THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 21, 1996 TAG: 9603210378
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Charlise Lyles
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Don't cha know. I love Bruce Hornsby, especially that recent number from the movie ``Clockers.'' He does background keyboard to Chaka Khan's soulful vocal.
And this will shock some of you - but I like Rod Stewart, too. ``The rhythm of my heart is beating like a drum. . . . ''
This will get you right where you live - but my mother - yes, Lillian Lyles - likes Rod Stewart.
And this will just put some of you right on the floor, but I'm going to own up to it. I like James Taylor too. ``Goodnight, moonlight ladies. Rockabye
Sweet Baby James and I go back to ``Going to Carolina In My Mind'' and ``Mockingbird.'' I was real broken up when he and Carly split.
So naturally, I'm delighted that they're all in the starring lineup for the May grand opening of the Virginia Beach Amphitheater. At least 20 other acts are being booked for the $17.5 million, 20,000-seat facility off Princess Anne Road.
But conspicuously absent from the lineup so far are black performers - or, for that matter, any Latins, Filipinos, or cross-over artists.
Folks're talking.
What're they saying?
The lineup doesn't sound like Cellar Door promoters. Don't they put on those baaaad reggae shows at the Boathouse? Yes. The ones that attract a multiracial and multigenerational crowd. Yes.
The concert lineup evokes the Greekfest fiasco. Remember the riot?
Prior to 1989, the annual Labor Day black beachfest had been uneventful - though typically rambunctious, as is any gathering of college-age human beings on the last holiday weekend of summer. But in 1989, media reports, anxious city officials and rumors fueled a fracas. The rest is ugly history.
Just shows you how things can get a little strange at the Beach.
So folks're talking. What are they saying?
The concert lineup is a not-so-subtle signal to about 30 percent of the region's population to ``stay away.''
The president of Cellar Door Entertainment, Bill Reid, says it isn't so.
Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Seal. And yessss, even He Whose Name Cannot Be Spoken, the former Prince.
``We've been in touch with all of them,'' says Reid. ``We've only booked a third of the acts so far. When we book popular music, we book music that appeals to everybody without regard to race or creed. Our intention is to bring in the best in the world and that certainly includes black artists.''
But a lot of black acts have yet to solidify tours, Reid says. So it's still just talk. The proximity of the famous Hampton Jazz Festival also limits. ``We can't book Barry White and other acts at the amphitheater because they're playing Hampton.''
Promoters are definitely going after TLC, Boys II Men, Luther Vandross and Earth, Wind & Fire, Reid said. In recent years, Cellar Door has booked those performers at amphitheaters in other cities, such as Raleigh, Richmond and in Northern Virginia's Nissan Pavilion. Aretha Franklin rocked Manassas.
Given the promoters' rap sheet, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt. Though, I know things can get weird when it comes to the Beach. Let this not become a matter for the Human Rights Commission, though it might give the commissioners something to do.
Still, if promoters and the city really wanted to present a more diverse lineup to the public, they would've scrambled hard to secure several black and cross-over acts in time for last week's announcement.
Obviously, no one minded running the risk of sending that not-so-subtle signal. by CNB