Chene Park Concert Ideas

[joneric]

Heard a rumor that Chene Park is looking to expand its programming beyond its traditional urban base. What indie/hispanic/world/new wave/electronic/techno/country/classic acts do your think would be capable of filling the 6000 person venue? Chene Park is a cool and beautiful place to hear music. It needs to improve its visibility throughout the metro area as well.

[DetroitPlanner]

Jug Bands
Gregorian Chants
Yodelling
Atanas

[bartock]

When the White Stripes and Strokes played there moons ago, it was a great success.

[Gistok]

Since the DSO no longer plays at the outdoors Meadowbrook Music Theatre for summer performance, I don't see why they can't do a summer series at Chene Park? It's only 2 miles from Orchestra Hall, so getting patrons down there should be no problem.

And as an aside... I always thought that the idea of tearing down the Chene Park Amphitheatre to rebuild one in Hart Plaza was pure folly.... and a huge waste of scarce city taxpayer dollars.... especially since a brand new 3,000 seat Chene Park Amphitheatre was ripped apart in the 1980s to build a larger 6,000 seat amphitheatre.

[lincoln8740]

When the White Stripes and Strokes played there moons ago, it was a great success.

I follow a certain band around the country and have been to many venues from New York to California and everywhere in between and I can honestly say that Chene park is the 2nd best venue I have ever been to.

The first, in my book, will always be the Joint at the Hard Rock in Vegas

[Dabirch]

When the White Stripes and Strokes played there moons ago, it was a great success.

The show was great, but the amenities were overrun.

The vendors had no idea of how to deal with 6000 thirsty kids. Beer lines were like 30 minutes long - during the show. And it took more than the entire intermission to get a beer.

Everybody who worked there looked totally shell-shocked.

If they want to go in that direction, they certainly need to get new help and/or to better train the ones they have.

[Toolbox]

There used to be all kinds of great shows at Chene Park. Get a real booking agent/managment company to run the place and I am sure it could be a money maker for the city.

[Hypestyles]

all kinds of music/programming should be welcome.. unfortunately, the more cynical types in urban detroit would start carping that "they're" trying to turn it into a "white folks venue" with the various genres mentioned above.. especially if management of the venue were privatized..

[Dabirch]

There used to be all kinds of great shows at Chene Park. Get a real booking agent/managment company to run the place and I am sure it could be a money maker for the city.

That Wier - Wasserman/Hot Tuna show was about as "un-urban" as a show could get. No way the city would ever bring in an event like that any more - and that was in the early 90's.

[rb336]

Saw Sisters of Mercy there many years ago - great show. it was supposed to be a double bill with Public Enemy, but the wonderful folks in the detroit city council KOd that

[jackie5275]

I saw BB King there about 15 years ago with some friends. It was the first time I'd been there. The show was good, but when we returned to my friend's car afterward, we saw her 2 front tires had been slashed. We looked around and saw several other cars with the same fate. It left a bad taste in my mouth about an otherwise nice venue.

[Hypestyles]

Saw Sisters of Mercy there many years ago - great show. it was supposed to be a double bill with Public Enemy, but the wonderful folks in the detroit city council KOd that

circa 1991-92?

[Zacha341]

I saw Little Richard there in 2005, Maxie Priest a few years before that... Nice! Long walk back to car that was parked partially up an incline in the mud [[there was no were else to park), but car and contents were a-ok...

I saw BB King there about 15 years ago with some friends. It was the first time I'd been there. The show was good, but when we returned to my friend's car afterward, we saw her 2 front tires had been slashed. We looked around and saw several other cars with the same fate. It left a bad taste in my mouth about an otherwise nice venue.

[DorianWrites]

Chene Park is one of the most beautiful waterfront venues I've ever been to, and I agree that a wider-appealing concert schedule would work. But the park has a lot of seats, not including the grass areas, and the concession amenities [[food, drink, restrooms, etc.) must be re-worked to accomodate concertgoers. This requires money, of course...the park is like a beauty queen growing old, and if it is to remain into the next decade or two, work will need to be done.

[LodgeDodger]

I remember reading the concert list for Chene Park last year and didn't know many of the folks on the list.

How about some Rick Astley?

[[just kidding)

[Hamtragedy]

What was the reason that Concert of Colors left Chene Park? I thought one of the Casinos had laid some sort of claim to it that forced CoC out. Chene Park was an awesome venue for a weekend long event like that, unlike the buckled concrete-jungle, mostly indoor venue of Orchestra Hall.

[gnome]

You want Chene to succeed? clean the restrooms and keep them clean. Have the ticket people and food vendors wear smiles, patrol the parking lot and assist those who are having car trouble, in short, do all the things that Pine Knob/DTE does.

Whomever is in charge of the place now seems to hire only the grumpy, the sleepy and the ones who can't make change.

The wrong thing to do is bring in some popular star to fill the place up. To over-work those people who are there now would be criminal. The toilets would explode, drink lines would erupt in riots, tear gas, shootings, tazering of grandmothers and babies, stampeading hipsters would get their vanns all wet while scrambling through the moats.

Start small. Make sure women have toilet paper, once they can master that, we'll talk about not re-using plastic beer cups.

[DetroitPlanner]

How about some Rick Astley?

Awsome! Maybe after they get John Tesh!

[LodgeDodger]

Awsome! Maybe after they get John Tesh!

Now you're talkin'...

[ndavies]

Isn't Chene park managed by the Detroit parks and Rec Department? Just one more example of why government shouldn't try to run everything.

What could be a major money maker for the city is hopelessly mismanaged.

Outsource Chene park.

[MizMotown]

If they could alternate genre's like DTE Energy does it could definitely work.

but

The biggest issue with competing concert venues is usually the 45 day clause that prohibits entertainers from playing within so many days of each other depending on location of the venue. DTE would have a fit if Chene Park contracted with someone shortly before they are due to play at DTE and vice versa. I'm sure between having concerts at DTE, Fox, Ford Field, Chene Park [[less Meadowbrook) and any others venues who hire this type of entertainment this clause has caused issues.

[Zacha341]

That was poetry in motion Gnome!

"... the place now seems to hire only the grumpy, the sleepy and the ones who can't make change."

Hah! Was someone actually re-using cups? Eckkk. The last few times I was their I neither drank nor pottied, so I knew not of the mayhem awaiting those two ventures [[adventures). The feed 'n drink troughs did look over-burdened, understaffed with grim staff from a distance. And I hate public bathrooms where there are people drinking... as a rule they are pits.

Yeah, fix all of that stuff before having more concerns -- whatever the genre....

[Zacha341]

That would explain the rudeness of the staff....

Isn't Chene park managed by the Detroit parks and Rec Department? Just one more example of why government shouldn't try to run everything.

What could be a major money maker for the city is hopelessly mismanaged.

Outsource Chene park.

[rb336]

circa 1991-92?

sounds about right