Summer 2011 is fast approaching, and for the second time in two years one summer staple will be sorely missed. Raleigh’s Downtown Live concert series, which began in the summer of 2005, was held in Moore Square Park. Famous acts including Saving Abel, Better than Ezra, Everclear, Candlebox, Puddle of Mudd, Joan Jett and even Charlie Daniels Band have all performed pro bono to the delight of thousands of music fans. Unfortunately, with the opening of the Raleigh Amphitheater in 2010, Downtown Live posed a risk; free summer concerts could certainly hinder sales of bigger Live Nation events nearby.
The concert series was the product of cooperation between artist management and record label Deep South Entertainment and the city of Raleigh. Without the city’s support, funding and interest in replacing Downtown Live dwindled. Any hope that Downtown Live would return after a brief hiatus is gradually slipping away, as more and more evidence of the once celebrated concert series fades away. The series’ website is now defunct, in some cases redirecting to Deep South Entertainment’s website.
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So where does this leave the fans? Sure, Downtown Live may never have been able to book A-List acts, but these second and third tier musicians are the same acts that are being booked for the Raleigh Amphitheater, and now tickets come with a price tag. The Raleigh Amphitheater currently lists a grand total of zero events being held during the month of July, and only two in the month of August. To put these numbers in perspective, in 2009, Downtown Live had two events in July and another two in August before closing up shop for good. Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary will be having eight events during the same two month span, though none of the acts are as big as anything that would have been seen in Raleigh.
No one is hurting from the death of Downtown Live more than the local businesses that thrived on their proximity to Moore Square Park, who will now be facing a considerable drop in customers now that there aren’t statewide events drawing consistent crowds. It wasn’t uncommon to see the local stores extending their hours to capitalize on the concerts’ audiences, which peaked around 10,000 fans sprawling amongst downtown Raleigh. Downtown Live was one of Raleigh’s more impressive draws to those looking to immigrate to the city, and the all day concerts provided a free distraction.
There are a number of potential spinoffs that could make way for the spirit of Downtown Live to prosper. There are plenty of local bands looking for exposure and the opportunity to play for larger audiences, and these groups would jump at the chance to play at a stripped down version of Downtown Live. While smaller bands would certainly draw far fewer crowds than the bigger artists, fans would still come from the Triangle nonetheless. The local businesses would be provided with another opportunity to prosper via the influx of crowds, and there are plenty of companies, both musically inclined and not, that would be willing to sponsor the event.
The problems, of course, begin to manifest themselves when the subject of scheduling is discussed. While there are plenty of open dates that wouldn’t interfere with the two concerts being held in the Raleigh Amphitheater during July and August, the principle of the matter is to not undercut the paid admission events being held in the same city, but there are workarounds. It’s not impossible to have a smaller, free concert series running in the summer that won’t step on the Amphitheater’s toes, though it would take a lot of legwork. Even moving the concert series to one of Raleigh’s satellite towns like Apex or Cary would make the process easier. Running a few trial concerts to experiment with the effect on the Amphitheater’s sales would prove that there are options waiting to be explored. One thing is for certain, if music is played, fans will arrive.
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