I have bragged to my friends back home in Colorado that when it comes to sports facilities, the University of Arkansas is among the elite in American college campuses.
Reynolds Razorback Stadium is THE best part-time football stadium in America (that’s a whole other column, in like, September.) Our Diamond Hogs play in Baum Stadium, easily one of the finest college baseball stadiums in the country, with a tremendous and very involved crowd every game.
Down the line, our facilities are top-notch: Bogle Park, McDonnell Field, Walton Arena, Tyson Track Center, the weight training facilities for the football team, even old Barnhill Arena serves the school well for gymnastics. Razorback athletics are in good shape facility-wise in Fayetteville.
So why is it when I wanna see a big-time stadium or arena show, I have to drive to Tulsa, Dallas, Kansas City or Memphis? Or Little Rock?
My wife and I saw U2 in a big-time college football stadium last fall. Why was it in Norman, Okla. and not Fayetteville? Razorback Stadium could have facilitated that stage, and filled those seats. I saw Metallica in a big-time arena show last year. Why was it (then) at Alltel Arena and not Bud Walton Arena? Paul McCartney, Carrie Underwood, American Idols Live, AC/DC, the list goes on and on and on with shows that are big-time arena acts that could sell out Walton Arena that we are forced to drive to Tulsa or Little Rock to see. Why?
Is it a matter of it can’t happen, or it won’t? Because the week to really drive home the frustrating aspect of this is this past week. That’s right. The Walmartians Have Landed!
Every first week in June, Northwest Arkansans welcomes thousands of Walmart associates from all over the world to our hometown Walmarts, hotels, restaurants, streets, clubs and….big basketball arena. Tuesday night, the shareholders were treated to a performance by the Zac Brown Band and Tim McGraw. The very next night, Walton Arena was rocking back to the 90s with Barenaked Ladies playing their hit, followed by 70s and 80s rock giants REO Speedwagon.
Now, I get it. Walmart imports thousands of people to our area to put hineys in the seats for those free shows during their “meetings.” Yeah, I know, we can’t have Walmart bring in tens of thousands of people every time we want to have a big time show at either Walton Arena or, dare I say it, Razorback Stadium. But do we need to?
Razorback football games put anywhere between 60-75,000 people in Razorback Stadium for games. Before the expansion to its current capacity of around 76,000 people, Razorback Stadium was similar in size to God-forsaken War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. (OK, I promised to do that column later, sorry.) The expansion happened, not coincidentally, in line with the population expansion of Northwest Arkansas as a whole. Most of that expansion, also not coincidentally, happened in Walmart-headquartered Benton County, where all the Walmart-focused vendors moved closer to the Blue Smocked Mecca.
From Eureka Springs west through Siloam Springs, Winslow north on 540 to Southwest Missouri, our area isn’t far from half a million people now. We have the population base similar to – if not equal to – that of Little Rock, as hard as that is to believe for some. But we don’t have major acts playing either Walton Arena* or Razorback Stadium. Ever. Well, outside of the first week of June.
The Arkansas Music Pavilion, near the Northwest Arkansas Mall, is the venue that hosts the most live music acts to a large audience. Owned and operated by Brian Crowne, who also owns George’s Majestic Lounge on Dickson Street, the AMP is bringing the Goo Goo Dolls here next week, Ted Nugent here the Friday of July 4th weekend, and has also brought such acts here as the Black Crowes, Rick Springfield, Loverboy and Levon Helm.
If anyone could find, book, and sell the acts to those venues, I’ll bet it would be Brian. He’s nationally-renowned for his management of George’s, and has done an excellent job with booking acts for not just the AMP, but also for the bike rallies that have had live music. The only thing is, Brian only runs George’s and the AMP.
* Editor’s note: As the story goes, when donating the money for the construction of Bud Walton Arena, Mr. Walton issued a stipulation that only Razorback men’s and women’s basketball could use it. The only exception to the mysterious rule was the annual Walmart shareholder’s meeting. This report is echoed in Rus Bradburd’s book Forty Minutes of Hell: The Extraordinary Life of Nolan Richardson.
Jon Williams is a contributor for the Fayetteville Flyer. He also hosts “The Jon Williams Show” mornings on Clear Channel’s 93.3 The Eagle and has lived in Northwest Arkansas for 20 years. Jon’s world revolves around his son Jack and wife Judy, and invites you to join the Loyal and Royal Army of his listeners on Facebook. For more of Jon’s contributions, visit his author page.
As the story goes, when donating the money for the construction of Bud Walton Arena, Mr. Walton issued a stipulation that only Razorback men’s and women’s basketball could use it. The only exception to the mysterious rule was the annual Walmart shareholder’s meeting. This report is echoed in Rus Bradburd’s book Forty Minutes of Hell: The Extraordinary Life of Nolan Richardson. As for why this might have been a stipulation, I have no idea.
Thought provoking, Jon. I hope it doesn’t fall on deaf ears. Good article.
Can Brian (or anyone else) really sell enough tickets to book a big act at the stadium? It seems to me that shows around here, including at the AMP, are criminally under-promoted and routinely suffer from lackluster crowds. Brian should really try to book someone who has had a recognizable song from within the last 15 years and see what he can do with it. I’d love to see big shows here in Fayetteville as much as anyone, but I don’t think anyone has the track record to bring in the financial backing.
Can’t wait for your Great Stadium Debate article, should piss the LR folk off nicely :)
Brandon Marcello just shared an interesting link with me. It’s an interview he did with Jeff Long and there’s some talk about concerts at the arena.
I saw Warrant, Firehouse and Trixter at Barnhill Arena in Sept. 1991. When I was in school there, George Strait, Reba, James Taylor all played at the UofA. Don’t know what the deal is now…wish I did.
But, for the hogs to be successful, they need to play in LR. The atmosphere for those games are 10 thousand times better than they are in Fayetteville.
Mark B, it is opinions like that that excite me to do The Stadium Column. Because thats the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard. Ever.
Personally, I’d rather us have a nice theater and get more theater sized bands. Something like The Pageant in St Louis. Arena shows can be really lacking. Poor views, poor sound, etc. And there aren’t that many good acts doing Arena shows now either. Even the regional list you cited is a but dodgy.
Jon,
Great column. Just today I bought tickets to see the Eagles in Little Rock and tickets to see Robert Plant in Memphis. While I know the money spent will be divided in many ways, I dearly wish some of it would stay in Northwest Arkansas. I wish the gas and meal money would stay in Northwest Arkansas, rather than going east and I wish I would be eating on Dickson Street or at some other local establishment on the night of those events.
Jeff Long said he was open to having concerts in Walton Arena when the program gets a basketball practice facility. Broyles originally nixed concerts in Walton when then chancellor Dan Ferriter said University Programs would book any such acts that came into the arena. Broyles always said Bud Walton said he wanted the arena always for basketball, but I’m pretty sure that was just a convenient cover story.
Back in 1994 or 95, John Tyson’s was attempting to bring the Eagles to Fayetteville for a concert on the Hell Freezes Over Tour. The Morning News did a coupl of stories on it. Evidently, Tyson is buddies with Don Henley. How cool is that. The show would have been in October. The Eagles didn’t want to play outside in Razorback Stadium that late in the year and basketball practice would have started on the 15th. But I still think it had more to do with who would or wouldn’t get paid for the use of the arena.
There is no doubt the area is large enough to draw fans to fill Walton for big acts. I hope I live long enough to see it.
It’s all about ticket sales- BOK in Tulsa, Ford Center in OK City and Verizon in LR all are located in larger metros with a larger pool of ticket buyers to draw from. Even if the bands wanted to come here out of the goodness of their hearts they don’t usually make the decisions on what venue or city they appear in.
I agree with Ingsoc, I think Fayetteville needs to have a venue the size of The Pagent or Fox Theater in St. Louis, Tulsa’s Brady theater (or even Cain’s Ballroom) AND at least ANOTHER venue the size of George’s. In my opinion, the last 7 to 8 years have been a long dry spell for Fayetteville’s once blossoming music scene. The problem is simple, we have only one venue, Georges, that could attract successful, talented musicians from other parts of the country.
And let’s face it, while George’s serves a nice purpose for the country music, over 40 crowd, the majority of the acts that it books are ignored by the largest music-loving demographic in the city, the students and the twenty to thirty year old crowd who keeps up with the vibrant music scene. Venues in college towns such as Columbia, MO, Lawrence, KS, and even Norman, OK have all taken advantage of this demographic with terrific results.
The AMP, while a nice option for those who still listen to the Goo Goo Dolls, MC Hammer, and Rick Springfield, has largely been a booking disaster (Levon excluded). My sincerest thanks to Brian Crowne for his hard work (he seems to be the only person monetarily invested in our music scene) but Fayetteville is struggling.
Gimme some more Deer Tick, Dinosaur Jr., The Heartless Bastards, Son Volt, Jenny Lewis. Even Built to Spill stopped by Fayetteville four or five years back. If Cain’s Ballroom can get The New Pornographers, The Avett Brothers, The Drive-by-Truckers, The Black Keys, etc. than Fayetteville can too.
Does anybody have several thousand dollars to invest in a large space with big speakers? (Sang House guys?) Before we pour money into an arena to get some more Ted Nugent and Gary Allen, let’s invest into bringing acts that are relevant, interesting, talented, and maybe even popular. Bringing in artistically successful acts will revitalize our scene thus supporting our many talented local musicians.
Jon, you are entitled to your opinion as am I but the University of Arkansas is the state’s not just Northwest Arkansas and for the program to be successful and get the donors from other parts of the state, they need to play in Little Rock. That debate will never get old and never be satisfying to the “elitist” people in Northwest Arkansas. The Stephens family is just as big a player as the Walmart.
I went to school there for five years and I’m a great Hog fan, and yes, the UofA has great facilities and Frank Broyles built them. But this is Arkansas’ team and Arkansas’ school. Besides, the basketball team needs to go back to Barnhill. Thanks
Nice article Jon, but doesn’t your employer Clear Channel have more pull in getting big acts to come to the area? I know Clear Channel and their promoter partner Live Nation have way too much power and money in getting huge, huge acts to tour. Thank them for charging outrageous ticket fees and merchandising people can’t afford just to please the artist.
It’s obvious this market is not large enough to have the huge acts your hinting at. This area needs a good indoor music venue that people can support. We should not have to rely on the university, Tyson, or Walmart. As for outdoor venues, we have plenty of wide open space around here.
Too bad the Walton Arts Center is so small. We should send them and their paid parking to Benton County where it belongs.
The column is coming. And all i have to say is when I go to the LSU game and Louisiana natives have a shorter drive to the game than the very UA students the game is allegedly fought for…..I have a problem. Thats only one of, say, 39 reasons the old “appeasement” of the Stephens’ and the rest of the UALR football-less throngs can drive on a newly built 540 up to what we like to call….the “campus.”
The university of Nebraska is Nebraska’s team, yet they don’t play in Omaha or any other location. They play in Lincoln end of story.
The University of Alabama is Alabama’s team despite what Auburn fans like to believe. They gave up playing home games at a non-campus facility several years ago. Seem to be doing pretty good, had what 90K people at their spring game?
I have also wondered why there are not more real concerts at bud Walton besides the Wall-mart stuff. If you do your research, a hell of a lot of bands played at Barnhill in the 70′s and even into the early 80′s that were big at the time (Heart, ZZ Top , Kansas, Doobie Brothers, hell, even FRANK ZAPPA came to town once)…
Since the days of Hog Basketball selling out Bud Walton are long over (has not been the same since 95-96), why not have REAL events there that will bring in the crowds?????
Good Article.
Kudos to Brian Crowne for being able to book all the great talent he does.
I WANT to support bringing larger acts into NWA, but even $20 seems a little too steep for a lawn ticket to a SINGLE headlining act in an asphalt parking lot at the NWA mall.
Is the beer line at least short?
@Mike- I was there! Heart, Kansas, REO Speedwagon, 38 Special…I think even Black Oak, Arkansas might have played Barnhill. Great shows and there have been some since then- Collective Soul and Fiona Apple, Fuel and 3 Doors Down and even more recently.
I don’t doubt that it would be possible to get a sellout for a big name artist like U2 or Metallica for one show in NWA as it would be an exceptional event for the area. It would be harder to get a steady stream of high attendance shows of such artists as the ticket buying public gets jaded as to who they will buy a ticket for.
The Walton Arts Center needs to build their expansion in Fayetteville where the cultural center of NWA is. Contrary to what seems to be popular opinion on this forum- cultural offerings include popular music as well as Broadway shows and fine arts exhibitions. With the additional facilties the WAC could offer much more of the popular music shows that some on here want. Those who question the management of the WAC can look at other such organizations in cities nationwide and find similar arrangements. The need to keep the premier performing arts center of Northwest Arkansas in Fayetteville is much greater than any of the individual objections that some may have to it.
Aren’t we getting the 12,000 to 16,000 seat amphitheater out past Tonitown sometime in 2011?? There were stories in the paper and on the Flyer. Did that get put on hold??
There is an opportunity there to get acts on the circuit. Not alot but some. We are in an area as John said with Dallas, St. Louis, Kansas City, Tulsa, Memphis, and Little Rock.
Those are all large markets all within 5 hours of this area. That’s not a good thing in the concert world. Tickets are pricey these days and the economy not so good. So when a promoter is booking big acts in this region he is going to the larger market. Period.
There are some acts though that we could catch on a off night in between some of these cities. But it has to be the right city where they are the night before. If it’s Tulsa forget it. If it’s Dallas on a night off heading to St. Louis then there is a much better chance. Because we then can pull the Tulsa market and SW Missouri to fill an 18,000 seat arena on a mid week night.
The amphitheater if it is built is a huge step for this area. I for one am excited about it.
I heard that Athletics and the WAC have been talking about using Bud Walton for concerts. One hitch is that all the students who have to move their cars for games would also have to move them for concerts.
@Sardon
Unless they’ve made changes to the campus master plan recently (which is entirely possible) campus will be closed to vehicle traffic other than the transit buses, delivery vehicles, emergency vehicles and UA vehicles. All parking will be on the perimeter of campus. I believe the desired time frame was 10-15 years for this.
@Todd–
That has kind of died, hasn’t it? I haven’t heard anything in quite some time, and I thought they said they were going to have several shows this summer. Maybe something will happen, still.
Hmmmmm. Another example of “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
@monroe jesuser-
i don’t think it has died off. i think it just takes time to get things going.
http://s99750.gridserver.com/2010/01/22/osage-creek-performing-arts-center-approved-by-benton-county/
Arena rock. Ahahaha. Like I wanna pay $80 to go see the craptacular Eagles or Foreigner. Just the thought of it is good for a laugh though…so thanks for that.
Now pardon me while I go pat myself on the back for being so cool.
I too was at the Warrant show at Barnhill back in the early 90s. Could such a show be enjoyed any way other than ironically today? I’m going to hang out with George and laugh sarcastically at the very exact person I once was.
In all seriousness, I am probably like most people in that I would enjoy more and bigger name shows coming through NWA. But I’m also a free-market person, and my take is if there were any serious money to be made by venue, band, and promoter, those shows would already be happening. I expect big shows to draw us to larger nearby cities, not vice versa, for the foreseeable future.
I highly doubt the investment is really there to build osage creek and if it gets built it will likely fail from lack of attendance.
pretty drawings though, we can all dream.