ok here we go with the country and western crap again. I guess i will take my butt to atlanta and catch something i like,
It's not out of the question.
In the 24 hours that followed Tuesday's announcement that Global Spectrum was the management firm favored to take over Augusta coliseum operations, Doug Higgons, the company's regional vice president, said he fielded more than a dozen calls from interested promoters.
He said he doesn't think finding acts to fill the local venues -- the two in Augusta and another in Aiken -- should be a problem.
Final details on the management deal are expected to be discussed at Tuesday's Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority meeting.
Mr. Higgons said that if things go as expected, Global Spectrum should be able to work quickly toward getting acts on the stage and patrons in the seats.
"It's a question of rekindling relationships and reintroducing both buildings," he said in a telephone interview. "I don't know enough about the history to comment, but I do know there is interest out there right now."
Touring acts currently playing in 8,000-seat arenas, similar in size to the James Brown Arena, include country singer Carrie Underwood, rock band Stone Temple Pilots and comedian George Lopez. Mr. Higgons was not ready to name names or promise acts and couldn't give a time frame for announcing acts, but said that yes, those acts were touring venues the size of the James Brown.
"Those are the types of acts that are available to play that sort of room," he said.
Mr. Higgons also said that a greater number of acts would be touring arenas in the fall and winter. He said summer is traditionally an outdoor market, with acts opting for amphitheaters and festival dates.
With the addition of James Brown Arena and Bell Auditorium, Global Spectrum will be able to offer very different venues to promoters, allowing flexibility to both productions and Global Spectrum.
He said that rather than sell each building individually to potential acts, Global Spectrum can present a package of three separate venues, allowing the promoter to decide which best suits their needs.
"On a macro level, we look at this as three different options we can offer," he said.
The James Brown Arena has a seating capacity of about 8,000, Bell Auditorium seats about 2,500 and the Convocation Center in Aiken seats about 4,000. Mr. Higgons said none of these venues, particularly the James Brown Arena, is an awkward size.
He said he oversees six venues similar in size (7,000-10,000 seats) to James Brown Arena and that there is no shortage of acts looking to play them.
"Now, with 8,000 seats you aren't going to do U2 or the Rolling Stones," he said. "But the industry has become very fractionalized and artists are much more interested in selling out a smaller room than playing a larger venue that is half full. They want a full house."
Global Spectrum made its first foray into the market last year, assuming management duties for the Aiken Convocation Center. Mr. Higgons said the experience in Aiken convinced the company that Augusta was a market where Global Spectrum might find some success.
"We thought there was real room for growth," he said. "There were shows that we couldn't do in Aiken because they were too big or too small. We can do those now."
"This is not, by any means, a new market, but it is a market that can grow."
Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.
Comments
ok here we go with the country and western crap again. I guess i will take my butt to atlanta and catch something i like,
I don't care if it's only country & western venues, just fill up the seats and make money. Do that often enough and then we can look at other options. Gotta start somewhere.
Nix only country and western.. how about some famous TV preachers, ice capades,exhibits...? How about and oldies show like they have on PBS or something like Austin City Limits ( I think thats the name) where they showcase different groups, singers and bands. I hope this new management uses their imagination and I hope folks in the area attend! Heck they get a crowd for Hootie at the first tee during masters week!
Hey, how bout a Victoria Secret model fashion show. I know a lot of guys ready to buy tickets to that
Am I the only one concerned that the company managing the civic center is also managing a building in direct completion 25 miles away. For example, where will they book the circus?
No Mr Eubanks, you're not. They should have chosen SMG to foster some friendly competition instead of the "offer three venues to choose from" scenario which I suspected would be the result.
I like all kinds of music such as rock, country, diso but not that rap mess. The ice shows were great also. Just don't price the tickets too high.
"In the 24 hours that followed Tuesday's announcement that Global Spectrum was the management firm favored to take over Augusta coliseum operations, Doug Higgons, the company's regional vice president, said he fielded more than a dozen calls from interested promoters."..................Guess this kinds drives home who and what is keeping Augusta in the dark ages..................I'm just sayin.
Augusta is a dump. It will never work. Get out while you can.
sctex where would you suggest us to move from Augusta? Are things that much better over in SC?
Why does the Arena have to have only popular music acts? What's wrong with people like Jesse Duplantis? Creflo Dollar? Bill Gaither? Is the arena so far out of touch with the people of Augusta that it cannot even fathom that there would be people that can see beyond loud music and belly dance? I think the arena "board" has only tried to get acts that is their own low class of thinking. Maybe the new bunch running this will consider something beyond trash acts. I can think of hundreds of people that would love to go to the arena, but not for trashy shows. Do you realize the amount of people in the outlying small towns that travel to Atlanta or Columbia or La Grange to name only a few, to see Southern Gospel Music shows, or Blue Grass. Hundreds travel every weekend, regardless of the price of gas. Y'all are missisng out on a good thing not having these shows in Augusta.
"Global Spectrum made its first foray into the market last year, assuming management duties for the Aiken Convocation Center." Does this mean this company has only been doing this for a year? Or just our market? They have got to be better then the wingnuts we have running it now.
Ummmmm...we are in the south, the base for country music. I love country music. If you don't like country music, go getcha yourself a tattoo, some black eyeshadow, do some heroin and become homeless.....hehe.
The Aiken center is not direct competition with the civic center...maybe the Bell.
Global Spectrum is about to enter an environment they have never seen. When many private businesses from out of town try to do business with Augusta-Richmond County government, they usually just say the hell with it and go home. And now Global Spectrum actually WANTS to deal with the Coliseum Authority?
Augusta and neighboring cities have hope. The company may bring great things. ============ "Comcast-Spectacor is the principal owner of Global Spectrum, the fastest growing firm in the public assembly management field. The company manages and operates public assembly facilities throughout the United States and Canada, including locally the Liacouras Center at Temple University and the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ. Global Spectrum provides complete management and operational services to its clients and offers a full service, in-house marketing department at all of it’s facilities to increase ticket sales for the events and to enhance the image of its facilities. global-spectrum.com" Augusta Rocks!
Dew Hickies
Our problem always has been and always will be geographical.I promoted punk rock shows for a while and even we had trouble getting acts.Problem?Bands tour to promote albums or in other words to gain "market share".They also have limited tour dates so will opt for proven markets.When you have established cities such as Atlanta/Greenville/Charlotte all within such a relatively close proximity most touring acts will opt out for those areas.Tours are planned out months in advance with time and expenses figured in.A band can do Atlanta/Greenville/Charlotte in almost a linear move saving on time and fuel costs.As fuel prices rise we begin to move further off the spectrum.It cost a lot to fill up those nice Prevosts.I can almost guarantee you that the acts we get are either promised higher than normal guarantees (hence the high ticket prices) or have some kind of scheduling conflict with the above cities such as venues already booked.In other words we get thrown the scraps.Think about it.Even Columbia SC suffers from the same problem.It's a state capitol and when's the last time you went to see a show there?
If they are selected how about some indoor Marching Band exhibitions. High School/College Battle of the Bands or maybe even the Drum and Bugle Corps competition that's seen on PBS. I most def would come to those. Funny thing is I sent Flash Gordon and his Assistant an email suggesting just that, He never responded, his assistant did but nothing came of it.
This is what i thought aiken doesn't get any major shows. I knew it couldn't be any real competition to the civic center because its so small. Augusta did atleast get alicia keyes and other major names before. I don't remember aiken getting any. A 4,000 seat arena in aiken and Augusta has 8,000 arena and 3,000 seat bell auditorium. The tee center needs to be hurry up and built. If we want to see the real stars and not mid-level superstars. And please have a even amount of r&b, country, gospel, pop, and hip hop artist. Augusta is big enough and diverse to handle of music groups.
Y'all obviously didn't read my post.
I don't care who the managers are! Get started! Take advantage of the fact that gas is high and it costs too much to go on vacation to Florida or weekend trips to ATL. The time is now...Don't think artists don't realize they can't charge $40-$50 per ticket they need to get at large venues. Whoever is in charge needs to ask the people what they want.
One more thing.If I told my boss that i needed to hire somebody to do my job for me I believe I would get fired.Why does the coliseum authority members still have jobs?
Because they are considered volunteers LOL...
Whether or not they are financially compensated is irrelevant.They control the management and finance.Management is now taken care of and they've shown they obviously can't handle the finances.So let me rephrase.Why do they still have positions?
iam all for the gospel program like junita bynum t,d, jakes eddie long george bloomer and e rev. flagger joel ostein charles stanley peter poppoff
I beg to differ. The arena held some pretty big names back in the 80S. I think we could handle old rockers like the Stones and U2.Still like both bands and would go see them.Yes, they are still big names, but so was Kiss in the 80S. They played her 3 times that i remember.
Once again this goes back to limited dates lezniack 01.During the 80's The Civic Center was a viable venue due to the sheer number of touring acts vs available venues.Now every town of considerable size has a venue (Bi-Lo Center in Grenville seats 15000) some multiple all in competition for acts most of which are proven draws (gets the fans).Add to that that the number of available headline quality acts has dropped considerably and we are nowhere near in the running.Check out the link for Pollstar below listing touring acts coming to Atlanta.Then note the number of different venues.Then ask yourself how many you would want to see.Not many that I would want to.As far as the acts you named while I'm not sure about Kiss the Stones and U2 still sell out arenas.They aren't about to come here.I'm not trying to rain on anybody's parade and I would love to be proven wrong but the truth is there's more to getting an act to play than just having the facility.And don't be fooled by " he fielded more than a dozen calls from interested promoters ".Everybody and their mama is a promoter these days.
http://www.pollstar.com/tour/searchall.pl?By=City&Content=atlanta+ga&go_...
Left out something.
"But the industry has become very fractionalized and artists are much more interested in selling out a smaller room than playing a larger venue that is half full. They want a full house."
Heard that one before myself.Translation "we aren't doing so well and even though you might not sell any tickets we still want our money".
Global Spectrum has the sweetheart deal of all time. They have all their expenses paid by the taxpayers, the promotion costs of any acts they book are paid by the taxpayers, the concert fees are paid by the taxpayers, whether anyone buys a ticket or not. Global Spectrum is a middle man with no risk and no accountability. Scam on the taxpayers.
First off take that sob jamesbrowns name off of the building then clean it and fumigate it. Then let the people that have usca jumping through hoops take over. The taxpayers of S.C. have payed through the nose for the CONvocation center and to keep global there.
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