Why is the concert scene always so dead in Jacksonville?

[Tacachale]

schwaz you can literally explain this as many times as you would like.  it will change nothing.

OMG, look who talking! I can think of many times were you couldn't back up your past arguments; I'm backing up what I say. All I'm saying is that St Augustine isn't a million miles away and it's in the metro, that's all; Don't try to make it sound like you're travelling to the Alabama state line. I never said that I disagree with yall concerning other cities like Orlando etc getting alot of good acts, but that's to be expected because Orlando is a big tourist town. Most major sports arenas are gonna have sports most of the time playing in them, with a smattering of concerts; Even the Amway Center's current concerts is okay but it's not like it's back to back stunningly spectacular euphoria. I'm aware that the other acts in town will of course go to the smaller venues (performing arts centers etc).

www.amwaycenter.com/events/category/concertsshows

Let's compare Jax to Orlando overall. Here's what pollstar shows:

                   Events
Orlando, FL    397

                        Events
Jacksonville, FL    95

I'm getting 176 for the Jax metro vs. 520 for Orlando, but the point is made. More to the point, beyond the tourism connection, Orlando has a number of well used mid-sized and upper-mid sized venues that we lack. As I've said before, that's what we're really lacking in Jax.

Actually, this is an interesting study comparing events to today's new MSA figures:

Jacksonville area: 176 events, 1,377,850 people
Orlando area: 520 events, 2,223,674 people
Miami area: 359 events, 5,762,717 people
Tampa Bay area: 296 events, 2,842,878 people
Gainesville area: 61 events, 266,369 people (2011)
Tallahassee area: 33 events, 367,413 people (2011)

Atlanta area: 476 events, 5,475,831 people
Charlotte area: 239 events, 2,296,569 people
Raleigh-Durham area: 280 events, 1,188,564 people
Norfolk-Virginia Beach area: 156 events, 1,699,925 people
Richmond area: 117 events, 1,231,980 people
Birmingham area: 108 events, 1,136,650 people
Nashville area: 381 events, 1,726,693 people
Memphis area: 151 events, 1,341,690 people


Who knows how realistic these Pollstar numbers are, but it suggests we compare favorably to cities of a similar size, and some a lot bigger than us. Imagine what we could do if we had more proper venues. Oh, and by the way, St. Augustine is included in our region.

[I-10east]

I'll say the big 'envied' overachiever in that Southeastern group looks like Raleigh-Durham, as it's surprising to me that it has the most events in NC. It looks like we are about where we should be according to the met pop numbers; I know, more acts won't hurt. Boy, Orlando left the Southeast in the dust.

[Garden guy]

Lets see..of we removed the southern baptist from the city and maybe event organizers will send business our way..fbc and the sbc have brought this city back to the 1880s. We r the laughing stock of the southeast...welcome.

[PeeJayEss]

Lets see..of we removed the southern baptist from the city and maybe event organizers will send business our way..fbc and the sbc have brought this city back to the 1880s. We r the laughing stock of the southeast...welcome.

This is a good example where FBC really has nothing to do with the situation. Literally.

Just to add a bit of a different light to the discussion, I was at The Avett Bro's concert when they came in late 2011/early 2012 (I believe the latter). That concert was very sold out and well attended, yet the Avetts have not returned on their national tours. Unless they were looking to upgrade to a venue between the Florida Theatre and the Arena, I'm not sure what the problem would be with their returning. Either they had a bad experience in Jax or Jax is too far out of the way to make the trip if they're not going further into FL (which they haven't been doing).

To the bad experience thing, there was some disruptive behavior towards the front of the crowd during the concert. And at Jim Gaffigan there was some seriously annoying heckling going on. Actually, I think there was at Ron White as well, and that is truly in our bread basket if anything is. So maybe we're just a-holes here?

Mumford coming to St Augustine seems to be saying "your market is too small to support a regular concert from these groups (fun, edward sharpe, etc)." I don't think that's the case, and I believe they'd sell out just about any venue they selected, but that "small market" thing is kind of the theory behind those special tour stops.

We seem to do pretty well with comedy acts. Perhaps that is a product of having the right scale venues or perhaps places like Comedy Zone and the TUPAC do a good job booking.

But we definitely need a proper Improv theatre.

[CG7]

I threw this question out at the Jax 2025 meeting last night, and the consensus seemed to be a lack of variety rather than a lack of numbers. I don't go to alot of concerts, mostly comedians, so I don't know what the answer is, but I'm pretty sure First Baptist isn't the reason Justin Bieber isn't coming to town.

[TPC]

I also think the layout of our state has a lot to do with bands deciding to pass on Jacksonville. Say a band is doing a tour that includes the Southeast. If they decide to visit Florida cities do they decide to travel all the way down to Miami or only as far as Tampa/Orlando and then turn around and head north?

[Tacachale]

Peejay, the Avett Brothers have played in NE Florida a number of times in the last few years. I saw them at the St. Augustine Amphitheater a couple of years ago. And that Florida Theater show was just a year ago. I'm sure they'll be back. But it's something to think about: if a band is looking to book something between the scale of the Florida Theater and the Arena, where would they go in this market? There's not much that doesn't have a pretty significant drawback. The Moran Theater? Not much better in terms of setup. St. Augustine Ampitheater? Nice, but really far out there from most of the metro. UNF? Possible, but serious logistical issues. Metro Park? Sadly, not really a great space for that. But put something like this in Downtown Jax and watch the concert scene take off.

I threw this question out at the Jax 2025 meeting last night, and the consensus seemed to be a lack of variety rather than a lack of numbers. I don't go to alot of concerts, mostly comedians, so I don't know what the answer is, but I'm pretty sure First Baptist isn't the reason Justin Bieber isn't coming to town.

You're in luck, Bieb is coming in August.

[PeeJayEss]

Peejay, the Avett Brothers have played in NE Florida a number of times in the last few years. I saw them at the St. Augustine Amphitheater a couple of years ago. And that Florida Theater show was just a year ago. I'm sure they'll be back. But it's something to think about: if a band is looking to book something between the scale of the Florida Theater and the Arena, where would they go in this market? There's not much that doesn't have a pretty significant drawback. The Moran Theater? Not much better in terms of setup. St. Augustine Ampitheater? Nice, but really far out there from most of the metro. UNF? Possible, but serious logistical issues. Metro Park? Sadly, not really a great space for that. But put something like this in Downtown Jax and watch the concert scene take off.

I guess I'm just being Avett greedy, but they have announced the dates for this year's tour and we are not on it, nor is any of Florida. Here's hoping they'll add more, for now I've got tix to Alpharetta. The Nat'l has some pretty good acts coming up. Very cool.

[Bewler]

Metro Park? Sadly, not really a great space for that.

Sorry if this has already been discussed earlier in the thread, but what exactly is wrong with Met Park? It honestly seems like the perfect place for a mid to large scale outdoor venue and essentially Jacksonville's answer to the Amphitheater. I remember seeing lots of bigger named groups there back in the 90s including U2, Green Day and a 93.3 Planet Fest featuring a slew of bands. So my question is, what happened? Was it really shut down because of noise complaints from the few houses across the river?

[Jason]

Nope.  Welcome to Rockville (whic replaced Planet Fest) is now bigger than ever.

[Tacachale]

Metro Park? Sadly, not really a great space for that.

Sorry if this has already been discussed earlier in the thread, but what exactly is wrong with Met Park? It honestly seems like the perfect place for a mid to large scale outdoor venue and essentially Jacksonville's answer to the Amphitheater. I remember seeing lots of bigger named groups there back in the 90s including U2, Green Day and a 93.3 Planet Fest featuring a slew of bands. So my question is, what happened? Was it really shut down because of noise complaints from the few houses across the river?

There's nothing wrong with Met Park per se, the facilities just don't compare to modern concert amphitheaters like the one in St. Augustine. As Jason says they still manage to get some good stuff there and it's underused in my opinion.

The noise complaints you're talking about is something I've been going on and on about for like 17 years. There was a plan to replace the outdated bandshell with a modern concert amphitheater, and greatly increase the number of events held at Metro Park through the year. The project would have been a major draw and was desired by most of the city, but there was some very tendentious opposition. Among them were some people in St. Nick (including a few regular MJ posters) worried about the noise; they spread all sorts of misinformation about the project and obstructed it at every turn. That and some big logistical hurdles sapped the politcal will out of the project, and the city eventually dropped the idea. Very sad.

[Bewler]

There's nothing wrong with Met Park per se, the facilities just don't compare to modern concert amphitheaters like the one in St. Augustine. As Jason says they still manage to get some good stuff there and it's underused in my opinion.

The noise complaints you're talking about is something I've been going on and on about for like 17 years. There was a plan to replace the outdated bandshell with a modern concert amphitheater, and greatly increase the number of events held at Metro Park through the year. The project would have been a major draw and was desired by most of the city, but there was some very tendentious opposition. Among them were some people in St. Nick (including a few regular MJ posters) worried about the noise; they spread all sorts of misinformation about the project and obstructed it at every turn. That and some big logistical hurdles sapped the politcal will out of the project, and the city eventually dropped the idea. Very sad.

Alright so they're complaining about noise that's half a mile across the river from a stage that even faces away from their homes. So what exactly do they do during game days? I mean there has to be lots of noise coming from that. Not to mention the jets that fly over at kickoff? That's totally acceptable but the occasional concert isn't?

[Jason]

Honestly, I think that the hidden truth is that the residents across the river just don't like the music itself.  Maybe I'll hit someone's button in saying this but if there were two day long classical concerts, there might not be quite the uproar...

[Tacachale]

To be fair, there are in fact complaints about basically all outdoor concerts and events, and always have been. In my opinion the issue is that there needs to be a place for things like that, but we're setting it up so there won't be one.

[tufsu1]

well they'll be getting to the heart of the issue when the City measures noise in St. Nicholas area during Rockville festival later this month.....I mean, sure I can hear the music from my home in downtown, but it is hardly deafening....I wonder just how loud it is over on that side of the river