[h=1]Amphitheater building on success; venue kicks off new season on Friday with Brantley Gilbert concert[/h]
Little things can mean a lot: That’s the 2014 theme at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater.
Four years ago this month, a big thing happened, with the opening of the years-in-the-planning amphitheater, a 7,500 (roughly) capacity venue on the riverfront.
Since then, the Druid City has played host to Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Lumineers, Fun, Gotye, R. Kelly, Wilco, Sinbad, Earth, Wind & Fire, B.B. King, Widespread Panic, Steely Dan, The Avett Brothers, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, John Mayer, The Beach Boys, Backstreet Boys, Neko Case, My Morning Jacket, Alabama, Garrison Keillor, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Patti LaBelle, The O’Jays, ZZ Top, STS9, Erykah Badu, Merle Haggard, Kelly Clarkson, Alan Jackson, Ringo Starr, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Daughtry, Luke Bryan, Maze with Frankie Beverly and others.
The amphitheater has also been home for half-marathons, memorial services, arts-group gatherings, a boxing match and more. When Tuscaloosa was struck by the devastating EF5 tornado in the opening year, the kitchens served to feed rescue workers and volunteers. That year and into the next, performers including Chesney, Case, MMJ, Panic, Alabama and others steered shows to the amphitheater, donating proceeds and in some cases all artists’ fees to our city’s relief efforts.
Nestled as it is near the heart of Tuscaloosa — it was constructed on landfill that was itself layered in over an early 20th-century entertainment district known as Stallworth Lake — with views of the
old train trestle, its modern
counterpart in the dual Wallace bridges, the skyline of downtown uphill on one view, the river rolling by behind the loading bays, the amphitheater also provides a point of visual pride, an architectural gem that performs professionally, but emphasizing the little things that make the experience better for patrons and artists alike.
Industry analyst Pollstar nominated the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater as “best new venue” in its first year and has noted ticket sales placing it consistently in the top ranks of outdoor venues in the country and the world. Last year’s 70,402 tickets sold placed it at No. 58 among amphitheaters worldwide. That’s a huge base, topped by venerable Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado, and also meaning Tuscaloosa has beat out larger and more-established regional competitors such as Birmingham’s Oak Mountain Amphitheater and Orange Beach’s The Wharf.
So with the building itself settled, a contract renewal with booking agent Red Mountain Entertainment — a one-year extension signed for 2014, with a five-year agreement all but signed, agreed on in principle, according to Mayor Walt Maddox — experienced crew in place and no major changes needed, personnel are focusing more narrowly.
“It’s not sexy,” said Wendy Riggs, arts and entertainment director for the city of Tuscaloosa. “But I guess the big thing, going into this year, is our focus on customer service on every end. We’re looking at what do we do in the backspace that makes our amphitheater more memorable to the artists, so that when they come back to Alabama, they want to come here.”
Many touches might not be visible to patrons, but if those niceties help keep the artists and crew happy, word spreads, making the next big thing more likely to favor Tuscaloosa over Birmingham.
“Willie Nelson, when he came last year, he said this venue reminds me of being at home,” Riggs said. The Red-Headed Stranger made note of the riverfront, the landscaping of the venue itself, the comfort of backstage areas, the cleanliness and comfort of the seats and furnishings.
“We love the fact that that’s the reaction,” she said. “A lotta times what we get from bus drivers and crew as they come down the hill is, ‘Wow, that’s so pretty.’”
But that’s built in, literally, so what Riggs and crew are focusing on for 2014 are the grace notes. That was a topic of conversation at a Pollstar convention she attended: What makes a venue stand out?
“We’re trying to think on the human level: What is hard about being an artist, to be on the road all the time, where every place starts to look the same?” she said. “We upgraded our showerheads. That seems so small, but if you go to a billion places, and they’ve got crappy water pressure, stuff like that goes a long way.
“We have to remember that we’re kind of the crew’s hotel room for a day. When he saw where we are, (country star) Luke Bryan wanted a kayak, so we got that for him. He went out on the river and had a great time. We’ve had people want to go tour (Bryant-Denny Stadium) or go work out on campus, so we try to arrange all that.”
That same attention to detail extends to VIPs, box holders — what can the amphi-theater do to ensure contracts renewals? — and every ticket holder. Riggs and crew are in the process of replacing the removable chairs that sometimes go in the bowl, or are taken out for standing-room shows, such as tonight’s Brantley Gilbert opener. Sun and rain effects have begun to show on the mesh chairs; they’re switching to a sturdier plastic. The amphitheater also had new chair rollers to help store them.
“Again, it’s not too sexy,” Riggs said, “but it goes into comfort and keeping the expenses down so we can keep putting resources back into the shows.”
Inner-park communications were improved, and phone-scanner technology and extra ADA parking were added. Glow-in-the-dark stamps are replacing wristbands to try to get people into the venue and out of lines quicker.
Things are moving well enough that a group from Arkansas, about to open its own amphitheater, is coming this summer to shadow Riggs and crew to see how things are run. Also on site tonight will be Mayor Maddox, who picked up the project idea years back and saw it to fruition.
“The most important thing is that we’re not satisfied,” Maddox said. “We’re as fired up as we were three years ago, when we opened with the Avett Brothers.”
In 2013, the city spent about $50,000 improving aspects of customer service, and this year, as Riggs noted, that attention to detail will go toward artist relations.
“The focus is so different than three years ago,” when the picture seemed all big: parking, security, ticketing, he said. “Now it’s much more narrow, focused on what we can do to make it all better.
“I never say routine, because we don’t want to get complacent, but there is a comfort in knowing that we know how to make this work.”
One proud note to open with: Tonight’s will likely be the largest crowd yet to attend a show, partly because some changes made it possible to expand the number of people who can fit into the standing area down front. As of earlier in the week, only 27 tickets remained on sale.
Maddox said Red Mountain continues to book top-tier artists, making the amphitheater competitive, so that even from a profit-loss side, the books are still in the black. Nearly a quarter of a million have walked through the gates in three years, and of course the level of entertainment the city draws is incomparable to anything since the ‘70s, when Memorial Coliseum was a prime spot for touring acts. Even that heyday’s numbers will fall away as the amphitheater rolls on.
But he’s equally interested in intangibles and peripherals.
“It’s not just a direct benefit to taxpayers, but the amphitheater has anchored so much downtown growth and business,” he said, pointing to the Embassy Suites, under construction, as one possible result of the drawing power.
“It’s very gratifying to me, when I go have lunch at a downtown business, it’s very gratifying to hear the anticipation of all the customers that’ll be coming in that night,” he said. “(Tonight’s concert) is going to generate so much activity in our downtown that otherwise wouldn’t be there.”
The city has taken a “more global” view of the venue, he said, noting that if it were strictly for-profit, Red Mountain would book 10 or 12 country acts a year and call it done. Instead the amphitheater hosts smaller acts to suit more diverse crowds, and events such as the Fourth of July concerts with the Tuscaloosa Symphony, which lose money.
“But the city realizes that having the symphony out there, having the fireworks, having the community come together there in a patriotic setting, that’s very value-added,” he said.
Although the concert season typically runs from April to October, the amphitheater might see more usages in the future, he said.
“We’re seriously considering having the ice skating there, in the Christmas months,” Maddox said, referring to the winter event that has been held outside the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum for the past two years. “It has become so popular, we need a larger venue to host it, and the amphitheater is uniquely positioned for that.”
When Maddox met with Red Mountain’s Gary Weinberger, a Tuscaloosa native, back in 2007, “I had no idea we’d be on this journey,” the mayor said. “And in the beginning of 2008, as we began the public discussions, there was a lot of doubt: Can we make it work?”
Red Mountain’s experience — in addition to decades of booking events and venues, Weinberger was among those who built and opened Oak Mountain Amphitheater — continues to be a “phenomenal asset in the development and success” of the amphitheater.
“We know there are acts we have tried for and come up short, but we are going to continue to do our best to get those acts in our venue, this year and in the future,” Maddox said. Three new concerts will be announced at tonight’s Gilbert show.
In meetings with Riggs and Red Mountain, the concern is moving forward, not maintaining status quo.
“We’re even talking about year five,” he said. “Fifty-eighth in the world in ticket sales ... that is amazing. But I want to be higher.”
