Post by CherUniverse on May 1, 2004 14:53:08 GMT -5
From: www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040430/NEWS0107/404300319/1011
(I HAD TO EDIT THIS ARTICLE DOWN A LOT FOR IT TO NOT GO OVER THE AMOUNT OF CHARACTERS ALLOWED FOR POSTING. SO BE SURE TO GO TO THE ABOVE LINK TO GET THE FULL STORY.)
Published: April 30, 2004
Local News: Rockford
Same MetroCentre 1 year after Cher
Concert touted as jump-start for venue
ROCKFORD -- More than a year after MetroCentre officials proclaimed that Cher's sold-out performance could catapult Rockford onto the entertainment map, the record shows they're playing the same song of sporting events and trade shows at the downtown arena.
In announcing the concert in January 2003, MetroCentre General Manager Corey Pearson said the pop diva's appearance rated as the biggest name to hit the marquee since Elton John four years earlier. Cher, he said, could provide an "incredible start" in luring other A-list entertainers to the aging venue.
Tickets for the July 28 event sold out in days and helped the MetroCentre turn a $55,000 profit on the concert. But if she's been the MetroCentre's salvation, financial statements requested by the Rockford Register Star under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act don't demonstrate that.
In Cher's wake, the MetroCentre has staged three music concerts.
"The big thing Cher did," Pearson said, "was prove that for the right act, we can support a higher ticket price. With the promoters out there, there was a huge stigma that Rockford never could support anything over $50."
Seats for Cher went for $60 and $80. That success helped convince Jerry Seinfeld to visit the historic Coronado Theatre, Pearson said. The comedian sold 4,129 tickets at $45, $60 and
$75.
Cher also got phones ringing again. Promoters for KISS, Van Halen, the Eagles, Brooks and Dunn, Nickelback and Hilary Duff expressed interest, Pearson said.
"We're getting calls. We're back on everybody's screen now. The good news is: They asked us. The bad news is: We had to say no."
Various factors prevented those concerts from happening. Most have been heard before:
-- Dates weren't available. A window next month that worked for the Eagles conflicted with a less risky venture, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus. An existing deal with the Home Show got in the way of Nickelback.
-- With a maximum of 10,000 seats for shows performed in the round, the MetroCentre isn't large enough to take a chance on pricier acts. KISS demanded a $900,000 guarantee paid in advance, which meant charging at least $125 a ticket to skim a narrow profit, Pearson said.
-- The arena's financial crisis forces a more conservative approach in booking. In its past two fiscal years, the MetroCentre lost $2.4 million, depleted almost as much in cash reserves and went to Rockford aldermen to back a $700,000 loan.
"With Cher," Pearson said, "we lost a lot of sleep putting $300,000 on the line" to pay her guarantee. Pearson said he isn't afraid to take a chance, but not on KISS or the Eagles.
"If it's the Rolling Stones and we have to charge $100 a ticket, I'm not afraid of that. Even if we had $2.2 million in the bank still, do we want to risk $600,000 on a show that's not going to make it?"
Pearson said he and others at the MetroCentre remain mystified by the loss they sustained with matchbox twenty.
"We have no idea why it failed. All across the country, we were watching," he said, "and it was doing great."
When the Rob Thomas-fronted group hit Illinois, attendance fell. The show fared "far worse" in Champaign than Rockford, Pearson said.
Arena officials spent $15,000 advertising the show, a little more than usual because they had signed the group directly, rather than through a promoter.
One possible explanation: Pearson said arena officials might have overcrowded the November calender. Keith and Seinfeld appeared earlier in the month, while matchbox twenty, country artist Phil Vassar and a Led Zeppelin tribute by Rockford Symphony Orchestra fell within six days of each other, each posting losses.
"November was slammed with stuff," Pearson said. "But we thought matchbox twenty was different enough that wouldn't be a problem."
Pearson said Cher also has helped produce bookings for the Coronado, which the MetroCentre operates. Music acts there in the six months since Cher have included George Jones, Jackson
Browne, the Oak Ridge Boys and the Goo Goo Dolls.
"I don't know. I'm not a guru. But I think you almost have to give Cher a year and see how that plays out," she said.
Hudson credits Pearson for taking the gambles he has, and she doesn't regret the red ink on matchbox twenty.
"How do you please Rockford?" she said. "We whine, and then we try to give them what they say they're looking for, but they've always got an excuse" not to buy tickets.
Concert promoter Don Kronberg said Cher coming to the MetroCentre means little, if anything, in the industry. Her farewell tour went to almost every venue in the country that held at least 7,000, Kronberg said.
"The reason Cher played Rockford," he said, "is because Cher decided she was going to play every building she could before she retired. If you had the capacity, you got a Cher date."
Kronberg said the MetroCentre suffers from its age, deteriorating condition, lack of modern stage technology and size.
Those shortcomings pale in comparison to Rockford's geography. Economics dictate that artists with records to sell and limited concert dates to schedule will perform where they'll draw bigger crowds and where radio play of their records reaches larger audiences. Smaller markets are more likely to snag top-selling acts the farther they are from major metropolitan areas, Kronberg said.
"This is a conversation that never seems to end. Everybody thinks somebody who is charge of running the MetroCentre is doing something terribly wrong. But the reality is, it has nothing to do with those individuals."
"I think that at this point right now, the taxpayers just want us to make money -- whether that's sports or concerts," Conness said. "I never thought for one second that Cher was going to be a cure-all or anything close."
Downtown nightclub owner Chris Wachowiak said he has been impressed with what Pearson has accomplished in recent months, particularly at the Coronado. Shows by such veterans as Merle
Haggard, who performed April 20, will encourage appearances by contemporary artists who look up to the industry giants, he said.
Given the circumstances, to expect Cher to invigorate the MetroCentre seems like "wishful thinking," he said. "I don't think the public should expect anything because the public doesn't support music like they say they do."
Marketing shows in the Chicago suburbs and adopting a more business-oriented mindset that reduces expenses are key to bringing more music to the MetroCentre, said Wachowiak, who has
been named to a new Events Committee that will advise arena officials on programming and marketing.
"I don't think it's impossible," he said. "It's a hard, uphill battle they can win. It's just a d**n tough one."
Local musician S.J. Benney attends a fair share of concerts, mostly in Chicago. Recently, he's seen Dread Zeppelin and George Clinton at the House of Blues and Kid Rock at the Allstate Arena.
Benney, lead singer and lead guitarist in blues band Whalebone, has tickets to Jonny Lang at the Coronado Theatre next week. He didn't see Cher and hasn't been to a MetroCentre concert since Motley Crue played there in 1997.
"Nothing's been there that really excites me too much," he said. "Prince, the (Red Hot) Chili Peppers -- bands like that would definitely pack the place and appeal to a lot more people.
"Cher is a huge name. But she's an older genre of music that's going to draw older people. Most of what sells out are older genres like Cher or Barry Manilow or country. That goes to reflect the demographic of Rockford."
Contact: mbonne@registerstartower.com; 815-987-1389
Pam
(I HAD TO EDIT THIS ARTICLE DOWN A LOT FOR IT TO NOT GO OVER THE AMOUNT OF CHARACTERS ALLOWED FOR POSTING. SO BE SURE TO GO TO THE ABOVE LINK TO GET THE FULL STORY.)
Published: April 30, 2004
Local News: Rockford
Same MetroCentre 1 year after Cher
Concert touted as jump-start for venue
ROCKFORD -- More than a year after MetroCentre officials proclaimed that Cher's sold-out performance could catapult Rockford onto the entertainment map, the record shows they're playing the same song of sporting events and trade shows at the downtown arena.
In announcing the concert in January 2003, MetroCentre General Manager Corey Pearson said the pop diva's appearance rated as the biggest name to hit the marquee since Elton John four years earlier. Cher, he said, could provide an "incredible start" in luring other A-list entertainers to the aging venue.
Tickets for the July 28 event sold out in days and helped the MetroCentre turn a $55,000 profit on the concert. But if she's been the MetroCentre's salvation, financial statements requested by the Rockford Register Star under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act don't demonstrate that.
In Cher's wake, the MetroCentre has staged three music concerts.
"The big thing Cher did," Pearson said, "was prove that for the right act, we can support a higher ticket price. With the promoters out there, there was a huge stigma that Rockford never could support anything over $50."
Seats for Cher went for $60 and $80. That success helped convince Jerry Seinfeld to visit the historic Coronado Theatre, Pearson said. The comedian sold 4,129 tickets at $45, $60 and
$75.
Cher also got phones ringing again. Promoters for KISS, Van Halen, the Eagles, Brooks and Dunn, Nickelback and Hilary Duff expressed interest, Pearson said.
"We're getting calls. We're back on everybody's screen now. The good news is: They asked us. The bad news is: We had to say no."
Various factors prevented those concerts from happening. Most have been heard before:
-- Dates weren't available. A window next month that worked for the Eagles conflicted with a less risky venture, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus. An existing deal with the Home Show got in the way of Nickelback.
-- With a maximum of 10,000 seats for shows performed in the round, the MetroCentre isn't large enough to take a chance on pricier acts. KISS demanded a $900,000 guarantee paid in advance, which meant charging at least $125 a ticket to skim a narrow profit, Pearson said.
-- The arena's financial crisis forces a more conservative approach in booking. In its past two fiscal years, the MetroCentre lost $2.4 million, depleted almost as much in cash reserves and went to Rockford aldermen to back a $700,000 loan.
"With Cher," Pearson said, "we lost a lot of sleep putting $300,000 on the line" to pay her guarantee. Pearson said he isn't afraid to take a chance, but not on KISS or the Eagles.
"If it's the Rolling Stones and we have to charge $100 a ticket, I'm not afraid of that. Even if we had $2.2 million in the bank still, do we want to risk $600,000 on a show that's not going to make it?"
Pearson said he and others at the MetroCentre remain mystified by the loss they sustained with matchbox twenty.
"We have no idea why it failed. All across the country, we were watching," he said, "and it was doing great."
When the Rob Thomas-fronted group hit Illinois, attendance fell. The show fared "far worse" in Champaign than Rockford, Pearson said.
Arena officials spent $15,000 advertising the show, a little more than usual because they had signed the group directly, rather than through a promoter.
One possible explanation: Pearson said arena officials might have overcrowded the November calender. Keith and Seinfeld appeared earlier in the month, while matchbox twenty, country artist Phil Vassar and a Led Zeppelin tribute by Rockford Symphony Orchestra fell within six days of each other, each posting losses.
"November was slammed with stuff," Pearson said. "But we thought matchbox twenty was different enough that wouldn't be a problem."
Pearson said Cher also has helped produce bookings for the Coronado, which the MetroCentre operates. Music acts there in the six months since Cher have included George Jones, Jackson
Browne, the Oak Ridge Boys and the Goo Goo Dolls.
"I don't know. I'm not a guru. But I think you almost have to give Cher a year and see how that plays out," she said.
Hudson credits Pearson for taking the gambles he has, and she doesn't regret the red ink on matchbox twenty.
"How do you please Rockford?" she said. "We whine, and then we try to give them what they say they're looking for, but they've always got an excuse" not to buy tickets.
Concert promoter Don Kronberg said Cher coming to the MetroCentre means little, if anything, in the industry. Her farewell tour went to almost every venue in the country that held at least 7,000, Kronberg said.
"The reason Cher played Rockford," he said, "is because Cher decided she was going to play every building she could before she retired. If you had the capacity, you got a Cher date."
Kronberg said the MetroCentre suffers from its age, deteriorating condition, lack of modern stage technology and size.
Those shortcomings pale in comparison to Rockford's geography. Economics dictate that artists with records to sell and limited concert dates to schedule will perform where they'll draw bigger crowds and where radio play of their records reaches larger audiences. Smaller markets are more likely to snag top-selling acts the farther they are from major metropolitan areas, Kronberg said.
"This is a conversation that never seems to end. Everybody thinks somebody who is charge of running the MetroCentre is doing something terribly wrong. But the reality is, it has nothing to do with those individuals."
"I think that at this point right now, the taxpayers just want us to make money -- whether that's sports or concerts," Conness said. "I never thought for one second that Cher was going to be a cure-all or anything close."
Downtown nightclub owner Chris Wachowiak said he has been impressed with what Pearson has accomplished in recent months, particularly at the Coronado. Shows by such veterans as Merle
Haggard, who performed April 20, will encourage appearances by contemporary artists who look up to the industry giants, he said.
Given the circumstances, to expect Cher to invigorate the MetroCentre seems like "wishful thinking," he said. "I don't think the public should expect anything because the public doesn't support music like they say they do."
Marketing shows in the Chicago suburbs and adopting a more business-oriented mindset that reduces expenses are key to bringing more music to the MetroCentre, said Wachowiak, who has
been named to a new Events Committee that will advise arena officials on programming and marketing.
"I don't think it's impossible," he said. "It's a hard, uphill battle they can win. It's just a d**n tough one."
Local musician S.J. Benney attends a fair share of concerts, mostly in Chicago. Recently, he's seen Dread Zeppelin and George Clinton at the House of Blues and Kid Rock at the Allstate Arena.
Benney, lead singer and lead guitarist in blues band Whalebone, has tickets to Jonny Lang at the Coronado Theatre next week. He didn't see Cher and hasn't been to a MetroCentre concert since Motley Crue played there in 1997.
"Nothing's been there that really excites me too much," he said. "Prince, the (Red Hot) Chili Peppers -- bands like that would definitely pack the place and appeal to a lot more people.
"Cher is a huge name. But she's an older genre of music that's going to draw older people. Most of what sells out are older genres like Cher or Barry Manilow or country. That goes to reflect the demographic of Rockford."
Contact: mbonne@registerstartower.com; 815-987-1389
Pam