CARY, N.C. (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The town of Cary and venue managers SMG announced that they have selected Nahsville-based Outback Concerts as the "preferrred promoter" for the venue over Live Nation, who has been booking the shed for the past two years.
According to the News-Observer, the agreement stipulates that Outback will book a minimum of 10 events at the 7,000 capacity amphitheatre during 2009. The city is hoping that Outback will be able to focus on comedy and theatrical events at the venue.
"It's long been a goal to have dance and theater in addition to music there," Lyman Collins, cultural arts manager for the town of Cary told the News-Observer "It's not a Broadway roadhouse, but there are some unique theatrical opportunities like 'Stomp' or the 'Cirque'-like shows — acrobatic family-entertainment programming."
Live Nation will continue to operate the larger 20,000 capacity Time Warner Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek in nearby Raleigh. The promoter-giant is also a likely candidate to book the new shed currently being considered by the city of Raleigh which would be much closer in capacity to the Koka Booth Amphitheatre.
While the difference in sizes between the Koka Booth and Walnut Creek will initially provide a niche for Outback, a new, smaller Live Nation shed in the area will provide a challenging environment for Outback.
"Live Nation has their people, their allies, their tours, and I have a lot of respect for them," says Outback prexy Mike Smardak "It would be silly of me to say that we'll act like they don't exist. But we feel like we have something with this facility that can't be duplicated. If agents and managers look at what's in the best interests of their artists, to play the correct place, we'll have a great schedule and everybody wins." – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
