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Pacific Amphitheatre is $1.3 million in the hole
October 27th, 2008, 6:00 am · 37 Comments · posted by Tony Saavedra, Register investigative reporter
While the Orange County Fair continues to attract people in droves, with its funnel cakes and hog auctions, it’s having a harder time packing the Pacific Amphitheatre. The fair’s 2008 concert series ended $396,650 in the red — even after the fair board cut way back on its freebie tickets.
Fair board members this year took 10 tickets apiece for each concert, instead of 25– and still the amphitheatre tanked. The concert series is now $1.3 million in the hole since the fair reopened the amphitheatre in 2003.
Dena Heathman, senior vice president of finance, blamed the lackluster concert season on the heavy competition for acts that will attract customers. She also blamed the economy. 
A look at the lineup — including how much each act was paid and how much they generated — shows that the Pacific Amphitheatre bet wrong on several performances. The fair paid a total of $210,000 to the Wallflowers and Train, for a show that raised $160,886 in ticket sales. Ouch.
It paid $345,000 for rock-abbed singer Fergie and Carney, who generated $330,789. Yaz and the Psychedelic Furs got paid $277,500 for a show that earned $190,145 in ticket sales.
But the worst performance of the season, in terms of sales, goes to Emmylou Harris/Ricky Skaggs/The Del McCoury Band, which pocketed $197,000 for a show that attracted $96,137 in paying fans.
Not all the acts lost money.
The Scorpions and Sammy Hagar made a profit of nearly $200,000 in ticket sales. Alternative acts Paramore, Jack’s Mannequin and Paper Route earned a profit of nearly $100,000.
Even old standby Tom Jones and Sheila E. scraped by with a $40,000 profit.
Past comments to the Watchdog column give another reason for the low ticket sales — people are tired of watching the Fair Board and their associates gobble up all the good seats for free. Commenters also complain that the lineup is filled with the typical fair acts — folks on their way up or their way down — with tickets going for up to $90 apiece.
All these factors have fans singing a different tune.
To view fair financial documents, including a roster of all the bands, their ticket sales and their earnings, click here and here.
37 Comments
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This is the problem with wanting to put on shows for EVERYONE.
The Board needs to not give in to concerts that they know are not going to sell out the house and stick with ones that make money.
Stop listening to what everyone wants as is implied by this article and wasting government money on ideas that will not make money.
Thank you, Tony for showing us how we need to focus on concerts that make money and not trying to please everyone with variety.
IMHO - Most of the shows this year were to a half empty venue. Lower ticket prices, stop giving away freebies, fill up amphitheater, make profit.
Empty seats don’t pay the bills.
The Fair Board needs to book a better line up next summer. In summer’s past, we have gone to see Jackson Brown, Steely Dan, Beck, etc. Those concerts were sold out completely. Bring back the big acts, sell out and make more money. Also, consider opening up the grass section — with cheaper ticket prices. It has remained closed on every fair concert that I’ve been to.
Oh, my husband and I didn’t go to any concerts at the fair last summer. We usually attend 2-4 each summer fair. But like I said above, the lineup was completely lacking in ‘08.
$1.3 million in the hole AND annoying nearby neighbors with the noise? Gee, you think maybe it’s time to close this crappy venue already?!?
There’s nothing wrong with offering a variety of acts, they just need to be realistic on what ticket prices each act can support. It is not just OC residents who attend these concerts, so any of these performers could easily have sold out the venue (close enough, anyway), given smarter ticket pricing.
Obviously, there’s competition for good acts, but that’s true every year. I agree the lineup sucked this year, except for the Scorps.
I went to two concerts at the fair this year. The ticket prices are HIGH so I can understand why people don’t go. I totally agree the line up did suck this year but I LOVE going to shows at the Pacific Amp.
Sammy Hagar’s show totally ROCKED and made money so why couldn’t anyone else???
It is because they don’t open the lawn seats is why they are tanking. Anyone can point a finger at the economy. But guess what? The economy is always is some kind of trouble so to say that is a huge reason is not true. People need entertainment and will turn to it especially at a time like this with our economy being in the red. I think that if they had better bands and opened up the grass area they will see they won’t belosing so much money. I also think that whomever agreed to pay Psychedelic Furs and Yaz $277,000 needs to be shown the door.
What are the stats on what the attendance was for each concert?
I really could care less about the losses of the Pacific Amphitheatre. I find articles like this absoutely sick. People have lost their homes, more people are going to do so. People are losing their jobs & more will do so. People are on fixed incomes that have dropped rastically & I’m supposed to even take time to think about the Pacific Amphitheatre. Please go fly a kite!
$90/ticket for a 45 minute performance…why bother? You can pay that much at a bigger venue and see a 2 hour performance. The 10:00pm curfew doesn’t leave much time for the headliner, after the opening acts play for an hour.
Maybe they could move these loser concerts to Irvine’s Great Park next year.
Then we’d be able to kill them both off, once and for all.
The Scorpions and Sammy Hagar show was the most profitable, and an amazing show… I was there. Yet there was an OC Register sports writer who was trying his hand at making a music review who blasted the show. He was such an idiot in that article. He blasted the most profitable and musically best show in the venue! Scorpions rock on forever!
As much as I wanted to attend a show this year at this venue, I didn’t find anybody worth going to see. Not only was there a lack of good artists, but I can’t stand that there is a decibel level limit for that area because of the complaining neighbors. This will also discourage bands that like to play loud to stay away from Pac Amp. Oh well, maybe next year they will get it right, that is if they’re still in business.
What is the attendance count for each concert? Sold Out?
The tickets are hard to get.
For the most part, you have to get your tickets from a broker,
so they are way too high.
Then, there are all those tickets they give away.
Yes, I can see that they are 1.3 mil in the hole.
Turn this over to some one else, and I guarantee you
there will be a profit. And new rules, no more freebies.
Why should I pay big bucks to see a show when the Fair Board Members get 10 free tickets each! I will not subsidize these vultures who get those coveted seats as frebies whereas I would have to PAY so sit in the distant seats. EVERYONE should pay their fair share, no freebies. I think the publicity about all those freebies taken by the Fair Board just turned people off.
To many free tickets given out, and the high cost of regular tickets I think is the problem. And that guy has to much hair on his harry chest so I would not go.
The freebies are not the problem. The place is usually half empty. Therefore the freebies are not taking away from paying customers. Besides, once the freebies are in there they are going to be purchasing beer. That’s where the money is. Ticket prices should be lowered and the grass should be utilized. No sense in having that wasted real estate.
I’m not surprised. I worked at the fair for 6yrs and every year the line up gets worse. I’m not sure what kind of people they are trying to cater to. Also treat your performers better so they come back.
The OC fair used to be great to go to when there was concerts included with the price of admission for has been acts.For the last several years they want us to pay market value ( much higher prices) for has been acts for the Pacific Amphitheater. That is the problem.No one wants to pay big bucks for has been no longer relevant acts.
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How many readers (and concert goers?) boycotted the series this year in response to the freebie/mismanagement issue? This was a hotly debated issue and I believe is being understated and underestimated. I usually attend a few shows during the series, this year, none as a statement.
I agree there are lot of issues causing the loss of revenue. How about paying the musical acts according to the revenue generated by each concert? Pay them after the concert on a commision basis?????
When half the tickets are given away for free by the OC fair board to business associates, bought and paid for politicians and cronie bureaucrats from public agencies who purport themselves to be friends of the taxpayer, what do you expect? It’s a racket. A huge dysfunctional system that has gone mad.
My husband and I love to attend concerts at PacAmp. We anxiously wait each year for the line up to come out. NO ONE to see this year and no way we were paying $90 a ticket. What happened to Tears for Fears for $50 a ticket? We sat orchestra for Don Henley for $70. There are plenty of great 80’s bands and plenty of 40 somethings out there in OC to fill the house. Maybe a new line up selection committee is what is needed. BTW, how does the fair justify selling you alcohol and then telling you your car will get towed if you leave it parked in the lot overnight? They need to wake up to the bigger problem of drunk driving and take some responsiblity.
I’m in the concert business and whoever is doing the booking is either screwing the fair board or they’re highly inept. Do you think House of Blues pays BB King $125K? I can get Fergie for half that price right now and she’s got a major new hit!
The Pacific Amphitheater is by far still one of the best out door venues in Southern California. Conveniently close to two freeways makes entering and exiting a breeze, try that at Glenn Helen or Verizon. Second, it only seats, 8.500 people? Again, good luck buying even the lowest price ticket at the other two and sit as close as you are able to. Sure the ticket prices are high, but it’s relative to the above as well as not fighting with up to 50,000 (Glenn Helen) or 10,000 (Verizon) more people to see a show. You get what you pay for. The Fair’s purpose for the shows during to run of the Fair, i am sure, is to bring in patrons to the Fair, plain and simple. They would hope your going to come early or stay late and spend money buying something deep-fried or a new gadget for the home. Quite honestly, it’s a great little Fair! No where in the article does it talk about the 1 million plus that walked through the gates this year. There is no way that board could give that many tickets away. Wonder how many people who went to the Pac Amp even knew that their ticket to the show was also an admission ticket to the fair.
The problem with the Pac Amp is that they booked too many shows that competed with themselves as well as overpriced for the type of act there was. The Wallflowers are a $85,000 band. They probably get paid $25,000 tops for playing at the House Of Blues for 200 people. Yaz for $200,000? Who is going to see that first of all, let alone for a ticket price that has to recoup $300,000 in ticket prices. I don’t see how that math is taking into consideration for covering all the costs of the show either (sound, lighting, video and labor).
I would recommend that the OC Fair put out some sort of simple questionnaire online that give the public a voice on what they want to see at the Pac Amp. At least it’s a start. Based on the reggae show costs, it’s not impossible to put in a quality show at a descent price, and come out ahead.
Look at the negative all you want, there is a science her, it’s just time to get back to the benchmark. A place where all can be happy.
They need to cater to more Latino acts at a cheaper price. WHen Maldita Vecindad and Julieta Venegas played 2 years in a row the place was packed. And it was only $25
What a shock! With all the best seats being give-away tickets, who would have thought they would lose money? I wonder what the current amount would be if they would have sold those seats for face value over these five years. Maybe someone will do the math.
I am a huge fan of Pac Amp. and have been going there for years. Even caught a few shows before they shot it down. If you are not an OC local, you probably don’t know Pac Amp’s lawn is not permitted to be used due to noise issues. I believe that was the main reason they were shot down years ago. I went to 4 shows this Summer and will continue support this local venue.
???
I am not sure why most of you complaint about the ticket prices as I think they are way below a lot of comparable venues. Where can you possibly catch the Wailers & Pato for less than $20, plus able to go to the Fair? Which Fair can offer us Matchbox Twenty? ? Although I didn’t go to that show, but I was impressed they booked that show. Look at LA County Fair, they get Jessica Simpson (passe) and Gavin ‘Stefani”
I guess it’s hard to please everyone every year, but I am sure some year I’ll see 5 or more shows, and another with just going to 2 or 3 shows. Being able to go to the Fair before and after the show is definately a plus.
In closing,stop bitching about this venue. Regardless how much we complain about the board, they are still getting their tickets. We should really embrace this local venue and support it anyway we can. If you like to drive up to the Greek and the Hollywood Bowl, fighting the traffic and parking nightmare, then by all means.. Otherwise, enjoy the freakn’ fair and the concerts in our own backyard.
For the last few years, I got emails saying I was getting first crack at presale tickets yet when I tried to pick a couple up, I would always get tickets at the back of the venue. After reading the articles about the fair board taking 25 each of the best tickets for themselves, I realized I didn’t have a chance. That whole thing about insiders giving themselves special treatment just put a stench on the whole thing for me. I figure, let the fair board enjoy the concerts, BY THEMSELVES! Knock yourself out!
I agree with td99 who on October 28th, 2008 at 8:13 am said he had boycotted the concerts to make a statement. That is exactly what I did!!!! After finding out what was going on over there, I decided to spend my money elsewhere. This was a bigger mistake than the Fair Board realizes…People are tired of hearing being taken advantage of….
Hey everybody, look at meeeeee, I’m Paul Carlson and I can get Fergie right now because I’m sooooooo important! Dude, get a life. If you’re so connected, fix the problem and quit name-dropping on a newspaper comment section.
They need more Mariachi bands, I would be willing to pay top dollar
Costs have gotten our of control for concerts. I can go to another venue and see the same level of acts for less. I went to the Taste of Newport this year and saw UB40, Third Eye Blind and Styx for $75…all three days…
JEFF
they need better groups!this years line up WAS lame!they need new and fresher groups!but you could always bring BOB DYLAN back
Too many freebee tickets and too many crappy bands.
No wonder.