The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
Today’s question:
QUESTION: Do you think the Concord Pavilion is being used to its full potential, or do you think the City could do more with it?
Talk about it….
18 comments
No. This year again is a lineup of B List or has been acts, which a couple of exceptions. City of Concord is going to have to take a hard look at making a change when their contract with Live Nation is up.
Better than the 10-15 yr stretch where it only hosted graduations and garden shows, but they seriously need to be held accountable on the local impact of all the hip-hop concerts on the neighborhood.
Went there last week for a high school grad ceremony. Was saddened to see how rundown the place is.
You’d think Toyota would be embarrassed to have their name on it; their corporate profit dollars should be used to facelift and modernize it; not our tax monies.
But; KUDOS and Two Thumbs-Up to the worker-bees there; in the parking lots & stands, they were very helpful.
Last went to a garden/home show a while back. That had been going down steadily so decided not to go anymore. Don’t know if they still try to do those.
Oh? Is it still there?
Just think of all the space that could be used for homeless encampments!
When it first opened, I went frequently to see terrific artists performing g there…like Bette Midler! As well as a lot of country artists, and some oldies but goodies like Peter Paul and Mary. Years later, Ringo Starr and his all stars. Huey Lewis. Other well known names. Then the venue changed hands…suddenly it was all rappers and hip hop. Then changed again, and hasn’t had a notable performer since. Very sad. Loved going, bringing a picnic blanket, getting a place on the lawn and eating the KFC we had brought in. Then all the rules changed. Made it a less than friendly place to go…they restructured the venue to make it less family friendly. Sad. They destroyed it with their “improvements”.
It’s not the Pavilions fault that all of the acts you referenced are at an age where touring is their top priority. Rap and Hip Hop is what sells, and they are all young and eager to be on the road putting on shows. Also those genres are what sell, look at the monthly listeners of any mid rap or hip hop act and it will easily out perform many larger artist from any other genre.
Rap and Hip Hop concerts are what cause the police to block off every single strip mall on the way out of the pavilion. Such a wholesome environment; bring the kids!
You can bet Seeno and company would love to have a say in this.
How much is the Pavilion bringing in annually? What are the expenses?
@The Old Goat, this is my estimate of how much the pavilion brought in on Wednesday for a HS graduation, though not a concert.
Capacity as posted on wall:13,808
Estimating about 6500 drove, $25 per vehicle so $162,500 for parking.
Lemonade (with more than half ice) was $8.76. If about a third of the people bought them, and there were. Lot of people given it as 97F and the Pavilion didn’t allow coolers, hydro flasks, etc., $40,300.
There were also hot dogs, caramel popcorn, cotton candy, etc. was too hot for those but people were buying them since it was dinner time.
Not including staffing, rough estimate is $250,000-$300,000.
Not a great venue but it sure beats driving to Shoreline. I’ll always support the pavilion.
Excited to see a top act in music today, The Foo Fighters in August.
No… but given the state of repair – what do you do with it? Will the city and / or Toyota engage in a major rehab? If no repurpose it to something else? Make it a family rec center including a target and archery range …. movie theaters? good sit down restaurants? (not this fast casual garbage)
Just rip it down and build more “low income” apartments right eddi? Splat a bunch of green paint on the ground. Concord needs new representation
MAGA SAM,
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Yes, we now know some Concord City Councilmembers would like to build high density housing on the current site of the Concord Pavillion/Toyota Pavilion at Concord. We sure found that out when the previous incarnation of the Concord City Council tried putting a soccer stadium and hotel next to the Concord Police Station, which also would’ve replaced the Pavilion for all other events, and some councilmembers were advocating high-density housing be built on the Pavilion property. I may be misremembering, but I think we also found out that the Pavilion property was donated to the City of Concord for the purpose of an amphitheater, and if the property isn’t used as an amphitheater the property would then revert back to the previous owners or their heirs. I believe the same is true for part of the Mt. Diablo High School campus, where part of the campus property was donated for a high school, but if it’s no longer used as a high school the property reverts back to the previous owner or their heirs.
There used to some phenomenal concerts at the Pavilion, back in the day. Nowadays, are concerts even still held there?
I guess things have changed regarding music performance shows. Back in the day it was bands performing their music. Theses days – Computerized lip sync dance and light shows?
The top music acts avoid the Pavilion because of its relatively small size compared to other venues. For the Pavilion to succeed in attracting A-class musical talent again, it would need to undergo a major expansion. I don’t see that happening!!!
I just looked at the line up for this year, and outside of the Foo Fighters, most of the acts wouldn’t entice me to go. Many have played there before. I remember when you they used to have 3-5 shows a week– many of which were top tier. Today most of the popular acts head to Shoreline. And just looking at Shoreline’s schedule for this year, you can see it’s so much better. I think part of the problem is Live Nation and the city of Concord. I remember Live Nation long wanted to own the pavilion, and because the city wouldn’t let their portion go, they relegated lessor acts there, which I guess the city is okay with having. The booking was so much better when Bill Graham was alive.
Also what happen to all the cultural events? I can’t remember the last time the symphony played there, such as for the fourth of July. Remember when they used to have plays or ballet? I miss the jazz festivals.
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