Tapping into the Long’s Park Crowd

July 13, 2012
By
Longs Park Summer Concerts

A summer concert at Long’s Park

Several weeks ago I sat at one of the Long’s Park music shows and had a whale of a time. The weather was wonderful, the 20 or so friends in our group brought awesome food to share and we listened to some great music.  Maybe half of us could tell you who the band was – but that didn’t matter.  We were happy. Everyone in the whole place seemed happy, too.

Given my experience, it is easy to see why the Long’s Park Summer Concert Series draws upwards of 100k people over 13 shows. That’s right – over 100,000 people come to Lancaster City to see free music!

While it is true that the concerts are in Lancaster City, the Long’s Park Series belongs to the suburbs. Long’s Park has the feel of a suburban park (you have to drive to it). The sponsors are suburban eateries, hotels and businesses, and not one city establishment is represented among the food vans on site. It is telling that the cars pulling out of the park after the show mostly turn west on Harrisburg Pike– away from the city and off to the ‘burbs.

There is nothing wrong with this, and the event need not change in any way!

What I do feel, however, is that that Lancaster City and the events that happen in the downtown core are missing an opportunity to market to tens of thousands folks that love a good time and love good music. A good time and good music sounds like Lancaster’s Music Friday to me.

It would be awesome to see a Music Friday banner next to the “suburban” signs hanging from the bandstand. Sure, the Long’s Park Foundation charges serious cash for the privilege, but what would it take to have the pre-show announcer give a little Music Friday shout-out all in the name of promoting the arts scene in arts city?

Not only do I think that the Long’s Park crowd would enjoy Music Friday, but I would argue that the Long’s Park crowd (i.e., a suburban crowd) is essential to the success of Music Friday. Indeed, the non-city crowd is not only what we need to ensure the success and sustainability of Music Friday, but a whole host of non-Fulton Opera House/non-First Friday events as well.

Surely a banner or an announcement is not the only thing needed to motivate folks to make the trip into town for a show, but those who produce events in the city (including Music Friday) need to think seriously about this issue. A little help from the Long’s Park folks may just be a good place to start.

Look for an interview with the Judy Smith, Executive Director of the Long’s Park Amphitheater Foundation about the Foundation’s 50th birthday celebration and fundraising efforts, coming soon to Around the Wood Stove!

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  • http://twitter.com/GigspotsSam Samuel Campbell

    You make some valid points! We are lucky to have both city and suburban music events and they could cooperate/cross-promote more.

    • http://www.woodstovehouse.com/ Jason Mundok

      Thanks for checking in, Sam. We are DEFINITELY luck to have so much. I think Steve makes some good points about coordinating efforts and perhaps the first step is just starting the discussion.

  • http://www.charliecrystle.com Charlie Crystle

    great post.

    The park is owned by the city, so it makes perfect sense to promote downtown activities there. It’s surprising they aren’t; it would be interesting to see how many of the foundation board members (and Sertomans) live in the city…

    • http://www.woodstovehouse.com/ Jason Mundok

      Probably just a case of working in isolation. If the goal is to put on the free concert series and arts/craft show, and those goals are fulfilled each year, there’s not much motivation to look out beyond those goals. There’s an infinite number of things they could help promote. Maybe it would just be a matter of asking them for the help.

  • Mike McMonagle

    Great thoughts here, Steve!
    And when you get Judy in front of you, ask her why the Foundation has yet to tap into the bevy of quality local musicians as openers for these shows. I know it’s a question many have been asking for years, with – as far as my understanding goes – no answer ever given. I’d love to hear her perspective there.

    • http://www.woodstovehouse.com/ Jason Mundok

      Ah, Mike. The interview is already in the can and we didn’t discuss that. Our focus was the 50th anniversary of the concert series. Still hard to believe they’ve been doing that for 50 years. I did get some interesting insights from Rich Low, the current music director about how they select the music, but certainly can’t speculate why there isn’t a local presence.

  • Rich Low

    Rich Low here. The presenting of local musicians is a subject that has come up often. There is no question that there is a lot of very good music being made in the Central Pa. area. However, presenting it at the Park as part of our series presents a number of problems. The suggestion that we present local music as an opening act is most common. Here are some of the difficulties:
    1) The logistics of presenting two acts are daunting. It requires two sound checks, and a lengthy intermission between acts to tear down the first band and put up the second, not to mention the worry that the headliner’s set up then duplicates what was established at sound check.
    2) Those factors also increase our cost – more stage hands, longer sound company hours, and more backline equipment to be rented.
    3) We are a volunteer organization, which means that the additional length of such a show would require more volunteers or that the volunteers stay longer. We struggle to come up with volunteers as it is.
    4) One of the ways that we are able to get the acts we get on our budget is the attractiveness to the bands of a uncomplicated gig of one set, from 7:30 to 9 on a Sunday night. That works well with routing of bands through the Northeast and allows us to book bands we couldn’t otherwise afford. In addition, many of the national touring acts that we book specify no opening act.
    We look at this issue every year and have yet to find a solution (and the money) to the difficulties of two acts or the establishment of a local series at the Amphitheater, which we would love to do, but would be a lot more expensive. Like all non-profits these days, we struggle with funding, but the lack of a local opening act is not for a lack of thought or a lack of appreciation of the depth of talent in central PA.

    • http://www.woodstovehouse.com/ Jason Mundok

      Thank you very much this detailed response, Rich. I’ve heard this questions come up over the years as well, and I’m glad to hear the reasons behind the decision.

      We’re lucky to have the concert series and FREE access to the great (and diverse) music that you folks bring us each year. Thanks for all you do.

    • Mike McMonagle

      All good points, Rich. As both a local musician and a producer of local music, operating costs (including time as a cost, too) can and always will be daunting. And please don’t take my remarks to be outright criticism or any poo-pooing of the work the Foundation does. I have many fond memories from the concert series – meeting Richie Havens is at the top of that list, followed by The Felice Brothers playing through a stage overrun with fans. And I’m very excited to see Dawes next weekend – a favorite band of mine for some time now.

      I will say, however, that it’s been disconcerting that after years of the local music scene questioning it’s non-invite, yours is the first public response I’ve encountered from the Foundation. I’m sure it’s possible I’ve missed something, but I consider myself close to the pulse of the music scene here in Lancaster, and a lack of position is oftentimes – and I’d say has been – perceived as an outright snub.

      The addition of a local opener on bills with touring national acts is commonplace at virtually every music club. I personally have had this opportunity at clubs ranging from our own Chameleon Club, as well as at the Abbey Bar in Harrisburg, The Note in West Chester and at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. How it works is that the main act sets up/sound checks, and then the opener fills in around the established set-up, and even strikes their own equipment after they wrap up. Not having seen the mixing board used at Long’s Park, I cannot say for sure here, but my hunch is that there are ample channels for locking in the main act’s levels and still dedicate additional channels to the opener.

      I guess where I’m going here is that although the points and hurdles you list are real and actual, the solutions aren’t as huge as the Foundation may think. In fact, I’d even suspect that the local music community would be willing to be the very volunteers you need if they knew they were being considered, or brought to the table, so to speak. This could be organized by groups like Wood Stove House or Series 42 who are actively involved in helping cultivate the Lancaster music community.

      In any case, I greatly appreciate your taking time to chime in here and shed some light on what has long been a mystery to many of my peers. As Jason and Sam have posted below, and as the 100,000 spectators who come out each year say indirectly by attending, we as a community do, indeed, appreciate the work you and your team do. The mix of genre is seemingly well thought out, and in recent years, your ability to pick up on up-and-comers (Dawes and Sister Sparrow are great examples from this year’s season) is impressive as well. Please take my remarks here not as an attack, but rather an example of what just one musician/live music producer in this town thinks about this issue.

      Finally, if the board is at all interested in entertaining any ideas such as maybe producing a local music festival or series outside the confines of the Sunday series that does showcase local, regional and touring acts, I’d be glad and honored to help out. Jason can hook you up with my contact info should that be the case.

      Thanks again for the dialogue here, Rich. And thanks Steve/Jason for getting this conversation started. All the best to you all…

      • http://www.woodstovehouse.com/ Jason Mundok

        Thanks for chiming back in here, Mike. I can see both sides of this issue. I do understand that many music venue seem to be able to make this work relatively seamlessly, but I also understand that it still adds a layer of complexity to an already big event run almost exclusively by volunteers.

        In any event, I’m enjoying the conversation and glad that we can have a platform for public response. Cheers!

  • Jeff Coleman

    The time before the show often involves wandering about, finding friends, getting food, playing games… the usual park activities. These stretch on for a hour or more, and it’s all part of the fun.

    How about offering local acts in pavilions around the park during this time? They could be responsible for providing their own PA systems, and under strict time limits that would allow their listeners time to mosey over to the big show before it starts.

    Local acts could be vetted, or could be selected based on a lottery system. Each of those locations could include information about the down town music events.

    • http://www.woodstovehouse.com/ Jason Mundok

      Wow, this is an excellent idea, Jeff! It seems like a great compromise and way to get other folks involved without taxing the efforts at the main stage.

      I’d go a step further and suggest that the amphitheater foundation partner with groups like us or Series 42 and let us vet the bands, provide or arrange for the sound system, etc. That would mean even less work for the amphitheater foundation. The coordination would fall on us as collaborative partners.

      • Rich Low

        I agree – sounds like a great idea. Unfortunately, the Amphitheater Foundation controls only the Amphitheater. The pavilions and the rest of the park are city property and any performances at the pavilions or elsewhere in the park would have to be OK’ed by the city. I don’t know what would be involved in that.

        • http://www.woodstovehouse.com/ Jason Mundok

          And it raises an important question (that you all obviously grapple with as well) about funding. Even if we were to organize “pre-show” events in pavilions in the park, the only way to raise revenue would be additional sponsorships. It’s worth thinking about any way.

          Thanks, Rich, for clarifying who controls the pavilions.

          • Jeff Coleman

            Provided it’s possible to do this, the benefits of this sort of exposure should be obvious. I’d play there for free!

          • http://www.woodstovehouse.com/ Jason Mundok

            Yeah, it would definitely be great exposure, but I think it’s risky to set a precedent to play for free (that’s a whole other conversation!). Plus there’s all the work that an organizer like Wood Stove House would have to put in to organizing the shows.

            We have things like insurance that could cover shows like this, but all of that has a cost that we’d need to cover plus our time and effort. I think sponsorships for those side “stages” would be the way to go. The question becomes whether or not it’s worth doing something there where there’s already something, or growing something elsewhere and adding to the overall landscape of Lancaster performing arts. Great to think about either way!

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  • Mark A

    Greetings, all! I’m a new reader/poster, but I’m interested in this thread as I was trying to find out what the requirements are for usage of the Amphitheater. I just spoke with the Amphitheater Foundation, and they told me the cost is $1500 to reserve it for a day. I was inquiring because I was considering starting up an open-to-the-public “Karaoke In The Park” – maybe on Thursday or Friday nights if the weather is nice. The woman I spoke to at the foundation (forgive me for forgetting her name) said that this fee is one of the bylaws of the amphitheater foundation, and is not negotiable. I know that a lot of people cringe at the idea of karaoke, but there are also a lot of people who truly enjoy singing and performing, and who would probably love the chance to get up on stage at the Amphitheater. I have my own equipment, so I wouldn’t require any stagehands, sound boards, speakers, or other assistance. My only requirement would be to find a local business that might benefit from sponsoring such an event, since I definitely wouldn’t be up for paying out of pocket. This, of course, might be a bit of a challenge. Any thoughts?

    • http://www.woodstovehouse.com/ Jason Mundok

      Hi Mark, thanks for stopping by. This is definitely an interesting idea. I don’t really have any thoughts about moving forward with it, but I do think that is a lot of money for a single business to sponsor a single unproven event.

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