With the local summer concert season approaching, I went looking for answers to three questions: Will Kings Of Leon be this year’s Coldplay? Why are certain tours skipping NEPA? And will Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs build on the potential of its first season of shows last year and shore up some issues that I consider problems?
Probably not, it’s complicated, and hopefully.
The massively popular Kings Of Leon will kick off the string of summer concerts at Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain next Tuesday. Last summer, the massively popular Coldplay was scheduled to christen the season at Toyota Pavilion, but the show was canceled due to a “scheduling conflict” — usually an industry code term for poor ticket sales.
“Kings Of Leon, I can tell you this: Ticket sales are doing remarkably well in the last couple of weeks,” Jason Resetar told me last week. Resetar works for concert titan Live Nation as the Toyota Pavilion’s general manager. “I think it takes people a little while to get into summer mode. … The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre market has been good when we look at the radio-type shows and somewhat of a younger audience.”
(For much more on Kings Of Leon, read our cover story this week.)
On to Question No. 2, the one about shows not coming to Toyota Pavilion. Tom Petty, Rush and the improved Mayhem Festival will not — barring any late additions to itineraries — be coming to the mountain. Petty has moved many tickets there before, and Rush has done well. Mayhem has done OK, but this year’s lineup — Korn, Rob Zombie, Lamb Of God, etc. — should do better than last year’s Marilyn Manson and Slayer-led roster.
It might be disappointing that some of the above artists won’t be playing in our market, but it’s important to know two things: It doesn’t mean Live Nation didn’t try to bring them here, and two, you can drive to Allentown to see Rush or the Philadelphia area to see Petty or Mayhem.
Mohegan Sun dipped its toes into NEPA’s outdoor summer concert pool last summer, booking shows by LeAnn Rimes, Peter Frampton, Hall & Oates, Montgomery Gentry and Bowzer.
“It worked well,” said Bobby Soper, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs’ president and chief executive officer. “The feedback was to bring back the summer concert series.”
Mohegan’s concert setup on its racetrack has room for about 4,800 spectators, Soper said. With Toyota Pavilion boasting a 17,500-fan capacity, we’re talking about two entirely different booking approaches and fan experiences.
“We took the approach of having quality acts but really having high-value, low-price tickets,” Soper said.
This summer, the Plains Twp. complex will play host to Pat Benatar (June 27); Bowzer (July 2), which was last year’s best-attended concert there; Huey Lewis (July 16); Randy Travis (Aug. 20); and Foreigner (Aug. 29).
Last year, I went to the LeAnn Rimes, Frampton and Hall & Oates shows. All three sounded great and looked good, too, especially when you consider it was a new venture and that Mohegan was not purpose-built for outdoor concerts.
There were some problems, though. The seats were not reserved. If you had the higher-priced tickets, you were directed to sit in the front few rows; if you didn’t have those tickets, you were told to sit anywhere but the front few rows. This was a little chaotic. Soper said there will be “some minor tweaks, some reserved seating” for “some of the better seats” this year.
During the Frampton and Hall & Oates shows, I was frequently distracted by loud talkers and beer vendors who roamed the aisles. During Hall & Oates’ set, I had to switch my seat three times to get away from blabbermouths. I figured Mohegan must give out a lot of comp tickets — that’s what casinos do for their better patrons — and maybe people with free tickets were only there because the tickets were free. And people with free tickets that could care less about Frampton, Hall or Oates might decide to consider it a nice night out to talk about Jeanie’s new Prius or Frank’s bursitis.
Soper said Mohegan does award comp tickets to “some of our best players” but didn’t want to say what percentage of seats were comped.
Meanwhile, at Montage, Live Nation will again hold at least one smaller-house, intimate show this year — Jackson Browne on Sept. 1 — following last year’s Moody Blues show in which the venue closed off the lawn and morphed it into a roughly 3,000-seat, nearly sold-out space.
“2,500 or 3,500 in many traditional amphitheaters, it looks cavernous, it just looks empty,” Resetar said. He acknowledged “challenges with some of our parking and traffic” that might make some people “a little reluctant” to go to concerts on the mountain. These smaller-scale shows, he said, appeal to some of those people.
So, we’ll have some massive shows like Dave Matthews Band, Kiss and Toby Keith — and possibly some additional concerts this summer at Montage, Resetar hinted — and some fun, smaller shows like Benatar and Browne.
For what it’s worth, six tours on Rolling Stone’s “coolest tours and festivals of the season” — James Taylor and Carole King (Mohegan Sun Arena), DMB, Kings Of Leon, Furthur (Penn’s Peak), Browne and Warped Tour (Toyota Pavilion) — are slated for NEPA.
I won’t use the clich� “something for everyone” because it’s never accurate. But when it comes to mass-market shows meant to appeal to as many people as possible, it’s difficult even for someone as cynical as me to find serious gripes right now.
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