Upcoming concerts at Daily's Place

[JaxJersey-licious]

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Fucking sad how underutilized this facility is.

After looking at the Daily's Place offerings so far for the early festival concert season my reaction is not so much sad as not surprised. Given the solid bookings they had last year it's safe to say that for it's inaugural year Bold Events laid out a ton of incentives and waived a bunch of fees to get artists here. Given the expense of playing at such a nice new facility a lot of these acts need to be sure they come close to selling out all these premium priced seats to play there. Another thing possibly hurting the amphitheater's desirability is it's lack of lawn seating. Even though those fans are subjected to sitting on wet patchy muddy grass with obstructive sightlines of the stage and subpar sound, the fact that these tickets cost substantially less than your typical arena (or Daily's Place) cheap seats help attract thousands more fans and their families each night to not only enjoy these acts but also the chance to sell them premium priced merchandise, an increasingly important revenue source for these tours.

And I haven't yet mentioned the 500 pound gorilla in the room significantly contributing to Daily's Place woes - The St. Augustine Amphitheater.

The discussion on their effect on Daily's Place I will leave for another post...

Daily's Place doesn't have any woes. They've sold out dozens of concerts already. They're just "playing the hits" as it were.

As far as St. Augustine goes, Daily's Place should be putting a hurting on St. Augustine Amphitheater, not the other way around. SAA is on Anastasia Island, not even terribly convenient from St. Augustine, and about as far as you can get from the rest of the metro area. And the parking sucks. By contrast, Daily's Place is pretty much perfectly located, easily accessibly from anywhere in the metro. It has plenty of parking and is newer and nicer. And yet SAA Amphitheater books shows Daily's Place hasn't gotten.

So what's the secret to the St. Augustine amphitheater's success? Now I have no experience in running venues and booking acts nor have I worked in the business of planning nor operating of tours but I'm pretty sure it boils down to the staff of SA Amp having a great relationship with a lot of these touring companies and promoters over the years. When they first started trying to get big-name acts a decade ago they had their struggles but over time amphitheater management and act bookers became more familiar with these tour operators and more capable of negotiating deals and ultimately doing a better job to sell the place.

Now performers will always be treated like kings and queens by the venue staff but what gets overlooked in what venues they perform at are how the touring staff are treated. Is the management and staff good to work with? Are they attentive to their needs? Are they good at dealing with problems that come up? And can they ultimately put on the show the tour envisions with minimal hassles?

On top of that there is also the feedback from fans that attended the concert. Artists and their management getting fan messages about how they enthusiastically traveled for hours to get to this particular venue, how it was a great getaway for them, and that they'll plan a vacation to this town if they come back along with these performers and staff's relationships with the venue are likely considered when another tour around this part of the country is planned. With all these positive responses eventually the rest of the concert industry takes a closer look at SA Amp ultimately performing there and so on. The fact that so many acts have come back to St. Augustine year after year and new acts keep coming is a testament to that. 

Being a new venue in a sea of dozens of similar ones, not yet establishing the relationships with show promoters SA Amp has, and  the inability as of yet to gain that positive reputation in the touring community are some of the hurdles Daily's Place seems to be facing this year. Although it's still early and there are lots of tours yet to book dates for this summer, Daily's Place may end up being the fall-back venue in case SA Amp lacks slots, at least for now.

The key for them is being flexible and have creative programming. The big acts will come but can't be relied on too heavily so at least having Daily's Place help serve and support the community can lead to the community to keep supporting Daily's Place.

[Lostwave]

So what's the secret to the St. Augustine amphitheater's success?

When they first started trying to get big-name acts a decade ago they had their struggles but over time amphitheater management and act bookers became more familiar with these tour operators and more capable of negotiating deals and ultimately doing a better job to sell the place.

Being a new venue in a sea of dozens of similar ones, not yet establishing the relationships with show promoters SA Amp has, and  the inability as of yet to gain that positive reputation in the touring community are some of the hurdles Daily's Place seems to be facing this year.

The key for them is being flexible and have creative programming. The big acts will come but can't be relied on too heavily so at least having Daily's Place help serve and support the community can lead to the community to keep supporting Daily's Place.

You answered your own question pretty much. 

I have worked in the entertainment industry for years, and still do.  A new venue takes a long time to get a reputation (good or bad) and artists need to basically be coerced to come to a venue they have never been before, either financially or through personal connections. 

Once an artist plays a venue and likes it, they are sure to return.  And once you get enough of those, you get follow on booking from them and similar artists.  Same with the promoters/managers etc.  Plus up and coming artists might say, hey, Modest Mouse plays there every year, we have a similar fanbase, I want to also.  But all this takes time. 

Daily's Place is unknown and under the radar to most artists, agents and promoters.  That takes time to change, and once it does, we will see a lot more of the newer acts and a lot more shows in general. 

One of the reasons you are seeing all this so called "dad rock" is because they are trying to cover the country in 3 months playing nearly every night, with some promoter running the show.  That promoter spends a lot of time negotiating a deal.  Getting Dave Matthews in will surely sell the place out so a new venue will be more willing to pay top dollar to get them to play.  Some of these smaller, newer acts are often handling the tour themselves or with a "buddy", non-professional manager who probably has never heard of Daily's place.

Another issue last year is a lot of the bands already signed on to do St. Augustine, they aren't going to play here too.

All that said, I think this amphitheater will do well.  It will just take a little while to get there, as it did for St. Augustine, and just about every theater. 

I remember a Widespread Panic show at the Gorge in Washington State that had about 15 people there; it was a great show, but very sad.  Now that place sells out pretty much every show.  People travel far and wide to go there.

[Tacachale]

So what's the secret to the St. Augustine amphitheater's success?

When they first started trying to get big-name acts a decade ago they had their struggles but over time amphitheater management and act bookers became more familiar with these tour operators and more capable of negotiating deals and ultimately doing a better job to sell the place.

Being a new venue in a sea of dozens of similar ones, not yet establishing the relationships with show promoters SA Amp has, and  the inability as of yet to gain that positive reputation in the touring community are some of the hurdles Daily's Place seems to be facing this year.

The key for them is being flexible and have creative programming. The big acts will come but can't be relied on too heavily so at least having Daily's Place help serve and support the community can lead to the community to keep supporting Daily's Place.

You answered your own question pretty much. 

I have worked in the entertainment industry for years, and still do.  A new venue takes a long time to get a reputation (good or bad) and artists need to basically be coerced to come to a venue they have never been before, either financially or through personal connections. 

Once an artist plays a venue and likes it, they are sure to return.  And once you get enough of those, you get follow on booking from them and similar artists.  Same with the promoters/managers etc.  Plus up and coming artists might say, hey, Modest Mouse plays there every year, we have a similar fanbase, I want to also.  But all this takes time. 

Daily's Place is unknown and under the radar to most artists, agents and promoters.  That takes time to change, and once it does, we will see a lot more of the newer acts and a lot more shows in general. 

One of the reasons you are seeing all this so called "dad rock" is because they are trying to cover the country in 3 months playing nearly every night, with some promoter running the show.  That promoter spends a lot of time negotiating a deal.  Getting Dave Matthews in will surely sell the place out so a new venue will be more willing to pay top dollar to get them to play.  Some of these smaller, newer acts are often handling the tour themselves or with a "buddy", non-professional manager who probably has never heard of Daily's place.

Another issue last year is a lot of the bands already signed on to do St. Augustine, they aren't going to play here too.

All that said, I think this amphitheater will do well.  It will just take a little while to get there, as it did for St. Augustine, and just about every theater. 

I remember a Widespread Panic show at the Gorge in Washington State that had about 15 people there; it was a great show, but very sad.  Now that place sells out pretty much every show.  People travel far and wide to go there.

Yeah, I would say the advantage of St. Augustine Amphitheater is the head start. When they came around they were the only venue of that size in the metro area, and now that Jax finally got its act together, it's already well established among touring acts (including acts that formerly played in Jax venues). That doesn't mean Daily's Place shouldn't make the effort - they've been around for nearly a year at this point, it's time to step up. There are plenty of shows out there that neither venue gets currently.

PVCH is harder to explain, except that there aren't very many similar venues in the metro area, and those that are haven't focused on booking these kinds of shows.

[Tacachale]

This will ruffle some feathers, but St. Johns County is the music capital of Northeast Florida until Daily's Place and the Florida Theater get it together.

That is true...

[Lostwave]

PVCH is harder to explain, except that there aren't very many similar venues in the metro area, and those that are haven't focused on booking these kinds of shows.

It seems to me that it just took over Freebird Live's bookings.

[Snufflee]

^Oh, for sure.

I think larger indie-ish bands like Modest Mouse, or the National, or Death Cab, or Chvrches, or Haim could pack the place.

And if it's successful, expand the indie net.

Anything to break the Dad Rock-Country-Christian-Dad Rock-Country-Christian cycle.

Do love the Wyclef/Symphony concept though.

The National is coming to the ST Johns Amph in May... already have tickets.. would have preferred Daily's Place but this show was a late add so i will take it. 

[KenFSU]

This will ruffle some feathers, but St. Johns County is the music capital of Northeast Florida until Daily's Place and the Florida Theater get it together.

This might ruffle some feathers, but I think St. Augustine Amphitheater is also a better venue for indie shows.

Daily's Place has great sightlines, and modern amenities, but it's also pretty soulless.

Just kind of a stark, concrete bowl in the middle of a parking lot.

I'm not quite sure what it is, but it's still missing something to give it a little bit of character.

[MusicMan]

For anyone who is interested, super talented singer Storm Large will be performing with the Jacksonville Symphony in a couple of weeks at Jacoby Symphony Hall inside the Times Union PAC. March 2, 3 and 4 .

"Crazy Arc of Love"  A steady diet of romantic love songs... with a twist.

Storm can do pretty much anything vocally so this should be a great date night choice for those of you tired of 'Dad rock'!

More info here:   jaxsymphony.org

[Tacachale]

This will ruffle some feathers, but St. Johns County is the music capital of Northeast Florida until Daily's Place and the Florida Theater get it together.

This might ruffle some feathers, but I think St. Augustine Amphitheater is also a better venue for indie shows.

Daily's Place has great sightlines, and modern amenities, but it's also pretty soulless.

Just kind of a stark, concrete bowl in the middle of a parking lot.

I'm not quite sure what it is, but it's still missing something to give it a little bit of character.

I haven't been to Daily's Place, but St. Augustine Amphitheater is also a big concrete bowl surrounded by a parking lot. The trees on the periphery help the ambiance, but all the housing developments and 10 pm curfew do not. I think the real difference is that the cachet that comes with St. Augustine stank is much difference than Jax Stadium District stank.

[JaxJersey-licious]

All that said, I think this amphitheater will do well.  It will just take a little while to get there, as it did for St. Augustine, and just about every theater. 

Yes, indeed. And for all those lamenting Jacksonville's lack of "noteworthy" acts please take a deep breath and give some more time for the city to get some momentum on having deep diverse musical acts. I still remember how back in the early 80's how Orlando was often mocked as BORE-lando due to the lack of quality concerts it could get. Only when they made significant improvements to their performing arts venues and built a world-class arena did they start attracting shows that would normally flock to Tampa, Jacksonville, and even Daytona Beach. 2 great quality outdoor venues in the region duking it out is a GOOD problem for North Florida to have especially when you compare that to the big bad Orlando metro area which technically has none.

[RattlerGator]

Daily's Place has great sightlines, and modern amenities, but it's also pretty soulless.

Just kind of a stark, concrete bowl in the middle of a parking lot.

I'm not quite sure what it is, but it's still missing something to give it a little bit of character.

I don't disagree (I love the place, but I would have loved whatever they built); I suspect that "missing something" factor changes somewhat when Duval Live! gets built.

[MusicMan]

"I'm not quite sure what it is, but it's still missing something to give it a little bit of character."

Hardwood floors?

[02roadking]

  I've had sound issues at some of the shows at Dailys. So far it has been on the far eastern side, in both the lower and middle sections. It was so bad, that I'm not buying a ticket in that area anymore, if I can help it. I have sat all over in there at about 10 different shows and the sound has been fine, except that eastern side. I'm thinking that concrete wall or the sound guys, I don't know.
 

   

[TimmyB]

Someone must be listening to this thread.  WALK THE MOON at Daily's Place, July 1st!

[Steve]

  I've had sound issues at some of the shows at Dailys. So far it has been on the far eastern side, in both the lower and middle sections. It was so bad, that I'm not buying a ticket in that area anymore, if I can help it. I have sat all over in there at about 10 different shows and the sound has been fine, except that eastern side. I'm thinking that concrete wall or the sound guys, I don't know.

I'm not in the music business, but isn't that something they can tune? In other words, is there a real flaw in the venue or is that part of "shaking out" a new place?