THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 18, 1996 TAG: 9608180056
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HOLLY WESTER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 127 lines
It's two minutes shy of 10 a.m. Saturday morning, and Dave Allen is at work.
Again.
With four hours of sleep under his ball cap, the promotions director for the Virginia Beach Amphitheater has survived one heck of a week - and one heck of a summer.
Toting a plastic Farm Fresh bag, Allen shuffles out to the box office area and delivers three dozen glazed doughnuts to 30 or so fans waiting to spend anywhere from $12.75 to $29.75 for tickets to see Brooks and Dunn on Oct. 6.
``You always give out doughnuts?'' one man asks the sweet and sleepy-eyed stranger.
``Not always,'' Allen responds, ``but today is a pretty big one.''
Saturday was the first day tickets were available for the show, which will be the last concert of the amphitheater's first season. The sale came only 12 hours after a killer triple-header - Jimmy Buffett on Wednesday, Neil Young on Thursday and James Taylor on Friday.
Since the next show isn't until Friday, it's time for the venue's 500-plus staffers to indulge in a little ``R&R.''
And for operations folks, such as General Manager Mike Tabor, it's time to review their successes, as well as their mistakes.
Nine shows during the first 16 days of the month have been as good a test as any.
``My compliment folder is thicker than my complaint folder,'' Tabor, 33, said. ``I've never seen a facility opened and run more smoothly.''
With 80-plus-hour work weeks, and time spent at amphitheaters in Nashville, Tenn.; Raleigh; and Houston, this venue vet knows.
``I have never seen a community embrace a facility the way Virginia Beach has embraced us,'' he said. ``This one has been more well-received than any I've seen.''
Besides strong attendance figures - Tabor estimated that more than 300,000 people have visited so far - the festival lawn has been a marker of success.
Nearly a quarter of a million people have partied on the slope. And Saturday morning, it showed.
Cigar butts and pistachio shells were among the Friday night leftovers. Patches of sticky mud, and brown, wiry Bermuda grass looked hungry for fertilizer.
But that's OK, Tabor said.
``If your lawn looks good, that's a bad sign,'' he said. ``If it looks like crap, you're doing pretty good.''
The lawn will be back in shape for Friday's Hank Williams Jr. concert, Tabor said.
In fact, the patches of mud - which lead from short sidewalks up the hill called ``pavers'' - are being used as a guide for the future. Tabor said more pavers will be built where the grass is worn to accommodate fans.
``Cellar Door did this place right,'' he said of the landscape, which in addition to the lawn, inclues some 12,000 trees and bushes. ``They didn't cut corners.''
Complaints about the amphitheater have been few and far between, Tabor said.
The $1.50 parking charge on every ticket was an initial problem, but Tabor hasn't had a call about that in two months. He said people are happy they're leaving the lots within 30 minutes, versus the 90-minute or more wait at other venues.
The 160 handicapped-accessible seats were another problem, since wheelchair patrons couldn't see at the first few shows when folks in front of them stood up.
The amphitheater moved to fix that problem, although some leaders of the disabled community have said they still are not satisfied with the results.
The other problems have been out of the amphitheater's hands, according to Tabor.
They didn't get the rhythm & blues acts they wanted, because large-grossing acts such as Boyz II Men and Luther Vandross weren't on tour this summer. The sole urban show on the schedule - R. Kelly on July 12 - was canceled because of Hurricane Bertha and couldn't be rescheduled because the tour ended 11 days later. George Clinton's Sept. 6 appearance will be the first.
Another downside has been the lack of alternative-edged pop groups such as The Cranberries, who weren't able to come because their schedule wouldn't allow it. The H.O.R.D.E. festival on Aug. 30, featuring acts such as Blues Traveler and Lenny Kravitz, is the closest the amphitheater will get this year.
``Purely from a financial standpoint, we want to feature the widest cross-section of artists possible,'' Tabor said. ``We looked for variety to introduce people to the facility. It just didn't happen.''
Still, fans for the most part were happy with the new venue.
``Everybody thought it was going to be a waste of the taxpayers' money,'' said two-time veteran, Stacy Kirkwood, 32. Instead, she said, ``it's been a nonstop party.''
Vangie Tersol, 22, a gradaute student at Old Dominion University, said she likes it because it's an alternative to the bar scene: ``Sitting under the stars is wonderful. There are no lines, and the restrooms are clean.''
Complaints focused on minor points. They included frustration over policies restricting tailgating before the Buffett concert, annoyance about ticket prices dropping after some fans had purhased seats at higher rates, and the distraction of jets flying overhead during shows.
However, the worst problems involve people and their lack of etiquette - a problem not so easy to fix.
``I have seen James Taylor seven times, and I had never been told to `shut up' until tonight,'' Julie Patrick, 29, a research scientist at ODU, said Friday.
She had beer thrown on her and was called names by folks on the lawn for talking - something that's not addressed by the rules.
Although the amphitheater's young age immunized it, most concert promoters are considering 1996 a down year - another uncontrollable obstacle.
``A slow year is usually followed by a good year,'' Tabor said. ``If history holds true, fans will see even bigger-named acts next year.''
Tabor is confident the staff's commitment will keep the fire burning long past the honeymoon.
``Everybody here loves what they do for a living,'' he said. ``And we will continue to do whatever it takes for people to have a great time from the moment they arrive to the moment they leave.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
The Virginian-Pilot
The Jimmy Buffett concert on Wednesday was the top draw.
Graphic
TOP 10 ACTS
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
Photo
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/The Virginian-Pilot
Mike Tabor, general manager of the Virginia Beach Amphitheater,
examines trampled areas of sod on Saturday. He says the wear and
tear on the lawn is a sign of the new venue's success. by CNB