Why don’t we have more big concerts in our area?

We posted a news story from Taste of Country today about Martina McBride wanting to play some smaller venues.  That brought to mind a question I get asked CONSTANTLY.  Why don't we have more big concerts in our area?  There is no one right answer, but it really comes down to two main issues:  cost and risk.

Most folks may not be aware of this, but most artists that you hear on KICK-FM that have multiple top 20 hits command six figures from a promoter to come to town to do a show.  Recently, I overheard a discussion about a major band and the cost to bring them to this area would be $750,000.  I don't know about you, but unless you're a Donald Trump type of person that has gold door knobs at your house, that's a tough amount to swallow.

Let's do some math.  Even if you had a venue locally that would support 4,000, the cost of a ticket for that band would cost $187.50...just to break even!  And, that's not including the cost of insurance and security.

You can add to that the behind-the-scenes circus that some artists require when they come to town (The Smoking Gun website has some copies of concert contracts that show some of the insane demands from artists).  Toby Keith's is just one example of how crazy it can get!  Without going into a laundry list of specifics, let's just say you better have a caterer standing by to provide every known food at the artists every whim...Toby is not unique...virtually all artists have insane food/drink requirements.

Combine all of the above with the fact that some of the largest areas where a concert can be held locally are outside and you bring weather into the equation.  What's gonna happen if you have paid a band three-quarters-of-a-million dollars and sold tickets for $187.50 a piece and then a severe thunderstorm rolls through the area.  Better hope that insurance premium is paid up.

It's great that artists like Martina McBride want to come back to areas where they started when they weren't nearly as famous.  Let's hope for the sake of the promoters and/or radio stations bringing her to town that she helps them keep the cost down...and be sure to have that special cheese tray at the ready.