Concert promoters long for a new arena

The Beatles played the Civic Arena in 1964, but nearly 40 years later Paul McCartney couldn't play there because the facility could not accommodate his stage equipment.

A new arena in Pittsburgh could open the doors to such hefty shows and more concerts, say local promoters.

"A new arena would again put Pittsburgh back on a lot of touring maps and rejuvenate Pittsburgh in the concert scene," says Brian Drusky, an independent promoter who formerly worked for Live Nation.

In his 30-plus years with DiCesare-Engler Productions, Rich Engler booked hundreds of shows into the Civic Arena -- now Mellon Arena -- and agrees that it's outdated.

"The roof has a major limitation on what type of show can be hung. That prevented the Paul McCartney tours, and the Celine Dion [set] had to be augmented because of the weight limit. These shows are only getting bigger and bigger and that means more weight."

Besides the ability to hang heavier sets, assuring more tours, Mr. Drusky says an arena with a bigger capacity might lure some concerts away from the outdoor amphitheaters.

The advantages of an arena show include shelter from bad weather, a better view of the performer and, for many, less hassle getting to the venue and then escaping the parking lot.
"It is no secret in the industry that the outdoor amphitheater era is nearing the end of its reign," Mr. Drusky said. "It is prevalent from all the sales and closing of amphitheaters."

Like the Pirates drawing so much better at PNC Park than at Three Rivers Stadium, a new facility would be part of the appeal of going to a concert, Mr. Engler says.

"Any time a new building is built, there is a honeymoon period that can last for a few years. That means even a marginal show would do a lot better."

At the moment, Pittsburgh is still on the short end of the stick when it comes to arena concerts.
In the past few weeks, the two hottest reunion tours of the year -- The Police and Genesis -- have been booked into the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, but not in Pittsburgh.

"It could be the fact you've got a really old arena in that market," says Gary Bongiovanni, editor of the concert trade publication Pollstar. "If the act is only going to play 30 shows in North America, everybody is going to play New York, LA and Chicago. After that you can start arguing. If you don't have a competitive, state-of-the-art facility, it's very easy for someone to say they're going to play the new facility in Wichita or wherever, because there are lots of new arenas being built."

Mr. Bongiovanni says he doesn't see Pittsburgh as a secondary market, but he adds, "When you get down to market sizes in the 30s and 40s, many of them become very competitive for top tours when they put a state-of-the-art arena in. Suddenly you get places like Charlottesville, Va., or Moline, Ill., or Tupelo, Miss. -- they put a new venue in there and that just creates one more option to playing Pittsburgh."

Compounding the problem of Pittsburgh landing big tours, Mr. Drusky says, is that Michael Belkin, of Belkin Productions, runs the local Live Nation office -- from his home base in Cleveland.

"The rejuvenation," Mr. Drusky says, "could be even better if there weren't Browns fans running the bulk of the major concerts in Steeler Nation. Cleveland seems to get a lot more shows than Pittsburgh does. If it is a toss up between Cleveland or Pittsburgh for a marquee show that can only play one or the other (and the choice is up to the promoter), which city is going to get it?"

Mr. Belkin refused to comment, but did point out in an e-mail that he is more of a "Cavs fan."