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Concerts: '06 OK, but some still worry
Concerned about flat sales, some acts opt out
from: freep.com
by Brian McCollum, Free Press Pop Music Writer
For decades, Detroit has flourished as one of the country's strongest concert markets, and this year has seen turnstiles humming for a host of premium rock and country music shows at the area's big venues. But as the national concert industry steadies itself after a mediocre 2005, it's not necessarily business as usual in economically ailing Detroit, where the concert scene is emitting mixed messages.
It was a strong summer season for Palace Sports & Entertainment, according to people both inside and outside the operation. Between DTE Energy Music Theatre, Meadow Brook Music Festival and the Palace of Auburn Hills, the company did 132 summer shows, up from last year's 100, and sold out 26, the same as in 2005.
At DTE, traditionally the country's busiest concert amphitheater, a batch of perennial big rock draws -- Jimmy Buffett, Dave Matthews Band, Tom Petty -- were high points in an extended season that wrapped up Wednesday with Aerosmith and Motley Crue.
At Olympia Entertainment, whose downtown Detroit operations include Joe Louis Arena and the Fox Theatre, big nights have included shows from Nickelback, Kid Rock and the latest "American Idols" tour. And at Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights, which staged an abbreviated summer season because of legal entanglements -- a dozen shows compared to last year's 37 -- the bright spots came from a string of urban packages, including LL Cool J, New Edition and Rihanna.
But amid the year's big successes, led by Kenny Chesney's $3.4-million gross at Ford Field in August, there have been assorted stinkers, most notably a glitzy Barbra Streisand concert that was scheduled to hit the Palace this week. When local fans balked at seats priced up to $750 even as her dates elsewhere scored big, Streisand's promoters canned the Palace show -- and coolly breached showbiz custom by publicly highlighting Detroit's slow sales.
The Streisand dud has provoked a mixed response in the area concert industry. Several players cautioned that it's simply an anomaly in an otherwise solid concert year, a price-tag miscue in a tight local economy. But others view it as a jarring symbol of a market in transition -- what one executive called the "ultimate validation" of Detroit's declining cachet in the concert biz.
That gloomy evaluation contrasts starkly with Detroit's long, prestigious reputation as a top live-music destination. For decades the Motor City was viewed among artists, agents and promoters as a must-play town, a place that guaranteed enthusiastic concertgoers in packed houses. But Michigan's lagging economy, hammered by a drumbeat of bad news from the auto sector, could be taking a toll.
If nothing else, it's creating a perception that has seeped into corners of the entertainment business. In August, the manager for rocker JOAN JETT told the Free Press he'd been hearing "bad things about the rock business in Detroit" as he set about booking a fall tour. Next week, when Jett rolls through the Midwest as part of that 30-city national trek, she'll play Chicago, Cincinnati and Cleveland -- but not Detroit.
It was a disappointing decision for veteran manager KENNY LAGUNA, who said this week that the notion of skipping Detroit Rock City was once unthinkable. But after viewing data from a booking agency, Laguna says, he felt there was no choice.
"I can remember when Joan first started, Detroit was a milestone in her career, playing Pine Knob. You came into Detroit and it was important," he says, looking back over Jett's three-decade career. But this year "it was a risky play. You don't want to expose your artist to a bomb.
"I saw statistics in the genre that I'm in -- punk rock, classic rock -- that said ticket sales were down 40% in one year in Detroit. When you're choosing between that and Columbus, you have to take that into consideration."
In 2001, Madonna staged two sold-out shows at the Palace, including one filmed for an international TV special. But the homegrown pop queen has skipped Detroit on her last two tours, including this summer's U.S. run.
"I'm hearing it from a lot of agents," says Jeremy Haberman, who operates the Magic Bag theater in Ferndale. "Some bands are just skipping Detroit."
It's easier to understand the skittishness about Detroit when set against the concert industry's wider struggle. After booming business in the 1990s, the live-music world has faced slipping ticket sales, painfully thin profit margins, and an aging artist workforce carrying the load with few promising replacements in sight.
Though national ticket prices have leveled off since leaping to record highs earlier this decade -- and have possibly even dropped in Detroit -- consumers continue to gripe while artists, promoters and venue operators blame each other for pricey seats and surcharges.
Flat ticket prices aren't the only response to the reality of Detroit's economy. Palace Sports & Entertainment spokesman Jeff Corey says the company has ramped up its voucher programs, distributing discounted tickets through corporate sponsors.
"We're reacting to the economic climate," says Corey. "We've been doing this over the years, but obviously right now we're more cognizant of the economy."
Until final 2006 figures are compiled at year's end, the case for the health of Detroit's concert scene is mostly anecdotal. But the autumn offers evidence that the year will close out on a high note: While upcoming Palace shows by Iron Maiden and Bob Dylan are slow sellers, nights with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Barenaked Ladies are winners, along with a slew of sold-out rock dates at the State Theatre, including Saturday night's scheduled Evanescence show.
One southeast Michigan ticket broker, who earns his income reselling sports and entertainment tickets, says it's been a banner year.
"The Michigan economy is bad," says the ticket broker, who operates outside official channels and asked not to be named. "But it's weird -- the way people here spend their entertainment dollars is predictable. It's the type of people here: Detroit people like their entertainment, and they're still paying. I'm doing better than ever here, and I think other guys are ,too."
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