Old Tucson getting big names again
By Cathalena E. Burch
cburch@azstarnet.com
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.05.2009
From the late 1990s until earlier this decade, Old Tucson Studios hosted the hugely popular Budweiser Concert Series at its sprawling outdoor arena.
Classic rocker Eddie Money was just as welcome as a young and rising country star named Kenny Chesney, and audiences for most shows filled the dust-floored rodeo grounds to its 3,000-plus capacity.
Then the casinos moved in, with deep pockets and a sense of adventure.
"We found that the artist pricing started really escalating, and I'm pretty sure it was the casinos," said Pete Mangelsdorf, Old Tucson's general manager and CEO. "You get the one up in Globe that will pay $50,000 for Pat Benatar, when a year before she was $25,000. That put the pricing out of reach for a venue like ours."
That has started to change. The casinos no longer are as generous with the artist fees, and the artists are now accepting less money, reopening the door for Old Tucson and other venues that had all but given up on hosting concerts, Mangelsdorf said.
In early October, Old Tucson Studios brought in alt-rock group Saosin; last week, rapper Flo Rida played at the Budweiser High Noon Arena.
On Nov. 21, country singer Darryl Worley will take the stage as part of Old Tucson's 70th anniversary and radio station KIIM's (99.5-FM) annual Penny Pinch charity concert. Tickets are $10 in advance through www. kiimfm.com; it's regular Old Tucson admission ($10.95 for kids, $16.95 for adults) the day of the show.
Mangelsdorf said it is the beginning of what he hopes will be a return of the annual concert series, which ran eight to 10 concerts each summer.
"What we're seeing this year is not many concerts happening with artists in the price range that we would normally consider doing here," he said. "We haven't seen as many concerts at AVA and Desert Diamond, so what we're really considering is moving into the Hispanic market, because there is no really good venue for Norteño and Tejano music here."
Mangelsdorf said Old Tucson is shopping artists in the $25,000 to $35,000 range — a fee that he thinks is reasonable in today's market.
"I think some of the pricing on the artists is coming down," he said.
The Budweiser High Noon Arena has no assigned seating area and no grassy patch. But it may have the purest natural acoustics in the region, aided by the Tucson Mountains.
1 Comments on this story
