Why is the concert scene always so dead in Jacksonville?

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

well I did buy the first Evanescence album 

he said educated, young professionals

well I was young 10 years ago!

Touche!

[BridgeTroll]

Its reality. Sorry for not sugarcoating it (like I tried to). Would you like to engage in the argument that Korn and Evanescence are widely listened to by the educated and young professionals that the city has a hard time attracting and retaining? I'd love to hear that.

Perhaps you could provide a small playlist of bands we are missing out on... you know... a young and educated playlist.  Something NOT Rockville... or country, or Korn and Evanescence... or etc...

1.___________
2.___________
3.___________

[Anti redneck]

Since the topic was about the "concert scene" it certainly seems appropriate to illustrate a wildly successful concert at Metro Park... if success is measured by turnout.  Do we really care what county the concert-goers come from?  My guess would be large concerts in say Orlando are attended from people from all around the state...

Not if those same acts going to Orlando are also heading to Tampa and Miami. Jacksonville is really the only "city" in Florida that most of these acts tend to pass.

[Anti redneck]

Its reality. Sorry for not sugarcoating it (like I tried to). Would you like to engage in the argument that Korn and Evanescence are widely listened to by the educated and young professionals that the city has a hard time attracting and retaining? I'd love to hear that.

Perhaps you could provide a small playlist of bands we are missing out on... you know... a young and educated playlist.  Something NOT Rockville... or country, or Korn and Evanescence... or etc...

1.___________
2.___________
3.___________

Are you referring to those bands who have never ever been to Jacksonville or those who have come at least once and have never been back after that?

[KenFSU]

 

Its reality. Sorry for not sugarcoating it (like I tried to). Would you like to engage in the argument that Korn and Evanescence are widely listened to by the educated and young professionals that the city has a hard time attracting and retaining? I'd love to hear that.

Perhaps you could provide a small playlist of bands we are missing out on... you know... a young and educated playlist.  Something NOT Rockville... or country, or Korn and Evanescence... or etc...

1.___________
2.___________
3.___________

I admire CityLife's bluntness.

If you've ever been to some of these dime-a-dozen radio station-sponsored alt-rock festivals featuring bands like Korn and Godsmack, the crowd doesn't exactly seem the most progressive, educated bunch in the world. That's not an insult, elitist, or passing on personal judgement. You only need to look around for 30 seconds to see it. I agree with the original poster that a throng of largely (though certainly not all) drunken/stoned, shirtless, goofballs in late-stage arrested development (there's a reason most of the bands at these things are from the mid-to-late 90's) smashing into each other it isn't necessarily indicative of a thriving, mature music scene.

Every mid-sized city in the country has these festivals.

I grew up in Fort Myers, a city with no music scene whatsoever, and saw 10,000 people routinely show up for these things.

A city this size should be aiming higher.

If we're strictly talking rock, we should be aiming for bands like Radiohead, Coldplay, The Killers, The Fray, Kings of Leon, Bright Eyes, etc.

Sadly though, I have a terrible feeling more people in Jacksonville would show up for Korn than for Radiohead :/

[Overstreet]

What Jacksonville is missing is a great mid-sized venue for the acts that are too small for the arena, but too large for the theaters/clubs. St. Augustine is just killing it with their 3,500 seat ampitheater.

3,500 seats, eh? Not to hijack the thread, but damn, school four would be a great place for an adaptive reuse into a little amphitheater

Times Union Center, Moran Theater........ 3,000 seats

[CityLife]

Its reality. Sorry for not sugarcoating it (like I tried to). Would you like to engage in the argument that Korn and Evanescence are widely listened to by the educated and young professionals that the city has a hard time attracting and retaining? I'd love to hear that.

Perhaps you could provide a small playlist of bands we are missing out on... you know... a young and educated playlist.  Something NOT Rockville... or country, or Korn and Evanescence... or etc...

1.___________
2.___________
3.___________

Are you insinuating that Korn and Evanesence are the cream of the crop? 

I'll list bands some of the biggest bands of the 2000's that off the top of my head that haven't been to Jax or St. Augie. I probably don't remember every show, so please correct me if I'm wrong on any. Most if not all of the bands listed are headliners or near headliners at Bonnarroo, Coachella, Austin City Limits, and all the huge music festivals that go in around the country.

Arcade Fire
Radiohead       Probably the 3 biggest bands of the past 10 or so years
The Strokes

Black Keys
White Stripes
The Shins
Band Of Horses
Coldplay
Kanye West
Jack Johnson
Ryan Adams
Red Hot Chili Peppers? Have they ever been?
Bon Iver
Muse
Arctic Monkeys
LCD Soundsytem
Sufjan Stevens
The Decemberists
Animal Collective
MGMT
Beirut
The National
Jay Z
Yeah Yeah Yeahs

The 2000's is probably one of the deepest decades ever for quality music. There are just an insane amount of fairly good quality bands. I could probably name another 100 or so quality bands that play in mid sized venues in Atlanta and other large cities that we miss out on.

[mtraininjax]

The Times-Union Center is home to three performance facilities. The Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall has 1,800 seats and is designed for non-amplified stage events. This is the home of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, which performs the majority of its concerts there. The Jim and Jan Moran Theater has 3,000 seats and is designed for amplified performances. The C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Theater has 600 seats, and is a multi-purpose hall with stage.

[Overstreet]

What Jacksonville is missing is a great mid-sized venue for the acts that are too small for the arena, but too large for the theaters/clubs. St. Augustine is just killing it with their 3,500 seat ampitheater.

Some easy, short-term fixes could include making the ground level at the T-U center and Florida Theater into removable seats and maybe new sound systems. Those venues are not that bad.

The $500,000 sound system in the TU center works fine but most traveling shows use their own system that is not tuned to the room. Thus there are holes. I spent many hours with Kirkegaard installing and calibrating that thing. Sound engineer was the former sound man from KISS and Jethro Tull. Strange guy........


Yes, it is it is 17 years old and could be replaced. But the point is bad amped sound is not always the house system at fault.  It is the traveling sound man that dictates the quality in a relatively short time without much engineering.

[KenFSU]

Its reality. Sorry for not sugarcoating it (like I tried to). Would you like to engage in the argument that Korn and Evanescence are widely listened to by the educated and young professionals that the city has a hard time attracting and retaining? I'd love to hear that.

Perhaps you could provide a small playlist of bands we are missing out on... you know... a young and educated playlist.  Something NOT Rockville... or country, or Korn and Evanescence... or etc...

1.___________
2.___________
3.___________

Are you insinuating that Korn and Evanesence are the cream of the crop? 

I'll list bands some of the biggest bands of the 2000's that off the top of my head that haven't been to Jax or St. Augie. I probably don't remember every show, so please correct me if I'm wrong on any. Most if not all of the bands listed are headliners or near headliners at Bonnarroo, Coachella, Austin City Limits, and all the huge music festivals that go in around the country.

Arcade Fire
Radiohead       Probably the 3 biggest bands of the past 10 or so years
The Strokes

Black Keys
White Stripes
The Shins
Band Of Horses
Coldplay
Kanye West
Jack Johnson
Ryan Adams
Red Hot Chili Peppers? Have they ever been?
Bon Iver
Muse
Arctic Monkeys
LCD Soundsytem
Sufjan Stevens
The Decemberists
Animal Collective
MGMT
Beirut
The National
Jay Z
Yeah Yeah Yeahs

The 2000's is probably one of the deepest decades ever for quality music. There are just an insane amount of fairly good quality bands. I could probably name another 100 or so quality bands that play in mid sized venues in Atlanta and other large cities that we miss out on.

Completely agree, and fantastic list.

[CityLife]

Great post Ken. And sadly you are probably right about Radiohead. Probably why they have played Tampa, West Palm, Orlando, and just about every else in Florida, but not Jax.

I think another factor is that there just isn't much money in Jacksonville relative to Atlanta, Miami, etc. For instance I bought Coldplay tickets for their summer show in Tampa. It sold out in like 10 minutes. Now tickets are selling for double face. I can sell my seats for $250 each if I want. Lower level tickets for Coldplay's Miami show are going for about $600+ dollars and that is for face value of about $100. Could you imagine that ever happening in Jax?

[tringler]

Three letters will answer the question. SMG. The city has hired SMG to manage their facilities. If you notice, the best run facilities are NOT rum by them (IE the Baseball Grounds). This management company is the one that is single handily responsible for the lack of entertainment in Jacksonville. They are the main reason for the demise of the Jacksonville Barracudas. Yes, St Aug Amp is killing this town. We are in dire need or a 3000 - 5000 seat venue in this town that is NOT RUN by SMG!

[mtraininjax]

We are in dire need or a 3000 - 5000 seat venue in this town that is NOT RUN by SMG!

We have it, Met Park, will hold 3000 people in the Pavilion area, and up to 10,000 total in the park. Best of all, it is run by COJ, Special Events.

http://www.makeascenedowntown.com/Metropolitan-Park.aspx

[Traveller]

I saw Ryan Adams & the Cardinals at the Florida Theatre three years ago.  I think he got engaged the next day or so.

Also, the Decemberists played St. Aug. in 2009.

[Anti redneck]

Its reality. Sorry for not sugarcoating it (like I tried to). Would you like to engage in the argument that Korn and Evanescence are widely listened to by the educated and young professionals that the city has a hard time attracting and retaining? I'd love to hear that.

Perhaps you could provide a small playlist of bands we are missing out on... you know... a young and educated playlist.  Something NOT Rockville... or country, or Korn and Evanescence... or etc...

1.___________
2.___________
3.___________

Are you insinuating that Korn and Evanesence are the cream of the crop? 

I'll list bands some of the biggest bands of the 2000's that off the top of my head that haven't been to Jax or St. Augie. I probably don't remember every show, so please correct me if I'm wrong on any. Most if not all of the bands listed are headliners or near headliners at Bonnarroo, Coachella, Austin City Limits, and all the huge music festivals that go in around the country.

Arcade Fire
Radiohead       Probably the 3 biggest bands of the past 10 or so years
The Strokes

Black Keys
White Stripes
The Shins
Band Of Horses
Coldplay
Kanye West
Jack Johnson
Ryan Adams
Red Hot Chili Peppers? Have they ever been?
Bon Iver
Muse
Arctic Monkeys
LCD Soundsytem
Sufjan Stevens
The Decemberists
Animal Collective
MGMT
Beirut
The National
Jay Z
Yeah Yeah Yeahs

The 2000's is probably one of the deepest decades ever for quality music. There are just an insane amount of fairly good quality bands. I could probably name another 100 or so quality bands that play in mid sized venues in Atlanta and other large cities that we miss out on.

Add Slipknot and Eminem to that list.