No Summer Music at Bayfront?
There’s Reggae Fest and Blues Fest … and that’s it this year?
After doing a bit of searching, I don’t see ANY other music coming to Bayfront this year. If I am remembering right, there was some problems with starting/ending times of the (very) few concerts held there over the past couple years. Has Secret Service Entertainment totally given up on music there? I have to admit, the few times I have been able to see a show there … kicking back in the grass with a drink or two, and nice breeze off the lake … heavenly.
I’m a longtime lurker, and I trust y’all to know what’s going on in Duluth. So tell me, where did my summer music go? 🙁
The Duluth News Tribune recently covered this issue:
“Duluth’s stage for the ages sits silent, losing money,” by Christa Lawler and Brandon Stahl, Sunday, June 27, 2010.
It’s archived, so no link is available that I can find.
I believe the Harvest Festival and Pride Festival will both have music. As for some nationally touring act coming to town — apparently Secret Service had something it was working on that fell through, but still intends to have a concert of some sort before Fall.
It was exclusively contracted to Secret Service, who then did *nothing* with it.
40K+ per year our city pays secret service. Why do anything? That’s money in their pocket.
Would be a perfect setting for Dr. Dog, Blitzen Trapper and Fleet Foxes concert. C’mon Secret Service!
The article also noted that Secret Service keeps all profits as long as under 2000 tickets are sold, at which point the city gets a cut of all sales (if I understood the article correctly). So, as far as I can tell, it’s in their interest to keep ticket sales just under 2000. The city should have never entered that 5-year contract. Secret Service is probably laughing all the way to the bank.
Ask Steve Grazier, who took over Secret Service after Samborski got busted for embezzlement. Nice gig @ 40K+ … if you can get it. Shameful!
It’s not necessarily in Secret Service’s best interest to keep ticket sales under 2,000. If they sell over 2,000 tickets for an event they still get 100 percent of the first 2,000 — and the city only takes 50 cents per ticket after that.
Here’s what I think should happen to Bayfront: run a smaller scale music thing like Chester Bowl music series. People bring food, kids romp, music is heard.
Plan #2. Move the Saturday farmer’s market there, have music and general frolicking.
Greg Brown will be at this year’s Harvest Festival on September 11 at 4:30 pm.
I think Kerc’s ideas are right on. It’s a crime that Secret Service is pulling down 40K for doing so little with the park.
Woodtick, I’m not sure where you’re getting your information, but Greg’s official schedule puts him in Guelph, Ontario on September 11. Unfortunately. 🙁
I agree with kerc’s ideas, too. There needs to be more family-friendly frolicking going on down there.
More consistency.
More -anything-! I’m much more inclined to spend the money to see a show here, even a band I’m not really gung-ho about, than to drive down to the cities to see some music.
I know attendance around here is probably a problem (I was surprised at how few people came to see Gin Blossoms and Toad the Wet Sprocket). But like Paul mentioned, it’d be really nice to get something here before fall. It’s a shame Bayfront is so empty!
The only way that the city will move on A N Y T H I N G positive for citizens and community is if people start — and continue — to pressure the administration.
The city used to provide TONS of things for us all, then frantically started to create the skeleton crew they now have running almost every aspect of business, and contracting out the rest to people (like Secret Sevice) who don’t give a darn.
What a beautiful day it was on Saturday for the Bayfront Reggae Festival — even with that five-minute downpour.
Two massive ships passed behind Michael Rose during his performance. Despite these definitively Duluth occurrences, however, he still thought he was in the Twin Cities, repeatedly shouting things like “Let me hear you Minneapolis!” Oh well.
I missed Queen Omega (again) but word has it she was awesome (again).
How was the attendance compared to last year?
I’d guess about the same.
Duluth Superior Pride
Here’s this year’s music lineup for the Sept. 4 Pride Festival at Bayfront:
11:00am Aurora Bear
11:45am Old Knifey & the Cutthroats
12:30pm Uprising
1:15pm The Boomchucks
2:15pm The Tisdales
3pm The DTs
3:45pm Sick of Sarah
4:30pm Boogie Wonderland
6pm Uh Huh Her
Is Uh Huh Her a PJ Harvey cover band?
Will Sick of Sarah find its way through “road construction?”
I concur with mendoza. Other ideas: Neko Case or The New Pornographers, Band of Horses, Great Lake Swimmers, Caribou, My Morning Jacket. Bayfront is such a great place, but is not utilized all that often (which may be why it is still nice – with greenery and grass relatively untrampled). Speaking of Trampled…
Leo Kottke is playing Bayfront on Saturday, Aug. 28 with Willie Murphy and Reynold Philipsek.
It’s 15 years later and 2025 more of “fests” rather than 2-4 big name acts in an evening, There was Allison Krauss, but everything else was: City on the Hill, Homegrown, Reggae, Blues, Fourth Fest, Pride and Grandma’s Marathon. None of them were really acts that had national recognition, unless you were really into that type of music.