Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Slump Rock

All local concert venues listed on Pollstar’s year-end summary showed a decrease in business last year, with the Sports Arena and SDSU’s Open Air Theatre showing the largest declines.

Cricket Wireless (formerly Coors) Amphitheatre came in at 27 on the list of 100 top amphitheaters, selling 210,000 tickets in 2008 (down from 249,000 the year before); the Open Air Theatre came in last on that list, falling from 88 to 100. OAT sold almost half as many tickets in 2008 (17,600) as were sold in 2007 (32,000).

Sponsored
Sponsored

On the list of arena venues, the Sports Arena fell from 53 in 2007 to 98 last year. Sports Arena moved 211,000 tickets in 2007 but only 117,000 last year.

The local House of Blues held its own on the list of top 100 clubs, selling 78,000 tickets in 2008, making it the 49th most successful nightclub on the list. 4th&B fell off the list completely in 2008 but was number 95 in 2007.

The top-grossing local concert last year was Madonna’s November show at Petco Park; all 35,743 tickets (priced between $55 and $350) were sold, grossing $5,097,000. In previous years, tours by blink-182 and Jewel showed up on the list of the 100 most successful worldwide tours; no local artists showed up on this year’s list.

Not showing up on the top-100-amphitheater list was the new Concerts on the Green outdoor venue located at the southwest corner of the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot (it used to serve as the Chargers’ practice field). AEG Live brought Bob Dylan, Stone Temple Pilots, and Paramore (among others) to the 13,000-capacity venue last year.

Insiders say that AEG has decided to walk away from the Concerts on the Green facility and focus on its new, exclusive relationship with the Sports Arena.

“That venue was a stiff,” says one promoter who never did business at the Mission Valley venue. “I heard every one of the shows they did there [last year] lost money except one. I heard they nicknamed the 91X X-Fest [in May 2008] ‘mosquito fest.’ ”

Qualcomm general manager Mike McSweeney says he has “dates on hold” for AEG this summer. AEG San Diego executives did not respond to a request for comment before press time.

— Ken Leighton

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema

All local concert venues listed on Pollstar’s year-end summary showed a decrease in business last year, with the Sports Arena and SDSU’s Open Air Theatre showing the largest declines.

Cricket Wireless (formerly Coors) Amphitheatre came in at 27 on the list of 100 top amphitheaters, selling 210,000 tickets in 2008 (down from 249,000 the year before); the Open Air Theatre came in last on that list, falling from 88 to 100. OAT sold almost half as many tickets in 2008 (17,600) as were sold in 2007 (32,000).

Sponsored
Sponsored

On the list of arena venues, the Sports Arena fell from 53 in 2007 to 98 last year. Sports Arena moved 211,000 tickets in 2007 but only 117,000 last year.

The local House of Blues held its own on the list of top 100 clubs, selling 78,000 tickets in 2008, making it the 49th most successful nightclub on the list. 4th&B fell off the list completely in 2008 but was number 95 in 2007.

The top-grossing local concert last year was Madonna’s November show at Petco Park; all 35,743 tickets (priced between $55 and $350) were sold, grossing $5,097,000. In previous years, tours by blink-182 and Jewel showed up on the list of the 100 most successful worldwide tours; no local artists showed up on this year’s list.

Not showing up on the top-100-amphitheater list was the new Concerts on the Green outdoor venue located at the southwest corner of the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot (it used to serve as the Chargers’ practice field). AEG Live brought Bob Dylan, Stone Temple Pilots, and Paramore (among others) to the 13,000-capacity venue last year.

Insiders say that AEG has decided to walk away from the Concerts on the Green facility and focus on its new, exclusive relationship with the Sports Arena.

“That venue was a stiff,” says one promoter who never did business at the Mission Valley venue. “I heard every one of the shows they did there [last year] lost money except one. I heard they nicknamed the 91X X-Fest [in May 2008] ‘mosquito fest.’ ”

Qualcomm general manager Mike McSweeney says he has “dates on hold” for AEG this summer. AEG San Diego executives did not respond to a request for comment before press time.

— Ken Leighton

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Navy solves San Diego homeless crisis by retiring four locally moored ships

Decommision Accomplished
Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.