Concert success despite low attendance
The first concert in The Pyramid was not a
great success.
Other than not meeting the projected attendance,
the evening did achieve its initial goal, to have a concert in The Pyramid.
Associated Students Inc. has been trying
to hold a concert of this magnitude since I first arrived at Cal State
Long Beach in 1995.
Finally the A.S.I. was able to get some
major acts into the facility.
A.S.I representatives said that they were
expecting about 4,000 people to attend The Pyramid's first concert.
Ken Hanson
Final attendance was estimated at 2,700
people.
The concert cost the A.S.I. $85,000. Even
if all 2,700 people paid the median ticket price of $20, A.S.I. is in the
hole about $31,000.
But the important thing is that it happened.
How often is an inaugural event the perfect
gem it's intended to be?
If nothing else, A.S.I. has the opportunity
to learn from this event.
That is what A.S.I. administrator Robert
Garcia said the concert was supposed to be.
There were problems with the sound in the
venue.
The metal ceiling in the place just creates
too much reverb.
Hanging cloth from the rafters to absorb
some sound would fix that problem.
That is what they did at another pyramid
in Memphis, Tenn., according to Smashmouth guitarist Greg Camp.
I hope A.S.I. officials realized the need
for effective off-campus publicity. If they pumped the event more outside
of school, things would have been better.
There was a rumor that KROQ failed to announce
the concert over the airwaves, but we should not be reliant on a radio
station for our off-campus advertising.
There were many things that, if done differently,
would have made the concert a bigger success. But because this was basically
a dry run and "spring board" for future events, it can only get better
from here.
For the next concert we hold in The Pyramid,
A.S.I. might want to consider getting some advice on how to run the event.
After all, we are in Southern California,
the entertainment capital of the country.
There are several concert promoters such
as Golden Voice, Avalon and 98 Posse who could be called on for advice.
One of our sister schools, Cal State Dominguez
Hills used to hold concerts in The Velodrome.
As a sister school, I'm sure it would be
happy to give us some pointers.
At least the concert was fun for the ones
who did show up.
Like I said before, it can only get better.
I just hope the next concert is coming soon.
If too much time elapses between these
events, all the hard work that went into this concert will be forgotten.
Then we would have to start at the beginning
and wait another five years for the next big show.
The choice of bands was rather appropriate,
though. I was very happy when I learned that Smashmouth was booked for
the concert. I would rather see them than Blink 182, anyway. I say Smashmouth
is the best band for the money, the first concert, and the campus in general.
With the edition of Reel Big Fish and Black
Eyed Peas, there was something for almost everyone. The Fish brought in
some more of the Orange County crowd and ska kids, while the Peas helped
bring in some hip hoppers that would not have shown up otherwise.
And fitting nicely in that package was
Smashmouth. With influences from both genres those guys rounded out the
evening and tied it all together.
I have been accused of trashing the A.S.I.
and its efforts to produce Beach Blast '99. True, I did say the concert
was not likely to happen.
But that was not a put down, just lack
of confidence. Now that it is over and done with, I'm glad A.S.I. got the
gig off the ground.
I just hope the producers of the event
take what they learned and improve the next concert. And I hope it happens
before next fall.
Ken Hanson is the opinion editor for
the Daily Forty-Niner |
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