the PRCA presented 570 rodeos in Texas. And, hosting a livestock event is unlike hosting any other event. CONTINUED ON PAGE 26 >

VT SPOTLIGHT

ANIMAL HOUSES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24

While building stalls, pens, steel panels, and gates and providing bedding and top soil for rodeos and horse events in two weeks or less is not an easy feat, it is the changeovers during the show that present the biggest challenges. Show managers will host a barn full of poultry, llamas and rabbits for several days. In one day, these breeds may move out and are replaced by hundreds or thousands of cattle. One of the most difficult conversions for

Auditorium and the Equestrian Center, which includes barns and exhibit areas. Livestock shows for the Houston event are housed primarily in Reliant Center and Reliant Arena. The center boosts over 700,000-sq.-ft. of contiguous exhibit space. The arena, with 1,700 fixed seats and 325,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space, is the site of the horseshows and some of the livestock events. The 71,500-seat Reliant Stadium hosts the rodeo and concert events. “We basically have two weeks to make

“The campaign for our livestock events has to start much earlier than for the general public. Our livestock entries have to be in by Nov. 15. If we started advertising to the general public in October, they would forget all about us by January,” she said. She starts advertising for the livestock portion in late summer. She advertises in livestock publications, letting people know when their breeds will be scheduled and who is judging them.

“WE HAVE TO MOVE OUR SHEEP AND GOATS, ALONG WITH THOSE PENS, OUT TO MAKE ROOM FOR A TOTAL OF 4,700 CATTLE COMING IN IN A 26-HOUR PERIOD. IT’S AMAZING.” — STEFAN MARCHMAN

Cowley is when he has to take 1,000 six-footby-six-foot pens down and remove them in one night to create 2,800 cattle spaces by the next morning. “That is an overnight shift,” he said. Stefan Marchman, livestock show manager, Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, said he will have some 700 dairy cattle come into his barns on a Friday during the show. The dairy cattle, which need straw for bedding, will be shown and gone by the next Tuesday, along with some beef cattle that will leave the next day. Thursday morning, Marchman will have about 2,300 more beef cattle coming into the barns. “But, my most challenging changeover usually comes the last Monday of the show,” Marchman said. “We have to move our sheep and goats, along with those pens, out to make room for a total of 4,700 cattle coming in in a 26-hour period. It’s amazing.” The livestock shows in Fort Worth are held in the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum, with 5,600 permanent seats, the 2,856-seat 26 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

our transformation from that big empty box to a livestock facility,” Cowley said. “The stalls have to be built. It takes a lot of planning, because the schedule of shows will change every year. We use AutoCAD to make sure everything fits.” Jennifer Paladino, marketing coordinator, Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo, said the show will take over the Travis County Expo Center March 1 for the March 11 start date. The Show Barn houses most of the livestock events, while the 7,000-seat-plus Luedecke Arena hosts the rodeo and horseshows. “We build up everything we need,” Paladino said. “Then, we have to take it all back down again.” One thing that has become popular for livestock events is to partner with recycling companies that will come in and remove the bedding and animal waste for compost. Marketing is critical and Weaver said there are really two schools of thought when it comes to advertising her Fort Worth event.

Then, when it is time for the general public advertising campaigns, she will use television, radio, outdoor methods, and social networking. Cowley said a new exhibit for Houston, the Kids Country area, might be drawing more young folks to livestock. The exhibit, which includes training and educational sessions, has been extremely popular. “We are also seeing a large contingency of urban kids as members of 4-H and FFA clubs,” he said. “They aren’t just rural kids anymore.” Weaver agrees. Local public schools are aiding these efforts by establishing extracurricular activities to expose children to agriculture. “It’s our tradition and our roots,” Weaver said. Interviewed for this story: Joel Cowley, (832) 667-1000; Shanna Weaver, (817) 877-2400; Stefan Marchman, (817) 877-2400; Jennifer Paladino, (512) 919-3000; Jim Bainbridge, (719) 528-4746

VT SPOTLIGHT

Inside Pira, the new concept restaurant by Antonio Swad at the American Airlines Center, Dallas.

DALLAS DINNER DATE New restaurant concepts make Dallas a must-play for food lovers b y L I N DA D O M I N G O

oodies, be on alert. High-end restaurants are popping up all over the Big D. Whether it’s the high-end Japanese Soba House Tei-An near the new AT&T Performing Arts Center, or a churrasco skewer at Pira, the city’s venues are working with restaurants to create high-end experiences for visitors. With basketball and hockey entering the second halves of their seasons, the hot spot in town is new ultra-lounge Pira at the American Airlines Center. Opened in October 2010, the

28 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

new Latin-themed restaurant is the brainchild of Antonio Swad, the founder of Pizza Patron and WingStop. The relationship between the venue and Swad began around three years ago, when Pizza Patron took over six pizza concession stands that were formerly operated by Pizza Hut. After spending some time in the building, Swad and the venue’s management developed a mutual respect for one another and, as a restaurant space became available, they agreed it was a good idea for Swad to develop a themed restaurant to inhabit the space. Swad decided on

a Latin-themed restaurant and nightclub for what had originally been a Chili’s. “The project was one of those things where at first you think it’s not going to be a big deal, but as it turned out, the deeper we got into it, the greater we wanted to make the interior and it was quite an extensive makeover,” said Swad. Located in the southwest corner of the building near the main entrance and AT&T Plaza, Pira’s doorway and sign are lit by an attention-getting, 49-foot copper trough filled with live fire. CONTINUED ON PAGE 30 >

VT SPOTLIGHT

DALLAS DINNER DATE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 28

The recently opened AT&T Center for the Performing Arts is in talks with its caterer, Wolfgang Puck, to open a high-end restaurant on its sprawling downtown campus. The center is within walking distance of over a dozen restaurants, including One Arts Plaza, home to Tei-An, which serves up sushi, traditional Japanese noodles and teppan served on a beautiful rooftop patio. â&#x20AC;&#x153;While we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any restaurants on our campus yet, we want to sell the dining experience as part of the theater experience and have created several packages with local restaurants,â&#x20AC;? said Silver Hogue, external affairs coordinator. The theaterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Need to Eat program works with 14 restaurants in the area, creating pre-fix menus on performance night at three separate individual price levels: $35, $55 and $75.

Alcohol is not included. Back at Pira, the restaurant features a full bar with two bartenders, a service bar in the kitchen, as well as the ability to put a portable bar on the patio for special events. Menu items follow Piraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tagline of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Latin Fire,â&#x20AC;? with Latin street fare such as Brazilian churrasco skewers ($6). The menu also includes sandwiches and tapas. The Pira Burger ($12) is the most popular sandwich on the menu, and contains blended ground Angus sirloin and chorizo, red onion/Serrano jam, aji panca aioli, and provolone cheese. Tapas include ceviche ($9) and Peruvian calamar fritas ($9), squid, aji panca aioli and rocoto peppers. Also available are specialty cocktails and wine by the glass. Currently Pira is open only on American Airlines Center event nights. Swad has the ability to open every day, and plans to market the restaurant as a standalone venue apart

from the centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s events in the future, since it is open to ticketholders and non-ticketholders alike. The venue keeps an employee at the door between Pira and the rest of the American Airlines Center to scan tickets. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a ticket, you can come and hear the crowd yell and cheer, and you can watch the event thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going on inside the arena on any one of our nine televisions,â&#x20AC;? said Swad. Open until 2 a.m., Swad explained that the restaurant experiences a surge in business just before events begin, a trickling of restaurant goers around halftime, and then a larger surge after the event ends. Pira undergoes a transformation from restaurant atmosphere to nightclub around halftime during basketball games, or halfway through an event. The transformation includes a change in lighting and sound. A programmable LED light show, shimmer screens, and a

Flexible pricing structure re Experienced production, events, vents, ticketing and marketing staff staf taff Suite ticket revenues included in gross Versatile theatre set-ups from Versatile 5,500 to 7,200 Versatile Versatile arena set-ups from rom 9,000 to 16,000+

For b For booking ooking information information contact contact ntact John G John Graham raham john.graham@athletics.utexas.edu s.edu or Jimmy Earl, Jimmy arl, CFE CFE jimmy.earl@athletics.utexas.edu s.edu jimmy.earl@athletics.utexas.edu s 2ED 2IV VER !USTIN s 2ED 2IVER !USTIN TX 78701 uterwincenter.com uterwincenter .com 2010 - 2 2010 2011 011 Sold Sold Out Out Shows hows ows Taylor Swift, Elton John with Band, Carrie Underwood, d, WWE Presents MONDAY NIGHT RAW, Jeff Dunham, Gorillaz, George Strait and Reba

30 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

VT SPOTLIGHT

Martin Audio nightclub sound system all set a party atmosphere. Although not many sports arenas currently have nightclubs inside their facilities, Swad believes there are advantages for both the customer and the venue in such an arrangement. “It’s a tremendous benefit to have such a range of entertainment experiences in one place. Let’s say you have a parking pass to park your car for the game. Well, you can use that and go to dinner at Pira, then go to the game, and then come back and finish your evening there in one location,” said Swad. “The more we can offer, and the better products we can offer, the longer people are going to stay, whether they come earlier or stay later. We really want the American Airlines Center to be a complete destination,” said Joe Skenderian, vice president of business development and compliance at the American Airlines

Center. In addition to Pira, the building’s Jack Daniels Club also stays open until 2 a.m. on event nights, giving guests another option. Along with the benefits, opening a nightclub in a sports facility is not without its obstacles. “There are huge challenges,” said Swad. “Number one is the schedule.” Because the restaurant follows the arena’s often irregular schedule, accommodating staff can be difficult. “It’s not reasonable to expect your staff to maintain that as their only job, so there’s a lot of working to balance the servers and bartenders,” said Swad. Secondly, maintaining a commitment to serving fresh food can be difficult when the restaurant is not open every night. “When you have a schedule like that, you don’t tend to get as even of a rotation on the food. You experience some food loss, and you’re constantly working with that. So the challenges are the two main components of the

restaurant business: the food and the labor.” Both Swad and the American Airlines Center management have high hopes for the future of Pira. Of surrounding competition, Skenderian explained, “I think that there are enough people in the downtown area to make everybody happy…I think there is a lot of competition but I also think [the restaurants, bars and clubs] complement each other. So is there competition? Yes, but does it hurt us? No.” With a five-year lease, Swad feels good about Pira’s current success. “There’s a lot on the way,” said Swad. “When you have a new concept and a new staff, it’s best to start slow. We plan to be in the American Airlines Center for years, and we want to do it correctly.” Interviewed for this story: Antonio Swad, (972) 6138000; Joe Skenderian, (214) 665-4227; Silver Hogue, (214) 954-9925

MARCH 2011 VENUES TODAY 31

BOOKINGS

>> PROFILE <<

DESTINATION: PLANET EARTH Paul Van Dyk reigns as World’s Biggest DJ in 2011 b y K R I S T E N B L U S H & DAV E B R O O K S

EPORTING FROM NEW YORK — It wasn’t difficult for Paul Van Dyk to find inspiration for his new album “Evolution.” The East Germanborn DJ has seen the dance floor grow 100,000 strong, his own status as an electronic musician elevated to that of a rock star, set to headline Coachella’s prized midnight set. But success hasn’t been without its growing pains. The drug-related death of a 15-yearold girl at the 2010 Electronic Daisy Festival in Los Angeles has brought new scrutiny from lawmakers. Still, global demand for electronic music continues to grow and Van Dyk and his booking agent Alex Chaykin, who heads William Morris Endeavor’s electronic division, are at the vanguard. Venues Today caught up with the DJ after his recent sellout show at the 2,400-capacity Terminal 5 in Hells Kitchen and asked for his thoughts on a number of issues facing electronic music. His tours traditionally hit clubs and theaters in the 5,000-capacity range. ON THE WISDOM OF ALL-AGE RAVES > “I played the Electric Daisy Carnival twice in the last five years, first in 2007 and then again in 2008. First, it has to be safe, regardless of what the age restriction is. Age doesn’t make a difference, whether you are 18 or 21. It has a lot to do with giving people the opportunity to experience something they want to see in a safe environment. It’s up to the promoter to provide a safe environment. It would be a real shame if these raves stopped in L.A. because of that one incident.” 32 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

ON PRODUCTION > “The visuals for my new show focus along the lines of evolution — the Nebula, the Big Bang, human beings — 89 different elements total and each will get their own feel. I spent half a year rehearsing the show and getting past technical issues, like synching up my visuals. I have two computers on stage that are synched together, along with a custom made mixer, keyboards and various controllers, all connected to my visual system. What the fans hear, they’re going to see as well.” ON ROUTING UPCOMING TOUR > “I’m pretty much somewhere at least once a month in America, and then all over Europe; it’s going to be the whole Ibiza season again. We have three weeklong trips to Asia, one jaunt to Australia and then we’ll spend two weeks in South America. The entire tour is laid out until summer of 2012.” ON DRUG USE AT RAVES > “A musical genre is not responsible for drug abuse. The promoters who promote the music in a musical genre are also not responsible for drug abuse. The question really should be, why are people taking drugs? Often it’s for entertainment purposes, so we need to spend more time educating people about what drugs do to them. Everyone knows that if you drink too much, it’s not good for you. But obviously these kids don’t have a damn clue about ecstasy because there is no information out there. You can’t prevent people from doing drugs — they will continue getting high until the end of time.” ON MUSIC AS A POLITICAL INSTRUMENT > “My new album is titled “Evolution” and there are

different elements that exist. In the bigger sense there’s the question about what we’re doing on this planet, but I’m also interested in the evolution of our musical tastes. For me, electronic music began to evolve after the fall of the Berlin Wall and I’ve seen creatures come and go. I’m grateful to have left my mark.” ON EVOLUTION OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC > “The audience is receiving the performance differently. Just 10 years ago, a 10-to-15 minute intro wasn’t unusual because the DJ would play six or seven hours and listeners would travel on a musical journey with the DJ. That’s not really happening any more. It became more of a concert environment and now you use those 15 minutes of mega-attention to give it a kick and, after that, you can begin developing into different curves and elements and sounds and vibes that electronic music has to offer.” ON PERFORMING HIS DREAM CONCERT >

“I would love the chance to play in Egypt now that the country has undergone such a historic revolution. They’re going to build something substantial that makes their country stronger than ever and sooner or later, music events will happen again. Because, really, it’s revolution that will create the next marketplaces for electronic music. Dance culture has become so pervasive throughout the world. Unless, of course, someone discovers a small, unknown spot in the rain forest. Then I guess I’ll need dig out a few cans of bug spray.” MORE: paulvandyk.com

E J : ;; ;D ED <H J ?J? 7J ?8 > ;N

LOS ANGELES CONVENTION CENTER, CALIFORNIA

CALLING ALL STADIUM AND ARENA OPERATORS! APRIL 12,13,14, 2011

%% 6ABDHI &I>C< 6 E6GI>8>EC H : > 6 E B 8D :ME:8I:9

Stadia Design and Technology Expo will showcase next-generation revenue-generation technologies; innovative capacity-boosting concepts; environmentally conscious building materials; operational efficiency-enhancing technologies; as well as introduce Stadium owners and operators to world-class design and architectural technologies and service providers.

Z[jgW dg g V c Z g V g Y^jb d c c ndjg hiV d ` XdckZci^d g ^h V ] W i b Y Z Z i Y d c Z c 9d Z Vii jci^a ndjĂ&#x2030;k Y ^a j W " l Z c

IAVM International Stadium Management Conference Committee

www.stadiadesignandtechology.com

BOOKINGS

HOTTICKETS

03•11

Top ticketed performances, events, and concerts taking place Jan. 16-Feb. 15, 2011, as reported to Venues Today. GROSS SALES

EVENT

VENUE

ATTENDANCE PROMOTER

TICKETS

DATE

SHOWS

> 15,001 OR MORE CAPACITY 1. $2,652,018

Chayanne

2. $1,309,276

Enrique Iglesias

3. $1,238,370 4. $1,181,132

Marco Antonio Solis, Ricardo Montaner Calibash Festival

5. $1,180,865

Cirque du Soleil “Dralion”

6. $947,095

George Strait

7. $897,644

Enrique Iglesias

8. $871,110

Linkin Park

9. $837,497

Linkin Park

10. $812,120

Linkin Park

11. $743,870

Linkin Park

12. $711,328

Linkin Park

13. $592,629

Linkin Park

14. $568,524

Monster Jam

15. $552,897

Linkin Park

GROSS SALES

EVENT

Coliseo de Puerto Rico, San Juan Madison Square Garden Arena, New York Madison Square Garden Arena, New York Staples Center, Los Angeles Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Fla. Coliseo de Puerto Rico, San Juan Air Canada Centre, Toronto Bell Centre, Montreal Madison Square Garden Arena, New York Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia United Center, Chicago Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minn. Verizon Center, Washington St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Fla. VENUE

39,877 14,767 14,446

Tony Mojena Entertainment AEG Live

$402-$27 Feb. 11-13

$150-$30

Feb. 5

Feb. 12

Jan. 23

Feb. 9-13

Jan. 29

Feb. 8

Feb. 7

Feb. 4

Jan. 31

Jan. 26

Jan. 28

Jan. 28-29

Jan. 22

16,771

3-N-1 Entertainment, Latin Events, LLC AEG Live, Goldenvoice

18,338

Cirque du Soleil

$135$30.50 $115.30$30.94 $100-$28

13,653 13,320

AEG Live, The Messina Group SBS Ent.

$89.50$39.50 $99-$15

12,836

Live Nation

12,677

evenko

15,170

Live Nation

$74.30$43.97 $74.30$43.97 $70-$40

12,000

Live Nation

11,519

Jam Productions

10,001

Jam Productions

28,282

Feld Motor Sports

10,807

Live Nation

ATTENDANCE PROMOTER

$72.50$42.50 $72.50$42.50 $72.50$40.50 $63-$10 $72.50$42.50 TICKETS

DATE

SHOWS

> 10,001–15,000 CAPACITY 1. $1,082,846

George Strait

2. $1,039,835

Cirque du Soleil “Dralion”

3. $912,211

George Strait

4. $811,855

Cirque du Soleil “Dralion”

5. $793,444

Cirque du Soleil “Dralion”

6. $763,276

El Caballo Blanco

7. $758,732

George Strait

8. $734,354

Cirque du Soleil “Dralion”

9. $599,723

Kenny Rogers

10. $555,034

Kid Rock

11. $542,820 12. $530,551

Disney Live! Three Classic Fairy Tales Brad Paisley

13. $386,813

Brad Paisley

14. $369,417

Joe Cocker

15. $345,979

Ozzy Osbourne

34 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

Save Mart Center, Fresno, Calif. Sears Centre, Hoffman Estates, Ill. Jacksonville (Fla.) Veterans Memorial Arena The Mitchell Center, Mobile, Ala. Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Mich. Vector Arena, Auckland, New Zealand Tallahassee Leon Co. (Fla.) Civic Ctr. The Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis Vector Arena, Auckland, New Zealand Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Mich. Sydney Entertainment Centre John Labatt Centre, London, Ontario Allen County War Mem. Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Ind. Vector Arena, Auckland, New Zealand i wireless Center, Moline, Ill.

14,390

AEG Live, The Messina Group Cirque du Soleil

$89.50$39.50 $100-$28

Feb. 4

Jan. 26-30

$89.50$39.50 $95-$24

Jan. 28

14,177

AEG Live, The Messina Group Cirque du Soleil

Feb. 2-6

12,623

Cirque du Soleil

$100-$28

Jan. 12-16

9,836

Hercules Entertainment Pty Ltd. AEG Live, The Messina Group Cirque du Soleil

$122.61$45.22 $89.50$39.50 $99-$32

Feb. 5

Jan. 27

Jan. 19-23

7 1

Jan. 25

22,284

Feld Entertainment

Jan. 14-16

7,957

Live Nation

Jan. 27

8,219

Live Nation

Jan. 21

4,922

Michael Coppel Presents Live Nation

$115.40$72.30 $89.50$49.50 $115.25$27.56 $74.62$49.58 $57.75$27.75 $94.32$55.67 $62.50-$27

Jan. 21

10,972

Bluehawk Presents, Pacific Entertainment Live Nation

Jan. 27

Feb. 14

16,483 12,173

10,535 11,431 6,981

9,487

BOOKINGS

HOTTICKETS

03•11

Top ticketed performances, events, and concerts taking place Jan. 16-Feb. 15, 2011, as reported to Venues Today. GROSS SALES

EVENT

VENUE

ATTENDANCE PROMOTER

TICKETS

DATE

SHOWS

> 5,001–10,000 CAPACITY 1. $1,350,281

Cirque du Soleil “Alegria”

2. $1,154,225

Cirque du Soleil “Alegria”

3. $1,106,895

Cirque du Soleil “Alegria”

4. $1,056,610

Cirque du Soleil “Alegria”

5. $477,315

Jimmy Buffett

6. $470,768

Cirque du Soleil “Alegria”

7. $386,580

Kid Rock

8. $342,705

Elvis Presley - In Concert

9. $312,177

Gigi D’Alessio

10. $264,661

Heart

11. $255,582

Avenged Sevenfold

12. $245,591

JAMZ Youth Cheerleading

13. $223,606

Avenged Sevenfold

14. $204,680

Iron and Wine

15. $204,155

Robyn

GROSS SALES

EVENT

The Colorado Springs (Colo.) World Arena Budweiser Events Center, Loveland, Colo. 1st Bank Arena, Broomfield, Colo. State Farm Arena, Hidalgo, Texas Hordern Pavilion, Sydney Laredo (Texas) Entertainment Center Huntington Center, Toledo, Ohio Radio City Music Hall, New York Radio City Music Hall, New York K-Rock Centre, Kingston, Ontario Tsongas Center, Lowell, Mass. Orleans Arena, Las Vegas Sovereign Center, Reading, Pa. Radio City Music Hall, New York Radio City Music Hall, New York VENUE

20,130

Cirque du Soleil

$94-$28

Jan. 12-16

19,042

Cirque du Soleil

$94-$28

Jan. 26-30

18,336

Cirque du Soleil

$94-$28

Jan. 19-23

15,462

Cirque du Soleil

$99-$32

Feb. 9-13

3,298

Chugg Entertainment

Jan. 26

7,165

Cirque du Soleil

$176.56$120.75 $99-$28

Feb. 2-6

7,291

Live Nation

$89-$49.50 Jan. 26

5,155

SEG Events

$75-$55

Feb. 15

4,134

GGD, SRL

$150-$60

Feb. 14

3,931

Paul Mercs Concerts, PMC Entertainment Frank Productions, Knitting Factory Ent., Mass Concerts JAMZ Cheer and Dance

$70.24Feb. 12 $50.54 $60-$39.75 Jan. 22

6,979 15,992

5,848

$25.25Jan. 27-31 $15.25 Frank Productions, Knitting $37.75-$23 Jan. 20 Factory Entertainment Bowery Presents $35 Jan. 29

5,833

Bowery Presents

6,428

ATTENDANCE PROMOTER

$35 TICKETS

Feb. 5 DATE

5 1

SHOWS

> 5,000 OR FEWER CAPACITY 1. $9,379,654

Cher

2. $5,430,383

The Lion King

3. $1,715,530

Les Miserables

4. $1,393,831

Supernatural Santana

5. $1,261,698

Blue Man Group

6. $1,023,723

Beauty and the Beast

7. $919,669

West Side Story

8. $907,782 9. $832,222

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Cirque Berzerk

10. $682,392

Shrek The Musical

11. $674,936

Rock of Ages

12. $545,101

Rock of Ages

13. $544,165

Cirque du Soleil “Quidam”

14. $435,111

Robert Plant

15. $377,901

The Color Purple

Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas Durham (N.C.) Performing Arts Center Broward Center for Perf. Arts, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The Joint, Las Vegas Fox Theatre, Atlanta Fox Theatre, Atlanta Fox Theatre, Atlanta Fox Theatre, Atlanta Club Nokia, Los Angeles Wharton Center for Perf. Arts, East Lansing, Mich. Bob Carr Performing Arts Center, Orlando, Fla. Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, Fla. Centre Georges Vezina, Chicoutimi, Quebec Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto Landmark Theater, Richmond, Va.

63,278

AEG Live, Concerts West $250-$95

81,883

Nederlander, PFM

$130-$22

Jan. 11-23, 16 Jan. 25-Feb. 5 Jan. 4-30 32

34,627

$69-$25

Jan. 18-30

14,112

Broadway Across America AEG Live

$151-$51

Jan. 5-16

24,742

Theater of the Stars

$65-$20

Jan. 18-23

24,377

Theater of the Stars

$70-$25

Jan. 12-16

21,766

Broadway Across America Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater AEG Live, Goldenvoice

$67-$18

Jan. 25-30

$60-$10

Feb. 10-13

Jan. 7-30

Feb. 8-13

Jan. 11-16

9,538

$125$19.50 In-house $67.50$32.50 Broadway Across America, $70.75Florida Theatrical Assoc. $35.75 In-house $70-$40

Jan. 18-23

6,739

Cirque du Soleil, evenko

Jan. 12-16

5,530

AEG Live, Goldenvoice

Jan. 22-23

6,822

Jam Theatricals

Jan. 28-30

25,723 25,391 12,517 13,406

$99.48$40.20 $86.40$50.02 $65-$35

Compiled by Josh Huckabee, HotTickets@venuestoday.com

MARCH 2011 VENUES TODAY 35

BOOKINGS

TOPSTOPS

03•11

Based on concert and event grosses from Jan. 16-Feb. 15, 2011, as reported to Venues Today. VENUE, LOCATION

NO. OF SEATS

TOTAL GROSS

ATTENDANCE SHOWS

18,000

$4,544,964

62,757

> 15,001 OR MORE CAPACITY 1. Coliseo de Puerto Rico, San Juan

2. Madison Square Garden Arena, New York

20,000

$3,687,456

48,805

3. St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Fla.

21,500

$2,242,015

38,072

4. Amway Center, Orlando, Fla.

20,000

$1,656,755

56,479

5. Bell Centre, Montreal

21,500

$1,295,313

19,114

6. Staples Center, Los Angeles

20,000

$1,181,132

16,771

7. Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio

21,000

$1,180,865

18,338

8. Air Canada Centre, Toronto

20,000

$871,110

12,836

9. Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Fla.

76,000

$1,006,882

55,367

10. Target Center, Minneapolis

19,500

$787,764

26,794

11. Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia

21,600

$743,870

12,000

12. United Center, Chicago

25,000

$711,328

11,519

13. Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minn.

18,568

$592,629

10,001

14. AT&T Center, San Antonio

18,000

$587,982

14,326

15. Verizon Center, Washington

20,500

$568,524

28,282

NO. OF SEATS

TOTAL GROSS

ATTENDANCE SHOWS

1. Vector Arena, Auckland, New Zealand

12,200

$1,732,416

21,739

2. Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Mich.

12,000

$1,540,467

33,088

VENUE, LOCATION

> 10,001–15,000 CAPACITY

3. The Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis

10,600

$1,257,419

29,192

4. Valley View Casino Center, San Diego

14,000

$1,084,200

46,023

5. Save Mart Center, Fresno, Calif.

14,883

$1,082,846

14,390

6. Sears Centre, Hoffman Estates, Ill.

11,200

$1,039,835

16,483

7. Jacksonville (Fla.) Veterans Memorial Arena 15,000

$912,211

12,173

8. John Labatt Centre, London, Ontario

10,200

$851,484

13,175

9. The Mitchell Center, Mobile, Ala.

10,800

$811,855

14,177

10. Tallahassee-Leon (Fla.) Co. Civic Ctr.

14,000

$758,732

10,535

11. Allen County War Mem. Col., Fort Wayne, Ind. 13,000

$561,376

22,592

12. i wireless Center, Moline, Ill.

12,000

$545,621

15,373

13. Sydney Entertainment Centre

12,500

$542,820

22,284

14. Intrust Bank Arena, Wichita, Kan.

15,000

$321,582

6,972

15. Patriot Center, Fairfax, Va.

10,200

$9,898

1,268

FROM THE TOP >> CMA Male Vocalist

Justin Bieber signs autographs for a

Kevin Hart performed for two sellout

of the Year Blake Shelton is seen with

crowd afflicted with “Bieber Fever” on

crowds at the Sovereign Performing Arts

utives pose for a photo with Bill Cosby in

Show Me Center Director David B. Ross

Feb. 8 at L.A. Live’s Nokia Plaza in Los

Center in Reading, Pa., on Feb. 4. From

Nashville on Jan. 15. From left are

(left) just minutes before he hits the

Angeles during the premiere of his film.

left are Tim Hendricks, Live Nation;

Christi Dortch, Benjamin Larvie, Cosby,

Kevin Hart and Matt Salkowski, SMG.

Kathleen O’Brien and Brent Hyams.

stage on Feb. 5 at the Cape Girardeau, Mo., arena.

36 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

Tennessee Performing Arts Center exec-

BOOKINGS

TOPSTOPS

03•11

Based on concert and event grosses from Jan. 16-Feb. 15, 2011, as reported to Venues Today. VENUE, LOCATION

NO. OF SEATS

TOTAL GROSS

ATTENDANCE SHOWS

9,200

$1,350,281

20,130

> 5,001–10,000 CAPACITY 1. The Colorado Springs World Arena

2. Budweiser Events Center, Loveland, Colo. 7,200

$1,154,225

19,042

3. 1st Bank Arena, Broomfield, Colo.

$1,106,895

18,336

7,000

4. Radio City Music Hall, New York

6,013

$1,063,717

20,970

5. State Farm Arena, Hidalgo, Texas

7,500

$1,056,610

15,462

6. Hordern Pavilion, Sydney

5,500

$477,315

3,298

7. Laredo (Texas) Entertainment Center

10,000

$470,768

7,165

8. Orleans Arena, Las Vegas

9,000

$388,964

19,950

9. Huntington Center, Toledo, Ohio

7,860

$386,580

7,291

10. The Lakeland (Fla.) Center

10,000

$351,849

8,485

11. Amsoil Arena, Duluth, Minn.

8,500

$304,203

6,542

12. Constant Convocation Center, Norfolk, Va. 10,000

$270,506

8,827

13. K-Rock Centre, Kingston, Ontario

$264,661

3,931

5,700

14. Tsongas Center, Lowell, Mass.

7,800

$255,582

6,979

15. Sovereign Center, Reading, Pa.

9,641

$223,606

6,428

NO. OF SEATS

TOTAL GROSS

ATTENDANCE SHOWS

VENUE, LOCATION

> 5,000 OR FEWER CAPACITY 1. Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas 4,148

$9,379,654

63,278

2. Durham (N.C.) Performing Arts Center

2,800

$5,430,383

81,883

3. Fox Theatre, Atlanta

4,678

$4,621,781

105,707

4. Broward Cntr. for Perf. Arts, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. 2,688

$3,057,139

50,192

5. Beacon Theatre, New York

2,894

$1,819,264

31,982

6. The Joint, Las Vegas

4,000

$1,626,800

19,827

7. Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, Fla.

2,200

$902,253

19,547

8. Club Nokia, Los Angeles

2,300

$832,222

25,391

9. Wharton Cntr. for Perf. Arts, E. Lansing, Mich. 3,763

$770,434

14,608

10. Bob Carr Perf. Arts Center, Orlando, Fla.

2,400

$757,414

16,489

11. Cobb Energy Perf. Arts Centre, Atlanta

2,750

$677,646

14,462

12. Landmark Theater, Richmond, Va.

3,565

$576,103

11,266

13. Centre Georges Vezina, Chicoutimi, Quebec

2,260

$544,165

6,739

14. Chicago Theatre

3,604

$539,522

10,193

15. Morris Perf. Arts Center, South Bend, Ind. 2,560

$457,223

11,331

7 Compiled by Josh Huckabee, HotTickets@venuestoday.com

FROM THE TOP >> Jonathan “Super”

Lee Ann Womack was presented with a

Staff members from the Sun National

Kid Rock poses for a photo before his

Squibb of Berlin, N.J., devoured a record

custom-made belt buckle to commemo-

Bank Center (SNBC), Trenton, N.J., visit

show at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita,

255 Buffalo Wings and was crowned

rate her visit to the St. Pete Times Forum with WWE Champion The Miz before he

Kan., on Feb. 1. From left are Scott Neal,

Champion of WIP’s Wing Bowl 19 in front

in Tampa, Fla., on Jan. 29. From left are

takes the ring to defend his title belt on

Intrust Bank Arena; Kid Rock and Sarah

of nearly 20,000 at the Wells Fargo

Brittany Zion, St. Pete Times Forum; Lee

Jan. 21. From left are Todd Stoudenmire

Haertl, Intrust Bank Arena.

Center in Philadelphia on Feb. 4.

Ann Womack and the arena’s Elmer

and Diana Zanetto with SNBC; The Miz;

Straub. (Photo Credit: Mitchell Davis)

Jen Grinspan, Ashley Perna and Andrew Sklarz with SNBC.

MARCH 2011 VENUES TODAY 37

BOOKINGS

> > F E S T I VA L S < <

A DECADE LATER… Bonnaroo heads into 10th year with high hopes by GIL KAUFMAN

Scenes from Bonnaroo, Manchester, Tenn.

he 10-year mark is like a lifetime when it comes to modern American festivals. In fact, only two contemporary location–based gatherings can claim to have survived the decade mark at this point: Coachella and Bonnaroo. With Indio, Calif.-based Coachella rounding the bend into its 12th (it launched in 1999 and didn’t play in 2000), Manchester, Tennessee’s Bonnaroo is next on the list of seniority. After launching in 2002 as a three-day gathering that drew 70,000 to a 700-acre rural farm to hear mostly jam band acts, the ‘Roo has exploded into a cultural phenomenon that spans four days in June, with more than 150 eclectic acts playing to 80,000 last year.

38 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

With its 2011 lineup released in midFebruary, the June 9-12 fest upped the ante once again, challenging its audience with a mix of the familiar including Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, Dr. John, My Morning Jacket, and a Buffalo Springfield reunion, alongside its boldest bookings yet: two headline slots by mainstream rap icons Lil Wayne and Eminem. “Hip-hop has always been part of the festival,” said Rick Farman, a partner in promoter Superfly Productions and one of the festival’s co-founders. Blogs blew up after the announcement, posing questions about whether the rappers were a good fit for the festival, something that Farman said happens every year. “At a certain point, maybe in another couple of years, it will be a tired question and no

one will think about it,” he said. Farman said the show’s producers never questioned whether the rappers belonged on the bill, noting that in the first year of Bonnaroo, indie hip-hop act Jurassic 5 was one of the biggest draws. Like many of the artistic choices made over the years, whether it was heavy metal legend Metallica or Monster Ball, featuring the esoteric antics of Lady Gaga, the aim has always been to broaden the scope of the festival without betraying its essence. “The core principal of it is being about great live performers who are pushing the envelope creatively or music that is challenging the audience,” he said. “You can easily say that about Eminem and definitely about Lil Wayne.” And, given Superfly’s New Orleans roots

BOOKINGS and its principal’s love of the city’s musical heritage, having Crescent City native Wayne on the bill makes perfect sense. “He presents another side of New Orleans music and he’s definitely a part of that city’s musical heritage,” he said. As for Eminem, the booking is a coup, given that the reclusive rapper is only expected to play a handful of live dates in 2011, with one of the other rumored bookings including a headlining date at August’s Lollapalooza festival in Chicago. Farman said the Eminem slot is not only a big get, but also a chance to do what he and his partners relish: put a performer in an unusual situation. “When performers come to play Bonnaroo they inherently know they’re playing for Bonnaroo’s audience, not their audience and it’s a special opportunity for an artist and the festival,” he said. “When you look at Eminem and ask if he fits the festival, you have to go back to last year and look at JayZ. That is one of the top 10 moments that’s ever happened at Bonnaroo. That set was transcendent … it showed me how powerful a hiphop performance can be in general and certainly in a festival context.” While he wouldn’t discuss either headliner’s fee, Farman said that with five or six major festivals competing for a limited pool of headliners, the talent at all levels understands the importance of playing events where they can reach a broad audience and participate in the kind of zeitgeist moments that occur at mass gatherings. They also know the publicity importance of landing a big name, so Farman said many get top-dollar fees. Eminem is a perfect example. Though the Grammy-winning rapper isn’t playing many dates this year, if he can play a handful that maximize his media and audience exposure, all the better. “Of course you want your festival to be unique, but it doesn’t really bother us,” he said about the rumored Lolla date. “We’ve shared headliners with festivals before and we will again.” If anything, unlike urban destination fests such as Lolla, Outside Lands and Austin City Limits, Farman sees the camping-only Bonnaroo as more akin to Burning Man in Black Rock, Nev., a techno hippie desert gathering where fans come for a totally immersive experience. As luck would have it, a number of the major acts on the bill are Grammy winners including Eminem, Black Keys, Mumford & Sons and Album of the Year winners The Arcade Fire, who were booked before the awards were announced. The process of securing those acts begins

the day after the previous festival ends and Farman said it usually starts with the top acts and then drilling down to the lower tier bands to fill out and balance the bill in a way that he described as more art project than science project. It’s a mixture of seeing who is going to be touring, who hasn’t played a show in a long time and what has played and should be on its way back in time for the early summer ‘Roo calendar. Sometimes, as with headliner Bruce Springsteen in 2010, that process can take years to come to fruition, and in other cases the big fish aren’t landed until a month before the lineup announcement. Given the quick sell-out by Coachella earlier this year, Farman said he thinks the lingering impact of the soft economy should not be as big a factor at Bonnaroo this year, especially with such major names as Eminem, Wayne, Arcade Fire and Plant on the bill. “I’m no economist, but I think the general sense is that things are doing a bit better and we’re turning a corner,” he said, noting that the festival is still and probably always will continue to offer layaway plans for ticket buyers. Prices will hold steady around $250 for a four-day pass this year. (The early bird $209 tickets quickly sold out during a holiday presale.) To prevent scalping, each purchase includes the mailing of a wristband with a unique RFID chip in lieu of a physical ticket that must be activated in order to be used for entry. There are also VIP packages that run $674.75 per person and include tickets, an exclusive entrance, preferred parking, special showers and restrooms with attendants, a VIP party and dinner on the first night, entrance to three exclusive VIP lounges and exclusive viewing areas for the main stages. Meal packages are also available for an additional $194.50 per person for six meals. The high-roller Total Access plan includes a private tour bus that sleeps eight, exclusive stage access, 24-hour concierge, open bar, onsite catering and 24hour golf cart access “At this point, I think the parallel for us is more like Glastonbury and Roskilde than other touring festivals,” he said. “If you look at what we’ve got, it’s a tremendous asset that continues to thrive and flourish. To come out with the lineup we did and have the reaction that it got among the fans and the press? It’s gratifying to feel that we’re just revving this thing up. We’re more exited than we were at the beginning.”

that includes stops at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom,

Interviewed for this story: Rick Farman, (212) 375-9652

Theatre. — Gil Kaufman

>> THE BANDS OF BONNAROO << ARCADE FIRE — After selling out two shows at Madison Square Garden in New York last August, the band recently announced April and May dates that include three sold out gigs at UIC Pavilion in Chicago, an appearance at Coachella and a May gig at the New Orleans Jazz Fest. EMINEM — The reclusive Detroit native has played sparse dates lately, including four well received, sold-out “Home and Home” dates with Jay-Z in September, two at Yankee Stadium in New York and two at Detroit’s Comerica Park. His only other recent dates include three European festival gigs in July and a Sept. 25 show in Fontana, Calif., at the Auto Club Speedway. LIL WAYNE — One of the hardest touring rappers, Wayne played gigs until he went to prison in March 2010, then booked an arena and coliseum tour that launches in March. BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD — More than a quarter century after breaking up, the group featuring Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay reunited at Young’s Bridge School Benefit concerts at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, Calif. in October 2010 and at press time had booked no other festival gigs for 2011 besides Bonnaroo. ROBERT PLANT AND BAND OF JOY — After wrapping up a tour with his Grammy-winning collaborator Alison Krauss, Plant formed BOJ and released an acclaimed album. He will be on the road with the Band of Joy beginning in April. THE STROKES — Following a five-plus year hiatus, the group has a new album and dates booked at their hometown Madison Square Garden in April, as well as Coachella, the Summer Sonic festival in Japan and Super Bock, Super Rock in Lisbon, Portugal. The reunion was kicked off with a series of 2010 festival gigs that included Lollapalooza, Outside Lands and Austin City Limits. GIRL TALK — It’s been a slow, steady rise for Gregg Gillis’ DJ project Girl Talk. The endlessly touring party starter graduated from clubs to a festival and theater/auditorium fixture over the past three years. With a new free mix album, he’s in the midst of a tour that will take him to the Hollywood Palladium, Portland’s Roseland Theater in Oregon and Oakland’s Fox Theater in California. FLORENCE + THE MACHINE — The Grammy nominated English group recently added a second show at L.A.’s Greek Theatre to a summer slate Summer Stage in New York and Atlanta’s Fox

MARCH 2011 VENUES TODAY 39

40 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

VT SPOTLIGHT

GOLDEN STATE Despite a struggling economy, California continues to push the industry forward b y J E S S I C A B O U D E V I N & DAV E B R O O K S

t’s been a tough year for the Golden State. Unemployment rates continue to be among the highest in the nation, foreclosures are displacing entire communities in the Central Valley, and the state’s new governor Jerry Brown is promising a new round of bruising budget cuts to close a $24 billion gap. Despite the poor economic climate, California venue operators continue to make investments into their communities. AEG has spent over $2 billon to revitalize downtown Los Angeles, and wants to privately finance a billion-dollar stadium nearby. Nederlander has spent two years working with city leaders to get the San Jose Civic reopened, while Gregg Perloff and his team at Another Planet Entertainment have brought the Fox Theater back to life, reinvigorating the downtown Oakland corridor. Venues Today caught up with managers of some of the top venues in the state to get their take on 2010 and their visions for the future. Lee Zeidman Staples Center and Nokia Theater at L.A. Live What was your most memorable event of 2010? In the theater, it would have to be the MTV Video Music Awards. We took out 2,500 seats and built a new stage inside the building, and we ran their white carpet from the north side of the theater to the north side of our new JW Marriot/Ritz Carlton Hotel. Our team really showed off their creative abilities. At the Staples Center, it would have to be the Roger Waters concerts. It had been 30 years since he had played downtown L.A. and it was good to have him back.

Ultimately was 2010 a good year or bad year for business? It was a fantastic year. Both buildings met or exceeded their budgets and we hosted numerous televised award shows and the Staples Center did over 250 events including Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

What is your sales pitch to booking agents? We’re not just a building anymore. We’ve become an entertainment destination with the hotel, 18 restaurants, the Club Nokia and the Grammy Museum. Our size and scale allows us to host any event. Contact: (213) 742-7255 CONTINUED ON PAGE 42 >

TOPSTOPS

CALIFORNIA•2010

Based on concert and event grosses from Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2010, as reported to Venues Today. VENUE, LOCATION

NO. OF SEATS

TOTAL GROSS

ATTENDANCE SHOWS

> 15,000 AND MORE CAPACITY 1. Staples Center, Los Angeles

20,000

$40,787,443

674,860

2. Empire Polo Club, Indio

180,000

$29,022,019

313,243

3. Oracle Arena, Oakland

19,200

$21,565,504

379,566

4. Honda Center, Anaheim

19,400

$18,112,044

337,675

5. HP Pavilion at San Jose

20,000

$8,513,786

106,622

> 10,001-15,000 CAPACITY 1. Save Mart Center, Fresno

14,883

$7,000,936

148,977

2. Valley View Casino Center, San Diego

14,000

$5,736,827

145,188

3. Long Beach Arena

13,500

$2,813,590

86,340

4. Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario

11,000

$2,344,127

34,855

5. Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord

12,500

$2,076,326

49,879

1. Nokia Theatre L.A. Live

7,100

$18,320,925

343,947

2. Greek Theatre, Los Angeles

5,900

$7,188,190

158,715

3. Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City

6,089

$6,649,573

119,495

4. Pacific Amphitheatre, Costa Mesa

8,500

$4,569,773

155,100

5. Greek Theatre UC Berkeley

8,500

$1,300,800

26,016

1. Club Nokia, Los Angeles

2,300

$5,502,914

132,477

109

2. Santa Barbara Bowl

4,937

$4,511,109

75,234

3. Long Beach Terrace Theater

3,051

$3,026,721

68,949

4. Warfield Theatre, San Francisco

2,250

$2,907,598

75,364

5. San Diego Civic Theatre

2,967

$2,740,913

56,460

> 5,001-10,000 CAPACITY

> 5,000 AND FEWER CAPACITY

Compiled by Josh Huckabee, HotTickets@venuestoday.com

MARCH 2011 VENUES TODAY 41

VT SPOTLIGHT

GOLDEN STATE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 41

Mark Kauffman Oracle Arena, Oakland What was your most memorable event of 2010? It’s probably a toss up between Roger Waters and Usher. They were two sold out events that had played here in the past, but came back a couple years later and still maintained sell-out status. Ultimately was 2010 a good year or bad year for business? 2010 was a very good year for business. It was actually our largest attendance since I’ve been here for the last 10 years, even with the economy the way it is. Contact: (510) 569-2121

Tim Ryan Honda Center, Anaheim Ultimately was 2010 a good year or bad year for business? We certainly faced some challenges, but we’re

Q&A

confident that the excitement over hockey will continue to improve ticket sales and performance at the venue. What is your sales pitch to booking agents? We market our location. We’re only 35 miles from the Staples Center, but Los Angeles and our home of Orange County are two separate markets that can support the same act. Our customers have a strong appetite for live entertainment. Contact: (714) 704-2432

Trisha Newcomb Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario What was your most memorable event of 2010? Citizens Business Bank Arena welcomed some of the legends of the music business in 2010 — The Eagles, Elton John, Vicente Fernandez and more. We also had one of the hottest

shows of the year — Justin Bieber. Ultimately was 2010 a good year or bad year for business? The arena opened in the fall of 2008, at the time of a recession, so we do not have comparisons that date back very far. We had a great year in 2010 with over 100 ticketed events and half-a-million fans that enjoyed the intimacy that Citizens Business Bank Arena offers. What is your sales pitch to booking agents? Citizens Business Bank Arena is the only arena of its kind in a 25-mile radius and serves communities into the desert area as well as the Inland Empire. Contact: (909) 244-5500

Steve Beazley Pacific Amphitheatre, Costa Mesa CONTINUED ON PAGE 44 >

WITH RICK MERRILL, GM FOR GIBSON AMPHITHEATRE AT UNIVERSAL CITYWALK, UNIVERSAL CITY

Reviving the Gibson at 25

b y DAV E B R O O K S

EPORTING FROM LOS ANGELES — The Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal CityWalk celebrates its 25th anniversary this month with $10 million in upgrades. Venues Today spoke with GM Rick Merrill to discuss the changes.

What type of sound upgrades have you made to the Gibson? We installed a first class sound system here, and about 98 percent of the groups that come here use the in-house sound system. They’ll leave their system in the truck and hook up to the monitors we have. We’ve also doubled the capacity of our rigging grid. Are you trying to attract bands that hang larger shows? In 1982, a huge show would mean two trucks. Now you get seven or eight trucks of equipment. We doubled our loading dock from two

42 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

trucks to four trucks. We had a mid-stage fire curtain and a proscenium wall that restricted the down stage height, so two years ago we removed the curtain and opened them all up. We have enough space in here to take any arena-sized show and make it look great. We have a 70-foot wide, 50-foot high clearance that’s about 70 feet deep. How are you accounting for artists new A/V needs? We added high definition projects, large video screens and plasma TVs for the mezzanine. And

from the front of the stage to the back wall, it’s only 150 feet. The views are great from all seats. What improvements have you made to back of house? We built a brand new VIP area back stage with new bars, new audio system, new furniture, landscaping, lighting and new flooring. We’re doing a lot of improvements that don’t necessarily need to be done, but we hope it can enhance the venue and bring it up to date. Contact: (818) 622-4469

VT SPOTLIGHT

GOLDEN STATE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 42

What was your most memorable event of 2010? Being responsive to the fans wanting to see the enormously popular Train show by opening lawn seating once the 8,500 hard seats were sold out. It was the first time we seated the grass since the Pacific Amphitheatre reopened in 2003. Among us, the agent and talent, we collaborated to make sure no fans were turned away from the show. What are your expectations for 2011? Many have asked if we think we will match or beat our 2010 results in 2011, especially with the high amount of competition in the L.A. market. I am a fan of all the venues in SoCal and see the only real competition as our own adherence to the status quo. We must continue to evolve with the customer.

What is your sales pitch to booking agents to bring bands to your arena? We used to be stranded in a long-standing stigma of what it meant for a band to play a fair. It seems now to have turned 180 degrees and agents are able to tell their talent the fair averages 50,000 per day and if fewer than 2 people in 10 choose the concert to attend, their act will play to 8,500 people. There is great strength in numbers like those. Contact: (714) 708-1924

Paul Dore Santa Barbara Bowl What was your most memorable event of 2010? For me, it would have been the Atoms for Peace show, which featured Thom Yorke along with Flea, playing the new Thom Yorke album “Erasure.” It was a very unique show — I think they only played six different cities, so to have them come to the Santa Barbara Bowl was pretty special. Ultimately was 2010 a good year or bad year for business? 2010 was not actually a bad year, although we’ve had better years. Obviously the economy impacted who was available to tour last year. Overall we had a good year, with a lot of sellouts. What are your expectations for 2011? Usually at this time of the year we don’t know many shows that will be available, but this year we’ve already put a bunch of shows on-sale and a few have even sold out. Contact: (805) 455-1565

Don Telford San Diego Civic Theatre What was your most memorable event of 2010? At the Civic Theatre, the most memorable event would definitely be Conan O’Brien, presented by AEG Live San Diego. The booking process was relatively quick, the ticketing set up with the various VIP options was interest-

Make Your History In Our Landmark Venue 3,040 intimate, roomy seats Superior site lines Meyer sound system Unmatched Art Deco splendor Quality, full service Competitive pricing

Booking contact: Leslee Stewart, General Manager 510.893.2300 lstewart@paramounttheatre.com 2025 Broadway, Oakland, CA

ing, with the on-line announcement via a tweet from Conan and the quick sell-out was impressive. Ultimately, was 2010 a good year or a bad year for business? For us, we typically host a lot of Broadway engagements presented by Nederlander’s Broadway/San Diego, but the quantity of those bookings was significantly down in 2010. However, as a result we were able to accommodate such events as Conan O’Brien, Kathy Griffin, Chelsea Handler, Van Morrison, Celtic Thunder, Celtic Woman, and America’s Got Talent. So, numbers-wise we were very much down overall, but we were able to have more diverse performances. What are your expectations of 2011? This year is looking much better. Tickets started selling better at the beginning of the year, and bookings are looking promising. What is your sales pitch to booking agents? We welcome the opportunity of working with all the major promoters, we have a great crew, audiences enjoy experiencing shows here, we have a very large e-blast list, and the bands enjoy their time in the venue. Contact: (619) 615-4000

Adam Millar City National Grove of Anaheim What was your most memorable event of 2010? It wasn’t a concert. We hosted two huge events for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, each serving over 5,000 people. What are your expectations of 2011? We’re off to a really great start. It’s funny because people just woke up and decided to start spending again. What is your sales pitch to booking agents? We have a great sized venue with 1,700 cap; we’ve got the perfect location; we’ve got the track record of selling tickets; and we’ve got a great team in place. Contact: (714) 712-2700

44 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

VT SPOTLIGHT

OAKTOWN GETS DOWN The East Bay comes back to life with ambitious downtown project b y DAV E B R O O K S

EPORTING FROM OAKLAND, CALIF. — Tucked into a nondescript corner of a downtown Oakland theater is the Fox Hole, a secret bar where promoter Gregg Perloff is known to bartend for special guests. “We use this for managers, agents and

friends of ours — but no artists are allowed in here,” jokes Perloff of Another Planet Entertainment. “Well, we have one honorary member — Thom Yorke.” No surprise there — Yorke headlined Perloff’s Outside Lands festival for its 2008 launch, and both Perloff and Yorke like to play by their own rules, especially with music

industry types. Perloff relishes in antagonizing Los Angeles pretension, thumbing his nose at the major promoters and taking on a challenging theater renovation whose very marquee brightly proclaims its location as if it were a badge of honor. The restoration of the 1,700-seat Fox

From left, clockwise: The marquee for the Fox celebrates the hometown spirit; inside the Fox; Gregg Perloff in front of the old soundboard. (VT Photos)

46 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

CONTINUED ON PAGE 48 >

VT SPOTLIGHT

OAKTOWN GETS DOWN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 46

Theater in downtown Oakland is part legacy, and part community revitalization for Perloff, former mayor Jerry Brown (now California governor) and the development team at the California Capital group. Agents are noticing and the building is becoming the Bay Area stop for Grammy winners like The Black Keys, Florence + The Machine and Neil Young.

the-heavens domed ceiling, its colorful blend of terra cotta tiles, intimate ornamentation and two massive golden statues on each end of the stage. “They’re guardians, they’re not deities,” Perloff said. “And don’t say they look like Buddha. That will get you in trouble.” What was once a store front ice cream parlor has been converted into a beautiful sidewalk level bar, with the original soundboard

“THIS IS THE BAY AREA PLAY. YOU WOULDN’T TELL AN ACT TO COME TO SANTA MONICA OR COME DOWNTOWN. YOU WOULD TELL THEM TO DO THE L.A. PLAY. THIS IS THE SAN FRANCISCO PLAY; WE JUST HAPPEN TO BE LOCATED IN OAKLAND.” — GREGG PERLOFF

OAKLANDISH To the San Francisco crowd, the East Bay is either a place for escape, to scoff or to fear. The University of California in Berkeley was the home of the West Coast Anti-Vietnam War movement and civil rights protest, while nearby Contra Costa County developed into a bedroom community for San Francisco. At the center of the East Bay is Oakland, home to the Black Panthers, the Hell’s Angels, and Hyphy rappers E-40 and Too Short. Over time, part of the working class city deteriorated into dangerous ghettos, ravaged by crack cocaine and a triple-digit homicide rate. But in recent years, things have begun to improve. The city’s Lake Merritt neighborhood continues to attract young professionals and families, and the opening of the Fox Theatre has revived the neighborhood around 19th Street and Telegraph Avenue. Perloff was able to keep much of the Fox’s original design intact and preserve its high-as48 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

from the theater used to decorate the long hall leading onto the concourse. Besides the Paramount on Broadway, it’s the only full sized theater in the city of half-amillion people. “It’s a Bay Area venue that happens to be located in Oakland, but whether it’s in San Francisco or in the East Bay, we sell tickets all over,” said Perloff. The city has a rich history of drawing fans from all over the Bay Area, whether it’s the young punk rock crowds that loiter outside of 924 Gilman in nearby Berkeley or music lovers who enjoy sashimi and straightahead jazz at Yoshis. It also helps the Fox to be only a short walk away from a Bay Area Rapid Transit stop, which connects the entire region from San Francisco to Concord. For most bands booked by Another Planet Entertainment “this is the Bay Area play. You wouldn’t tell an act to come to Santa Monica or come downtown. You would tell them to do the L.A. play,” Perloff said. “This is

the San Francisco play; we just happen to be located in Oakland.” AN IDEA BORN IN TABOO For developer Phil Tagami with California Capital Partners, the idea to restore and reopen the Fox Theatre went beyond the realm of business. “My parents had their first date there in the 1950s so it was kind of sentimental,” said Tagami, who has developed a number of theaters in the area and once worked as a roadie with Bill Graham Presents. Tagami’s parents were a mixed-race couple and despite the Bay Area’s progressive psyche, their courtship was often met with disapproval. But the couple’s love lasted, long past the demise of the movie theater business and Oakland’s blue-collar migration to the suburbs. Certainly longer than the Fox, which closed in 1966. Fast forward 30 years and Tagami, now a successful Bay Area developer and builder, has his sights on reopening the theatre. Working with Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, Tagami found a permanent tenant for the Fox — the Oakland School for the Arts, a conservatorystyle junior high and high school that uses classrooms connected to the theater. Each year, the school puts on two largescale productions on the Fox’s main stage. Beyond housing the school, Tagami knew the theater would need a full time management and booking company, so he put the contract out to bid and eventually selected Another Planet, which managed the nearby Greek Theatre in Berkeley, along with the Independent and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Perloff already had experience restoring theaters with San Francisco’s Warfield, as well as the Wiltern in Los Angeles. But the level of work and restoration needed at the Fox was unprecedented. “We had fire damage, we had mold, we had lead and all kinds of toxins that had to be cleaned up,” he said. Perloff hired 20 artists just to repaint the ceiling and replaced plumbing, electrical wiring and all of the bathrooms. A topof-the-line PA and rigging system was brought CONTINUED ON PAGE 51 >

VT SPOTLIGHT

Q&A

WITH NICK MASTERS, CHAIRMAN OF LIVE NATION SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

L.A. Rising

b y DAV E B R O O K S

EPORTING FROM LOS ANGELES — L and A. Those two letters, when combined, mean many different things to many different people. Spend some time at the city’s historic venues and your understanding of what L.A. is — and isn’t — starts to change. After all, Los Angeles is home to pretty much every component of the music business, and artists, agents and promoters are continually crossing paths. And don’t forget the fans. For all of its pretension, L.A. is still a town filled with music geeks. Highly critical, fickle geeks, but geeks all the same. So how do you stand out in a town where everyone has the right to an opinion? It’s a challenge, but Nick Masters, chairman of Live Nation Southern California, likes a challenge. Masters oversees eight venues in the world’s second largest media market, home to 10 million Angelenos. In February, Venues Today sat down with Masters to talk about promoting shows for the showbiz crowd.

The Grammys wrapped up last week. Did you see any bumps in ticket sales for artists like Rihanna who perform or win awards? The broad answer is yes. Live Nation is doing the Rihanna tour and we’re seeing an increase all over the country. Any time an artist receives that much coverage, something positive happens. Live Nation recently added John Legend as the support for the Sade tour. Is this a case of bridging two generations of music? Years ago when Paul Simon and Bob Dylan toured together, many purists who listened to them in their prime never thought those two would be in the same city, let alone concert, but it turned out to be a huge success. Not only does Sade make great music, but she only tours every four or five years. People who are fans know they have to see her now. Adding John Legend was an opportunity to give fans a little more for their money in these difficult times. Last time she came out, she had India.Aria support, which was a great offer then. On the opposite end of the spectrum you have Glee, which has been enormously successful. Why has it done so well? What you’re seeing is the power of a hit television show and the influence of a generation. It’s one thing to like something — it’s another thing when your kids like it. Glee could have done a month when they did their early tour at the Gibson Amphitheatre in L.A. The tickets sold out in a heartbeat — we did four shows. And it’s a phenomenon all over the world. I was staying at a hotel in London that was also housing the

50 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

Glee cast, and it was mobbed with kids. Does being a hub for booking agents and the music industry make the city more competitive for booking bands? This is the most competitive market in the world, more competitive than New York because we have more venues. But that’s what we do; we’re promoters and we get our fair share of artists. There’s a lot of talk in the concert industry about pricing tickets. How have you communicated this issue to the artist community? Pricing is an issue. You can keep raising the guarantee that you’re offering bands, but it’s eventually going to come back with the ticket price and you’ll find a place where everyone looks at themselves and asks whether the public will pay. We’ve had shows come to town that were considered too expensive during these recessionary times and they’ve not done the business they expected to do. Everyone is a lot more focused over the last two years on ticket pricing. Do you think venues are at a disadvantage since there are so many artists and so few venues that can actually play them? Yes. You have to learn to be smart in the long run. We’ve all bought the wrong show at the wrong time. There’s a famous quote at our company that goes ‘There’s no such thing as a bad show, just a bad deal.’ It’s an educated game that you play, and at the end of the year, you need to have more wins than losses.

The radio market has changed the way you do business. Look at popular stations like KROQ in Los Angeles — they’ve shifted from a modern rock format, to a legacy format with more music from bands that are 10 to 20 years old, as opposed to new bands like Muse. Does that hurt artist development? There is only a handful of rock bands that can fill arenas. If you start bundling up the years you can name a lot of names, but there are only a few in any given year who are doing a lot. Look at Muse, for example. They just finished doing three nights of arena shows between L.A. and Orange County. The last time they played L.A., they were at the Wiltern. Right, they kind of blew up overnight. Sure, if you consider that most overnight success takes about 10 years. Muse was a huge band in Europe before they were huge here, but they took the time to play the smaller rooms, to get the buzz and create the energy. So you can ask why there aren’t more bands like Muse and I tell you they’ve been here the whole time. How is the outdoor amphitheater business performing? If you look at the Verizon Amphitheatre in Irvine, on any given night, there was a rock show, there was a pop show, a country show or a Latin show. We are in the eighth year of doing a Christian music festival that always sells out — we do every genre because we know we can’t just own a venue and do one thing. Thankfully everything works — last year Irvine had the Jonas Brothers, Jimmy Buffet and Lilith Fair.

VT SPOTLIGHT OAKTOWN GETS DOWN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 48

How important is information technology to the way you do business? Our biggest agenda for 2011 is to be more effective with the way we use information — both with the Internet and mobile apps. The better we use databases, the more clients and customers we reach and the better message we can send. In the past we’ve had a lot of names, but now we’re learning how to refine those names. We don’t want to spam people, so we’re getting better at refining the message and targeting the message. That, in essence, allows us to trim our advertising and make it more effective. The less we spend on advertising, the more we can pay the act. What is your sales pitch to the booking agents? We are very fortunate because we live in the center of the universe for the music business. Over 90 percent of our clients either live in the city or visit here almost as often as New York. We constantly bring managers, artists and agents to the venues.

in, while a brand new soundboard was dropped in the middle of the floor. Back of house was upgraded and spaces were made not just for bands, but for their productions — six showers near the green room are designated for roadies. Total pricetag for the project was $54 million, but “to build this theater would have cost $300 million, which would have been impossible,” said Perloff, before adding “I’m out of my mind to have taken this project on.” ‘ARE YOU FROM ANOTHER PLANET?’ Back in the Fox Hole, the secret bar in the Theater, Perloff plays bartender to an empty room. A bottle of hometown distilled Hangar One Vodka sits on the top shelf, but Perloff said he typically recommends a glass of red from the Silver Oak Cellars in nearby Napa Valley. It’s almost show time and he’s feeling a bit feisty. “If you talk to the Bowery guys in New York, or C3 or Jam, we’ve all had the best year we’ve ever had. I think it’s only the big companies who are having problems right now,” he said of fellow independent promoters. Perloff’s been on both sides of the business. After his boss Bill Graham died in a helicopter crash in 1991, the company was gobbled

up by Robert Sillerman and his firm SFX, which was later sold to Clear Channel Entertainment and then spun off as Live Nation. Today, the world’s largest promoter has a large foothold in the Bay Area with two amphitheaters and a number of clubs including Graham’s famed Fillmore. It was clear early on that Perloff didn’t fit with the corporate culture of Clear Channel, and he began to resist the new directives he was receiving from Beverly Hills. It wasn’t long before an executive with the company phoned Perloff and asked him a question that would later become the namesake of Perloff’s new venture — “What’s wrong with you guys? Are you from another planet?” Perloff soon left, formed his own company and signed the Greek Theatre as his first client. Since then, he’s made peace with his former employer and watched as other international firms like AEG move in on the Bay Area. “I don’t really pay attention to what they’re doing,” he said. “We go to work early, we stay late, we work hard and we try to do better than we did last time.” Interviewed for this story: Gregg Perloff, (510) 548-3010; Phil Tagami, (510) 268-8500

With Los Angeles being such an industry town, how do you keep comps under control? It is a situation that everyone is keenly aware of — you negotiate that up front. You either designate a number of comp tickets, or you make it a no comp show. If the artist wants to bring people, they pay for their tickets. If we want to bring guests, we pay for our tickets. It’s a show by show negotiation and you know that when you play L.A., you’re going to have more people coming, you’re going to be entertaining more people and there will be more phone calls. It’s just the nature of this town – it’s one of the perks and it’s one of the problems. But trust me, it’s more of a perk. What is your projection for 2011? I am cautiously optimistic. Last year was very challenging, but you’re starting to see the business come back. Not just concerts, but in restaurants and retail. Is business fantastic? No. But do we expect a better year this year? Yes, we do. Contact: 310-598-4060

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SNAP SHOT 3

2011 NBA ALL-STAR GAME Staples Center, Los Angeles Feb. 20, 2011 p h o t o s b y V E N U E S T O DAY 5

1 >> NBA All-Star week is a time for

Street entrance.

Pictured are publicist Cara Vanderhook,

legends, and pictured here are two of the

4 >> Grammy-winning recording artist

operations manager Mike Robbins, Nokia legendary hip hop trio Run DMC rocks

biggest names in professional basketball

John Legend poses for the paparazzi.

— Clyde Drexler and Kareem Abdul Jabbar. He’ll be touring arenas this summer as

8 >> Darryl “DMC” McDaniels from the

Theatre Asst. GM Don Graham, Russell

out on the red carpet.

Gordon from Nokia Theatre, Cassie

9 >> Kevin Dobstaff, VP of Live

2 >> Blake Griffith from the Los Angeles

an opener for Sade.

Zebisch in communications and AEG pro-

Programming and Entertainment for the

Clippers won Saturday’s slam dunk con-

5 >> NBA TV broadcast the red carpet

duction manager Ryan Golden.

NBA, shares post-event notes with

test. He takes a moment here on the red

arrivals while reporter Maria Menounos

7 >> TNT won the broadcast rights to the Staples Center GM Lee Zeidman.

carpet to speak with NBA TV reporter

interviews Laker and NBA All-Star Pau

game and televised its pre-game cover-

10 >> Glee cast member Jenna Ushkowitz

Maria Menounos.

Gasol.

age from the red carpet. Pictured are

shows her true colors on the red carpet.

3 >> The arena gets into the spirit of the

6 >> The real celebrities of All-Star

former NBA star Chris Webber, analyst

11 >> NBA Commissioner David Stern

National Basketball Association game

week are the AEG team who work behind

Steve Smith and former NBA coach and

awards Kobe Bryant the 2011 NBA All-

with monster graphics along its Figueroa

the scenes to pull the event together.

star Kevin McHale.

Star Most Valuable Player award.

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NEDERLANDER EFFECT Boutique promoter brings vibrancy back to San Jose and San Diego b y DAV E B R O O K S

Thievery Corporation rocks the San Diego's RIMAC Arena.

t’s going to be a busy summer for the team at Nederlander Entertainment. In May, the California promoter will complete the renovation for the San Jose Civic, a 3,000-seat auditorium set to permanently reopen in May for its 75th anniversary season. Then later in July, they’ll bring Sugarland to the RIMAC Field in San Diego, the first outdoor concert at the facility after landing the contract to manage the field and arena. “RIMAC Arena and Field are superior venues and we have enjoyed working with UC San Diego’s facilities team and their students over the years,” said company CEO Alex Hodges in a statement. “We look forward to building on this relationship, by applying our booking and promotional expertise to deliver the best live entertainment to the fans in San Diego.” Nederlander has signed a multiyear deal for the 4,741-seat arena and the 20,000-person field to exclusively promote and produce a 54 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

minimum of six concerts per year. The partnership will have students from UC San Diego actively participate as interns for production, marketing, booking and programming. The first show scheduled for the arena is an April 8 concert with Rise Against and Bad Religion. In both San Diego and San Jose, Nederlander’s entrance into the market creates a more competitive landscape for promoters. In San Diego, Live Nation exclusively books San Diego State University’s Viejas Arena, downtown’s House of Blues and Chula Vista’s Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre. AEG Live exclusively books Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay and the Del Mar Racetrack’s annual Four O’Clock Friday concert series, and maintains a controlling interest in Valley View Casino Center (formerly the San Diego Sports Arena). Shoot up to the Silicon Valley, and the the San Jose Civic deal marks the L.A. promoter’s farthest move north to date. In San Jose, Nederlander will manage the

renovated facility, which recently underwent a $10 million upgrade complete with a new $1 million sound system, upgraded dressing rooms and increased capacity for restrooms. “Both the fixed seating and the temporary seating are 100 percent new,” said Nederlander CEO Alex Hodges. “It’s very comfortable and it’s something we really fought hard for — it’s not just strictly cosmetic. It really has value for the fans, the artists and the experience.” Hodges and his team recently traveled to the Civic for San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed’s State of the City address. Although not completely finished, the Civic just hosted four nights with Disney Live! “Mickey’s Magic Show.” The venue has also hosted concerts by Steely Dan, Willie Nelson, Crosby, Stills and Nash and the Jaguares. It officially opens its doors as a completed venue on May 6 for a concert by Yanni. Nederlander’s partners on the project are Team San Jose (the city’s convention and tourism agency) and the San Jose Redevelopment Agency, which financed the deal. Additional improvements include a new exterior LED lighting system, new concession stands, refurbished hardwood floors, a new high definition video system and new exterior and interior paint. “Through partnership and cooperation, this building looks and feels revitalized,” said Dan Fenton, CEO Team San Jose. “When all the renovations are complete, this will be not only a remarkable concert venue and meeting space, but it’s another great activity in downtown for locals and visitors alike.” Interviewed for this story: Alex Hodges, (323) 817-6106; Dan Fenton, (408) 792-4511

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MARKETING

CODE WORD: MARKETING QR Codes combine the efficiency of UPC codes with the universalism of smart phones by L I Z B OA R D M A N

QR Codes are changing the way marketers communicate with their customers.

little square box that looks like a cross between a bar code and a maze has begun popping up on marketing and promotional collateral lately. For the uninitiated, the little squares are QR (quick response) codes — a two-dimensional bar code that can encode thousands of characters. More and more, they are being used to quickly connect smart phone users to Web sites, contact information, promotional videos and discounts. The codes can

56 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

be generated free on several Web sites (and some allow users to track how many hits they have received. “It is exciting to talk about,” said Vicki Silver, chief marketing officer for Feld Entertainment. “It is a new way to extend the brand.” Feld began experimenting with QR codes with its newest tour, Nuclear Cowboyz, a freestyle motocross show that takes place in a postapocalyptic world. “Nuclear Cowboyz was in town and it

was their first time in the market, so there was not instant name recognition,” said Dave Redelberger, promotions manager for the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. “We are in the Ohio State area and were talking about how to get to the students. We hung posters and used table tents, but it didn’t completely sell it.” Working with Feld, Redelberger used a QR code on the tabletop collateral that included a link to a sizzle reel to get students excited about the show.

MARKETING

“It’s a great opportunity to use it,” Redelberger said. “The students all have phones and are using them in their dining and residence halls.” While Redelberger said they did not track response, and they did not expect the QR Code to impact ticket sales. “We wanted to make them excited about the show,” Redelberger said. “They may not make the ticket decision on the phone, since it’s not like Brad Paisley or Taylor Swift — [Nuclear Cowboyz] is not as known.”

lic spaces across the greater Philadelphia region. “We didn’t really know what to expect,” Godsey said. “A couple of hundred people accessed it. We were not overwhelmed by it, but right now, it’s used by early adapters, and we are trying to get ahead of it.” Since that experiment, they have used QR codes on family show handbills, like Sesame Street Live, linking the code to the television spot and ticket offers, and on packet schedules for the Philadelphia Wings

“WE CAN CONTINUALLY REFRESH, WHICH MAKES THE PROGRAM BOOK A LIVING, BREATHING ENTITY.” — VICKI SILVER “It is a new brand, in its second year of touring,” Silver said. “But the video sells the show and sells the brand.” Codes used on other promotional pieces included links to the performers and the Nuclear Cowgirlz models. The videos are located on a YouTube page that is private for the brand, Silver said. “But it enables the viewer to share with friends, and extend the story,” she said. Other venues are trying them out as well. The Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia used the codes to promote Walking with Dinosaurs. “We had a viral video and were looking for a way to distribute it in a viral way,” said Dustin Godsey, marketing director. The video — filmed with a Flip Cam — captured an “escape” by baby T-Rex, and his adventures in Philadelphia. “Rather than putting it on the Web site and posters, we wanted people to be able to access it immediately,” Godsey said. They put a QR code linked to the video on “missing dinosaur” posters that resembled homemade “lost dog” posters, Godsey said. They were placed on telephone poles and pub-

lacrosse team which are linked to a discount page. “We have tracked a few sales off of it,” Godsey said. They are also testing a QR code on the Jumbotron, Godsey said, that visitors will be able to scan to register to win tickets. Feld’s Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey circus program book will include five QR codes, each linked to exclusive content, including chats with the producers, features on the elephants in performance, Feld’s elephant conservation program, and fun facts about the Greatest Show on Earth — like what it takes to be a world class athlete working in the circus, Silver said. There is also a link to a 10-minute video that is part of the Circus Fit program, encouraging children to be more active. Tickets.com’s ProVenue used a QR code to gather leads at the recent International Ticketing Association INTIX trade show in San Francisco. They created an advertisement that included a contest to win an iPad. People could enter the contest by scanning the QR code, which led to a mobile phone-friendly entry form, or they

could send a text. “We felt we could not limit the opportunity because someone did not have access to a smart phone,” said Chaeli Walker, marketing manager of Tickets.com. While many sites offer free generation of QR codes, Silver said Feld made a “small investment” in order to be able to change the content over time, and to have better analytics. Using the company BeQRious allows Feld to change content over time. “We can continually refresh, which makes the program book a living, breathing entity,” Silver said. Approximately 33 percent of cell phone users are using smart phones, but QR code marketing is in its infancy, so it is important to educate the user on how to use the code, Godsey said. “It’s not natural yet,” Godsey said. “You still need to tell them to download a QR code reader to access discounts or video.” Interviewed for this story: Chaeli Walker, (714) 4548150; David Redelberger, (614) 247-7433; Dustin Godsey, (215) 389-9557; Vicki Silver, (703) 448- 4000

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING APPLY TO YOU? You use free apps on your smartphone ....... 57% You use apps on your smartphone that you paid for ................................................... 26% You don’t use any apps on your smartphone.. 19% N/A - you don’t own a smartphone.............. 17% No response/Not sure.................................... 4%

Responses add up to more than 100% since respondents were allowed to select more than one option. Results from respondents from the February 2011 Turnkey Venues Poll, a collaboration between Venues Today magazine and Turnkey Sports and Entertainment. If interested in participating, email linda@venuestoday.com.

MARCH 2011 VENUES TODAY 57

CONCESSIONS

> > S U P E R B OW L < <

DOUBLE DAY OF EATING Legends Hospitality posts a record per cap despite weather hurdles at Super Bowl XLV b y L I N DA D E C K A R D

verything was super-sized in Texas, from the per cap ($89) to the menu ($25, three-pound hamburger meal deal) to the weather (tent-collapsing ice and snow) for food and drink at Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Texas, Feb. 7. Michael Bekolay, VP of operations, Cowboys Legends Hospitality, called the experience — his third Super Bowl and first for Legends — one that took all the planning he could manage…and then some. The what-if scenarios mostly revolved around weather and “if” happened. He knew the stadium had the product and the personnel to proLegends Hospitality Super Bowl burger.

58 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

vide for the 103,219 football fans and other attendees who came to Cowboys Stadium, and at an $89 per cap, they obviously managed it. Some 3,000 of those were fed in the viewing party area, without access to the stadium. And 400 ticket holders who were displaced because weather prevented installation sign-off on their temporary seating were fed for free in a bunker suite atmosphere. “It was very much a last minute effort to help the 400. We did a yeoman’s job,” Bekolay said. “We opened up a bar and they got food and beverage in an area that didn’t have any of that.” “Where I failed in management was I didn’t go deep enough in my backup plans,” he admitted. “I only went to Plan D. I should have had E and F.”

On first look, the problem was that with the influx of temporary seating to increase capacity beyond 100,000, Legends was going to lose some facilities and points of sale. “Our concern back in November was what do we do if the weather is inclement and we don’t have enough facilities for people, particularly in the end zones?” Bekolay recalled. He knew going in they were losing 80 permanent points of sale to the temporary seating. So the initial plan was hatched, Plan B, to move points of sale outside. Plan C revolved around what to do if the weather was miserable outside. So the decision was made to install tents if it became necessary. “When we saw the long-range weather forecast, two weeks out, we decided to go with Plan C which

CONCESSIONS

was raise those heated tents,” Bekolay said. That was not so simple because the Super Bowl campus has grown exponentially over the years, culminating in a Cowboys Stadium footprint that was 2.5 million jam-packed square feet, and that doesn’t include parking, according to Jerry Anderson, Populous, a consultant to Super Bowl who spoke at the Stadium Managers Association meeting in Huntington Beach, Calif. on the topic right after the event. That square footage is crammed with all sorts of stakeholders, from 250,000 sq. ft. for 10,000 people at the Tailgate Party to a 15,000-20,000-capacity Interactive Zone to operation compounds that displaced 6,000-7,000 parking spaces, Anderson said. The NFL Experience was about the only event off-site this year, and that took 850,000-1 million square feet, Anderson continued. It was attended by 250,000 people. Back at

Cowboys Stadium, a 24,000-sq.-ft. warehouse has to be carved out for Facility Merchandising Inc., which is the official merchandiser for the National Football League’s Super Bowl. The broadcasts and pageantry are important components of Super Bowl and also consume space. Fox TV needs 80,000 sq. ft. and the NFL Network took 200,000-220,000 sq. ft., Anderson listed. That all made Legends’ need for tents a bit of a challenge logistically. “There was originally no space, but as the weather forecast started to dwindle and we experienced inclement weather in early January, it widened everyone’s eyes,” Bekolay said. Knowing it could be miserable in four weeks time, they fast-tracked construction of four 80 X 100-ft. heated tents, each with 40 points of sale, for hospitality. Going into Super Bowl week, “the tents were up and we started loading them up with

our points of sale, and lo and behold, we had catastrophic weather, freezing, on Tuesday,” Bekolay remembered. “That was not insurmountable, but we were in the midst of setting up and we had freezing rain and all the trucks were off the road. We couldn’t do anything.” Add to the drama that the Owners Party, also usually held off campus, was slated for Cowboys Stadium on Thursday night. “We hosted them because the facility is so beautiful,” Bekolay said. Fortunately, it warmed up a little and the party was a success, but on Thursday evening, another five inches of snow fell. “When we came in on Friday morning we started doing more work on the tents outside and recognized that we had issues with snow coming off the roof,” he said. “The gutters were jammed up by ice and snow came off the top of the facility and collapsed one of our tents CONTINUED ON PAGE 60 >

MARCH 2011 VENUES TODAY 59

CONCESSIONS DOUBLE DAY OF EATING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 59

outside. At that point, we became a safety risk, standing underneath the drip line.” The fire marshal was brought in and decided that before Legends could have ingress or egress from the facility, at least along the drip line, snow on the roof had to be cleared. “By then it was too late to remove the tents we had outside. We just had to hope and pray they would withstand the remaining snow that would still come off the roof. Well, sure enough, they didn’t, so we lost all four of our major tents outside. That was on Friday and Saturday.” That was Plan C. “Plan D was, okay we lost the tents outside so let’s move our equipment from the interior of the tents to the exterior so we can at least serve our guests from the exterior of the tents but, unfortunately, the tents were in such bad state from a safety perspective that we couldn’t even rescue our equipment at that point,” Bekolay said. It was now too late for the tent company to even disassemble the tents, “so we went to plan D-7-4,” he said, which was to emphasize the hawking program and load up hot boxes manned by vendors with aprons. They hawked personal pan pizzas, bread bowls with chili and gourmet box lunches, along with more traditional

vendor items. “We pushed them out onto the concourse to take the load off the limited number of concessions stands we had,” he said. Legends had 700 existing points of sale open for the game and added another 100 in initial planning. There were almost 500 vendors working the concourses and stands. The last minute scrambling couldn’t really change the numbers personnel wise, because Legends, like all Super Bowl planners, had to complete the credentialing process in early December. Legends was able to add product, but not vendors. Legends alone credentialed 5,500 staff for Super Bowl and brought in a visiting support management group of 55 managers from all its properties, which include Yankee Stadium and Legends Select minor league properties. A normal Cowboys football game food staff numbers 3,000 and the last Super Bowl employed 3,500, Bekolay said. “For the most part, we were in pretty good shape,” Bekolay said of the experience. “I didn’t hear of or witness any long lines. Speed of service wasn’t an issue and you can’t do that kind of per cap unless you are moving people.” Legends offered several Super Bowl specialties for the first time. One was a Super 16 Burger, which was priced $25, “but it was out-

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60 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

IN YOUR OPINION, DID HOSTING SUPER BOWL XLV IN DALLAS AND ITS NEW FOOTBALL STADIUM LIVE UP TO THE HYPE? Yes ............................................................... 32% No ............................................................... 61% No response / Not sure.................................. 7%

Results from respondents from the February 2011 Turnkey Venues Poll, a collaboration between Venues Today magazine and Turnkey Sports and Entertainment. If interested in participating, email linda@venuestoday.com.

rageous,” Bekolay said. In all, 700 were sold. It included a 16-ounce U.S. prime chuck patty, topped with jack cheese and served with slaw, fried onions and Legends own smoked chopped barbecue sauce. The whole thing weighed three pounds. “We needed a signature piece where people said, ‘oh my god, did you see the size of that thing.’” The North Texas Chicken Fried Turkey Sandwich, also $25, was gobbled up by 450 customers, Bekolay said. Except for specialty items, Legends held prices to last year’s Super Bowl, he said. The hot dog was the same at $7; the 16-ounce beer the same at $10. “We were sensitive about maintaining prices in this economy,” he said, adding that the NFL controls prices, though they left it open for Legends to augment the existing menu. “People who wanted standard fare and were more price sensitive, fine, but we also had cool stuff for people who wanted to venture out there. Based on sales, 20 percent ventured,” he said. Super Bowls are, in his experience, “like a controlled explosion. You know in the back of your mind that something’s got to go sidewise somewhere. My surprise was we didn’t have a hiccup. No pianos came through the window. We had contingency plans in place for everything, at least one level of plans,” Bekolay said. Weather did not deter staff or fans on game day. In fact, it was 50 degrees outside. Super Bowl is, he noted, “a double day of eating. Gates open at noon for a 5:30 kickoff.” In all, Legends posted a food and drink gross of more than $9.1 million, which stats say is “more money spent in one day on food and drink at Super Bowl XLV than ever before in the event’s 45-year history and possibly the highest ever for a professional sporting event.” Interviewed for this story: Michael Bekolay, (817) 8924575; Jerry Anderson, (303) 382-2780

FA C E S & P L A C E S > > M A N AG E M E N T David Anderson has been appointed to regional director of Operations for AEG Facilities. Anderson started his career with AEG at Staples Center in ANDERSON 2000 and in 2003 served as the assistant GM and VP for the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. He most recently assisted with the openings of the MasterCard Center in Beijing, the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai and the Turk Telekom Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. Prior to joining AEG Facilities, Anderson worked in guest services at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, Calif.

responsibilities and promotions within the Boston Bruins and TD Garden Marketing Department. Elizabeth d’Entremont, who formerly served as Bruins DIPIERRO Marketing manager, will now serve as Digital Marketing manager for the Bruins and arena. Chris DiPierro will now lead the overall digital marketing initiatives for the Boston Bruins and MAKOVITZ TD Garden as an expansion of his current role as director of Marketing for the Boston Bruins. Rachael Makovitz will take on an expanded role in the newly created position of stratePARSONS gic Marketing manager for both the Bruins and TD Garden. Cole Parsons will become Creative Marketing manager.

Visit Charlotte (N.C.) has announced the addition of its new Chicago-based National Sales Manager, Lyn AcocellaBagley. Acocella-Bagley was ACOCELLA-BAGLEY previously the senior account Bess Eberhardt has joined the executive for Marriott International. San Diego (Calif.) Convention Center Corporation as director of Terry Beutler has been named Business Development. Eberhardt director of Sales at George R. has nearly 30 years of experiEBERHARDT Brown Convention Center in ence in the hospitality industry. Houston. Beutler comes to the convention center with more than Greg Flakus, president of GF Strategies, has BEUTLER 30 years of experience in hotel taken on a second role as fill-in broadcaster for sales and bookings. the Portland (Ore.) Timbers of Major League Soccer. Radio broadcasting was his first career Liza Cartmell is resigning her position as group and he traveled with the old Portland Timbers president, Aramark Sports & Entertainment. of the North American Soccer League. The transition will take about two months. At this point, there are no plans to fill the post. Contemporary Services Corporation (CSC) has announced the appointment of Mark Glaser as SMG has named Mike Cera as GM of Stockton senior VP of Operations and Jim Granger as Ballpark, Bob Hope Theatre and Oak Park Ice president. Prior to his promotion, Glaser held Arena all located in Stockton, Calif. the position of VP of Operations and regional manager for the West Coast branch offices. Edlen Electrical Exhibition Granger will replace former president Damon Services has announced the Zumwalt. Zumwalt will retain his title as CEO. additions of Dan Concepcion as GM to its San Francisco office Delaware North Companies, and Julia Simmons as event operator of the TD Garden, CONCEPCION manager to its San Antonio Boston, has announced the addioffice. Prior to joining Edlen, Concepcion tion of Mark Kastrud as director worked as GM of the Monterey (Calif.) of Corporate Partnerships and KASTRUD Conference Center. Matthew Silberman as Event Operations manager. Prior to The Boston Bruins and joining the Garden, Kastrud Delaware North Companies, worked for the Boston Cannons operators of TD Garden, have as their VP and GM. Silberman announced the expansion of previously worked for the Memphis

Redbirds as a Promotions/Marketing assistant. Pat Lynch has left his position at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission after 17 years managing the coliseum, the L.A. Sports Arena and Exposition Park. Lynch resigned Feb. 15 in an email to his board of directors. The Breckenridge (Colo.) Convention and Visitors’ Bureau (BCVB) has hired Stacy Long as outside sales representative and Angela Miller as sales coordinator. The Greater Madison (Wis.) Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) has announced the internal promotions of both Katrin Madayag-Ard and Diane Morgenthaler. Madayag-Ard has been with the company since 2006 and has been promoted to Organizational Research manager. She also plays for the Unholy Rollers of the Mad Rollin’ Dolls roller derby league.

MADAYAG-ARD

MORGENTHALER

Greg Phillips will be joining the Arts Consulting Group, Inc. as vice president based in its San Francisco and Portland, Ore., offices. Phillips brings 35 years of experience in performing arts management, marketing, finance and human resources to the position. He most recently served as executive director of Portland (Ore.) Center Stage. Global Spectrum has promoted Robyn Schon to GM at Roanoke (Va.) Civic Center. She replaces Chris Connolly, who has been promoted to GM of the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. Schon most recently served as the assistant GM at the Roanoke Civic Center and has worked in facility management for 25 years. The Atlas Performing Arts Center, Washington, has named Sam Sweet, a veteran manager of Washington theaters, to be its new executive director. Sweet has served as a consultant and interim executive director at Atlas for the last year. Josh Swy has been named account executive of Sales for MTS Seating. Swy began working in product development and design at MTS while still in high school.

SILBERMAN D’ENTREMONT

MARCH 2011 VENUES TODAY 61

FA C E S & P L A C E S > > M A N AG E M E N T Thomas Veit has been named senior VP of Live Events at WWE. Prior to joining WWE, Veit was president of Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union and PPL Park.

> > PA S S I N G S

ADVERTISING OPS Midwest Mindset Showcase your Midwest venue in April! It’s also our INTIX Quarterly issue with a focus on Major League Soccer and an in-depth on National Public Radio.

JAMES JOSEPH “JIMMIE” DELORETTO — 57, owner of Starplex Corporation, died Feb. 4 in Salem, Ore. DeLoretto was raised in Salem and attended Southern Oregon University in Ashland. His empire began in 1979 when he started his first company, Crowd Management Services (CMS), that serviced clients in Oregon at concerts, fairs, festivals and sporting events and eventually branched out to include Washington, Montana, Alaska and Idaho. CMS evolved into Starplex Corporation which celebrated its 32nd anniversary this year. He is survived by his wife, Mary West; his children, Meghan and Luke Keysboe; his mother, Virginia DeLoretto; brother, Chip DeLoretto; sisters, Joan DeLoretto, Charli DeLoretto and Sue Rabe.

> > H E L P WA N T E D

Bonus Distribution: INTIX members; IAVM’s Region 5 conference in New Orleans April 17-20 and Region 4 conference in Seattle, April 29-May 2. Advertising Deadline: March 18, 2011

Cooking with Concessions Our May issue will be a treat! We’re spotlighting the latest in concessions and including a chart on concession companies. Also in this issue is our

CLAY COUNTY FAIR SECRETARY / MANAGER Due to retirement, we are accepting applications for the position of Secretary/Manager of the World’s Greatest County Fair — the Clay County Fair! Located in Spencer, Iowa, the Clay County Fair is a northwest Iowa regional fair with district livestock shows and approximately 600 commercial exhibitors, with a large agricultural flavor. Grandstand entertainment features topnotch name entertainment. Applicants with business experience along with fair experience preferred. Job to commence on or about August 1, 2011.

annual Australasia spotlight so reserve your ad space early! Bonus Distribution: 2011 Venue Management Assoc. Congress and Showcase, May 15-17, Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia; National Assoc. of Concessionaires, July 12-15, Anaheim; IAVM’s VenueConnect, July 25-29, Phoenix; Assoc. of Luxury Suite Directors, June 26-29, Los Angeles. Advertising Deadline: April 18, 2011

Family and Florida June kicks us off with the dynamic energy of summer days. We’ve got our first feature of Five under 30-Youth on the Move and a spotlight on Florida venues. We’ll also be focusing on Family Shows and an in-depth of IMG Stars on Ice. Advertise today! Bonus Distribution: Florida Facility Managers Assoc., June 12-14, Palm Beach, FL; Event and Arena

A job description is available upon request. Applications will be accepted until May 10, 2011, or until the position is filled. Letters of interest with resume may be submitted to cdelser53@yahoo.com or dsaunders@aea8.k12.ia.us. More information or questions may be directed by telephone to Dean at 712-262-2980 or to Charles at 712-262-2040

62 VENUES TODAY MARCH 2011

Marketing Conference, June 15-18, Indianapolis; Assoc. of Luxury Suite Directors, June 26-29, Los Angeles; IAVM’s VenueConnect, Phoenix. Advertising Deadline: May 23, 2011

To reserve your advertising space in Venues Today contact: Southeastern U.S. Jim McNeil (207) 699-3343 jim@venuestoday.com

West, Midwest, Northeast & Int’l Rich DiGiacomo (310) 429-3678 rich@venuestoday.com

Australasia John Benett +61-418-734-303 john@venuestoday.com

Texas, Fairs & Festivals Josh Huckabee (714) 378-5400 josh@venuestoday.com

Marketing & Advertising Sales Samantha Le (714) 378-5400 samantha@venuestoday.com

IN HIS OWN WORDS

A Call for Change b y A DA M F R I E D M A N , f o r m e r C E O o f N e d e r l a n d e r C o n c e r t s ( w i t h h e l p f r o m DAV E B R O O K S )

aving worked at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles for five years, I developed a way to tell the difference between professionals and amateurs. The amateurs call and ask for free tickets — the professionals call and ask for parking. They’re willing to pay for their tickets, but they know how difficult parking can be.

People don’t want to pay $120 for a concert ticket. And if they do, they’re not going to do it twice in the same season. So we lose volume, we lose frequency and eventually it’s going to take down industry players.

* * * * * * In 2011, we’ll probably see some lift in revenue and ticket sales will probably go back up, but it will be unfortunate if people think our problems are over simply because the economy has improved. Any initial lift the industry is going to get isn’t because there’s a new model in place that is effective — it’s because the general economic trends have improved and the boost we’re in isn’t endemic of the larger problems our industry n Italy, faces. these gangs are called

“ultras.” “They are quite anarchic,” Hamilton said.* * * In the UK, police infiltratRight now, within ed I’m thesehaving gangsdialogues and eroded theirthe industry. Since I left Nederlander a few agoand after five years as CEO, I’ve been getting ability to weeks meet up fight. lots of phone calls. Some are from people I’ve known for a handful of months, others I’ve known over 20 years. I didn’t have to explain for too long why I left the business. Most people got it right away — they knew that I wasn’t going to sit and watch the business model I’ve built start to erode because everyone else is eroding. I’m looking to position myself differently and have someone give me the keys to make a significant change. What I’m learning in all of these dialogues is that in order to change price, which is driven by the cost of talent and production, you have to have an inordinate amount of scale. You can’t do things one at a time. This has to be industry-wide reform.

* * * We’re seeing a pendulum swing in the industry right now. Tickets are overpriced at the on sale, and then when venue managers, promoters and agents see that sales have hit a wall, the pendulum swings to high discounts in a last ditch effort to move tickets. That’s very inefficient — you’re moving from a high price of $100 per ticket, to $10 per ticket, when maybe you could have gotten $30 or $40. The other problem is that you train the consumer to wait for the discounting of tickets to take hold. It’s completely antithetical to the airline model, where you get a better deal if you buy early and the longer you wait, the price goes up.

Adam Friedman

When Live Nation attempted to create a monopoly over the promoter market, the game plan was to overpay for talent in order to squeeze all other players out. What typically happens with a monopolist is once that consolidation occurs, the monopoly is able to control price and the cost of supply. In our case, the supply is talent and the acts that fill our venues. Ultimately this strategy failed. They overpaid for the talent, but they weren’t able to squeeze out the promoters because there were always other promoters.

* * * Live Nation never eliminated competition. Instead they put a noose around the neck of Clear Channel, and then ultimately Live Nation when it was spun off. The overpricing created an expectation that talent would be paid significant amounts of money to go on the road. We did see the rise of competitors like AEG, but they never reduced the bidding war. In the end, everyone had to overpay for the same talent.

* * * When Live Nation was a subsidiary of Clear Channel, the entertainment unit consistently lost money. That’s not new — since emerging as an independent, they’ve had 18 quarters in a row of net losses. When someone asks me ‘How long is that sustainable?’ my answer has become ‘Obviously for a pretty long time.’

* * * There’s always going to be a handful of bands like the Rolling Stones or U2 that can afford the huge productions and it’s become expected. Those tickets sell at $300-$400 a pop and everyone makes money. But for every one of those, there are dozens of bands that aren’t as effective and don’t sell through. In many cases, production costs have gotten out of control. For a lot of these guys, it’s time to scale down.

MARCH 2011 VENUES TODAY 63

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