2008.09.21
Kid Rock or Carrie Underwood, the Wiggles or wrestling, what sells tickets in Roanoke?
Elvis, even in the paunchy, ill-advised jumpsuit era, could put butts in seats.
Ten thousand at a time at the Roanoke Civic Center back in the mid-1970s.
Even my sweet, Catholic and dearly departed mother saw The King there once. She took my grandmother and sister, too. The phony karate poses, sweaty scarves wafted into the crowd, uncountable sequins, and my mother and grandmother in the crowd You get the picture.
That was in the mid-1970s. Who puts butts in seats these days?
My colleagues Mason Adams and Pete Dybhdal have been working on a package of stories about the future of our local civic centers, in Roanoke and Salem, and the extent to which they have to be subsidized because they aren't profitable on their own.
That got me wondering, of all the events held at these venues, which are the best attended?
Both host numerous events where organizations rent the facilities, but I wasn't interested in those. I wanted to know what people are willing to pay for -- and what it might say about our tastes as a community.
Is it Kid Rock, or Keith Urban? The Wiggles, or WWE? The mud bog or the symphony?
You can see for yourself in handy interactive graphics for ticket sales at both the Roanoke and Salem civic centers.
What I see is a picture of a community with remarkably diverse cultural tastes. At the larger Roanoke Civic Center, yeah, country music sells well. So does Christian rock. Brad Paisley sold over 6,000 tickets. But so did Kid Rock. Fall Out Boy wasn't far behind.
The Monster Jam was huge, but so was High School Musical on Ice.
The Harlem Globetrotters and the Roanoke Valley Gun Show, that's a dead heat.
And the match-up between the Wiggles and wrestling? Well, see for yourself.
In Salem, it's the same story. The horse show whips everybody right out of the gate. After that, Sesame Street Live or the rodeo? It's a toss-up.
Have a gander at the graphics and lists and tell me what you see? If what you're willing to spend money on reflects what you value, what do you think this data say sabout us as a community?
After seeing the numbers from both civic centers, it begs the question, "Does Roanoke really think they could support an amphitheatre?" I don't believe either venue has sold out any one performance of anything. Have they?
The problem with a list like this is that there are such differences in ticket prices. Perhaps more people attend the Home Show because it's cheaper than say a well-known act. What would be interesting to see is actual dollar amounts taken in rather than the number of people who are filling the seats. Does a higher price ticket mean less attendance?
Comment by Roanoke RnR — September 22, 2008 @ 5:03 pm
You make an excellent point, Roanoke RnR. You can imagine ticket prices can indeed make a huge difference. It's further complicated by having multiple ticket prices, and even multiple outlets for a particular concert. I don't think you can draw any hard conclusions from this data. That's why I framed it as just one view of the area's cultural tastes. It's a conversation piece.
The amphitheater question is an interesting one. Does this data reflect on that question? I guess it could. The other part of it is, who is doing the booking, and are they hitting the target for what this market wants. In the paper's story Sunday there were some interesting points made about the booking power of a big management company vs. the local civic center staff. Do you think that could make a substantial difference?
Comment by Matt Chittum — September 22, 2008 @ 5:24 pm
Matt, I think part of the problem of getting "big acts" here is how difficult it is for the talent to actually get here. Sure a big management company may have better connections, but the bottom line is we have a small airport that cannot handle large jets, and/or has limited direct flights to major cities, and no passenger rail service. Unless a group has their own tour bus that they use to travel they probably wouldn't go out of the way to stop in Roanoke, especially if they look at the ticket sales data from both civic centers. It's just not worth it for them.
Comment by Roanoke RnR — September 22, 2008 @ 8:45 pm
i remember when i was a teenager in the late 70's,it was routine to go to sold out or nearly sold out shows at the civic center. like every show was a mini woodstock or something. to me personally,it feels like something happened in the mid-80's. kids weren't rocknrollers anymore. they wanted garth brooks. and what did manage to come through(greatful dead)was [complained] about loudly. i recall a certain ozzy cancellation where they didn't sell enough tickets to put on the show. this place is not music friendly. if you're in a punk band,it's hard. if your band is a bit experimental,forget it. if you want a show now,you gotta rent a place. there's a club in salem that does punk bands but if you're caught dancing too hard, you're kicked out. club owners set the rules,that's their right.but it's sad to see bands break up or move away because it's so redneck [expletive] backward around here. we need our own cbgb's. a place that's tough so if people get wild,they can't tear up much. which is the main complaint i hear from club owners.what's funny is the biggest melee they ever had at the iroquois was during a ronnie stoneman bluegrass-country show. ah,but them punk rockers,you know,they just tear up stuff. whatever.
Comment by scotty amin — October 7, 2008 @ 2:42 am