DAYTONA BEACH — What’s the biggest logistical challenge facing the American Music Festival on Labor Day weekend? Getting the Jonas Brothers to the Ocean Center from outside the country — and keeping fans from mobbing the teen pop group beforehand, organizers say.
Selling those pricey VIP tickets to the JoBros’ Sept. 5 concert? Moving those even more pricey VIP tix for Usher’s Sept. 3 show at the venue? No problem. The premium packages are going quickly, according to organizers.
“The Jonas Brothers are in Montreal the night before,” said Manuel Bornia, president of the Community Cultural Foundation. “That’s the one concert that’s required the most planning.”
With a full-time staff of six, plus three interns and a volunteer crew of about 200, the CCF is in full gear preparing for the festival that will bring not only Usher and the JoBros but also Tony Bennett, Buddy Guy, Huey Lewis, Blake Shelton and others. Those artists will perform either at the Ocean Center, Peabody Auditorium or the Bandshell on Sept. 2-5, while the festival officially opens Sept. 1.
Planning includes not only turning the Bandshell into a gated “mini Ocean Center,” in Bornia’s words. It also means getting Joe, Nick and Kevin Jonas to the Ocean Center on time, even as hundreds of the teen pop group’s idolizing fans would love to score some up-close-and-personal time with the trio.
Robert Cox, operations director of the CCF, got a taste of JoBros fandom when Kevin Jonas hosted the festival’s free kickoff concerts June 26 at the Bandshell.
“Somehow people knew when Kevin Jonas was coming in and they were standing in the (hotel) lobby when he got there, and they were going crazy,” Cox said. “We at the festival did not want to stop that. He’s extremely cool in that fashion and he signed some autographs.”
Festival tickets went on sale July 23 at Ticketmaster, the Ocean Center and Peabody.
“We’re seeing the same thing we see with the LSO” (the London Symphony Orchestra, which the CCF brings to Daytona Beach every other year), Bornia said. “First thing to go are all the VIP high-price tickets.”
Perk-filled VIP tickets, especially Jonas tix at $199 a pop, “are going humongous,” Bornia said. “Usher VIP tickets ($250 apiece) are three-quarters gone.”
However, the concert industry trade magazine Pollstar reported in July that gross revenue for the top 100 tours in North America in the first six months of 2010 was down nearly $200 million from last year — a 17 percent drop. Ticket sales were down 9 percent during the same period.
The Jonas Brothers have canceled some dates on their current tour, and added shows in other markets. Earlier this week, concert promoter Live Nation offered deep discounts — $10 tickets — to upcoming JoBros shows and others in Tampa and West Palm Beach.
Bornia is aware that ticket sales “have been lagging” in those markets, where the venue capacities are ” ‘ginormous,’ something like 18,000 to 20,000,” he said. “The 18,000-seat Amway Center in Orlando — gorgeous facility, phenomenal. But there are only a handful of concerts that can sell that out. Before, people were saying it’s a detriment that the Ocean Center only has 9,000 seats. Without that size in Orlando, I think there’s a good chance you’re going to see a very big increase in the concert activity here.”
Likewise, Bornia sees a seat-filled Bandshell as a good fit for the Daytona Beach “e-zone” (entertainment zone). The festival is part of efforts by the CCF and city officials to promote and “re-brand” the e-zone, which includes the Ocean Center, Peabody, the Bandshell, the Boardwalk and Main Street.
For the festival, the Bandshell’s concrete amphitheater space will be filled with temporary seating, both floor aisles and bleachers akin to those set up on golf courses for tournaments. Capacity will be 1,260 seats on the floor and 2,780 in the stands — 4,040 total.
Those same bleacher structures, with a back height of 20 feet on the sides and 27 feet in the back, will act as a visual barrier preventing outsiders from seeing, if not hearing, a free show.
“Some artists are too big for Peabody (2,500 seats) but not big enough for the Ocean Center,” Bornia said. Gating the Bandshell “is a test run. Who knows what can happen with this?”
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