Heavy promotion helps 12 Bands outsell blues legend

This is a tale of two concerts.

One, locally organized, was produced on a shoestring budget. The other featured a living legend on a national tour.

Care to guess which one was an unqualified success?

Last weekend, Augusta saw B.B. King expose the beautifully gnarled roots of rock 'n' roll at Bell Auditorium and the 12 Bands of Christmas plug in at the Imperial Theatre and play for a worthy cause.

At the B.B. King show, probably 40 percent of the auditorium's seats remained empty. At the 12 Bands benefit, a capacity crowd forced the fire marshal to start a one-in, one-out policy at the door.

Both shows can be considered artistic successes. Mr. King proved he still has musical muscle, snarling through his classic blues repertoire with primal power and letting the famous Lucille cry and sing her deftly struck electric song. Likewise, the 12 Bands artists were allowed to flex in the acoustically kind Imperial. Particularly appealing - The Cubists' dynamic squall and The Hellblinki Sextet's scene-stealing roll through an Emmett Otter medley. Yet, when ledger times comes around, only one show will be filed under "hit."

The disparity between the B.B. King and 12 Bands shows throws into sharp relief a real problem with booking in Augusta, and the possibility for change. There will, without a doubt, be excuses offered for Mr. King's lack of pulling power. The tickets were pricey, topping out at $75. He also rolled into town on a crowded musical weekend, with Wycliffe Gordon and the 12 Bands show vying for an audience.

But the truth is this - Mr. King was underpromoted, undersold and, as a result, underattended.

Likewise, there will be a number of opinions proffered as to the 12 Bands' overwhelming success - interesting acts, a strong CD tie-in and the charitable sense of goodwill. The truth, however, is far simpler. The 12 Bands of Christmas was promoted. The CD was played at local businesses. The benefit's promoters, Coco Rubio, Ruskin Yeargain and Joe Stevenson, appealed to the media for assistance in getting the word out. Posters were posted and fliers flown. In short, time and effort were invested and the results quantified with a sold-out house.

So the question must be asked: What might have happened had Mr. King been promoted as enthusiastically as 12 Bands? Would fans have lined up in the frigid night hoping to gain entry at Bell? Perhaps not. Augusta's notoriously fickle nature makes predicting which acts will and will not succeed, fiscally speaking, a sucker sport. But promotion couldn't hurt, and logic, along with the example set by the 12 Bands, seems to state that it probably would help.

Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.