The very mention of the words “Rio Nuevo” tends to raise up a certain amount of bile in people’s throats here in town, which isn’t entirely fair to the most recent version of the board (release 3.0, more or less) considering Fletcher McCusker and company are generally trying to clean up the mess left behind by two groups of people who had no idea what they were doing (or in the second round led by Jodi Bain, appeared to be actively hostile to the city of Tucson). However, then the board goes and spends $100,000 to hire the Beach Boys:
$100,000. For the Mike Love-fronted Beach Boys. The fact that this is a group with more in common with the song “Kokomo”…
…than the glory days of Brian Wilson’s “teenage symphonies to God”…
…is a particularly irritating point to me, but still the idea that if the board is going to toss money at an concert that “isn’t designed to make money,” maybe it would be a good idea to book an act that vaguely represents the current interests of Tucsonans instead of a group from the senior citizen/casino/state fair circuit. Yes, the Beach Boys sold plenty of tickets for their 2012 show at AVA, but that show had the hook of an anniversary show with a very rare reunion of the group’s surviving members, who generally tour in two separate packs (Brian Wilson does shows on his own and with Al Jardine; Mike Love performs with Bruce Johnston and a bunch of other dudes in the version of the band coming to the TCC).
Admittedly, $100,000 isn’t all that much in the concert booking world (sounds crazy, but it’s true), especially if you’re trying to get an act that might have some promise of halfway filling the newly-refurbished TCC Arena, but there are certainly a number of high-profile country acts (KIIM is the most popular radio station in this market, after all) or Spanish language acts (because a regional Mexican act might reflect the interests of Tucsonans better than a bunch of old white dudes, just throwing that out there) that could have been booked in place of the Beach Boys. Fletcher McCusker generally had a good sense of what would work when he was in charge of the Fox (even though the acts there did often lean towards a nostalgia circuit aesthetic), but this seems like an odd perception of what people actually like.
But, hey, maybe John Stamos will show up, but even if he doesn’t, they do have the fall back of not trying to make money (and likely succeeding on that front).
This article appears in Sep 4-10, 2014.
Sounds like fun. I’ll go.
Oh dear, these guys should have parked the bus years ago. Count me out.
i saw the Beach Boys last summer in NJ. They were nothing like the Beach Boys we all remember. The show was pretty bad. Please try and find another group.
You must be kidding.
Sorry but the beach boys are closer to American interests not Mexico. This is s America after all.
Sorry but these old white guys are more in tune with what Americas want to see.
I’m sorry, too. It is sad to see so many people trying to hang on to those High School fantasies when life is so much richer now that we have been exposed to more.
I’m sure the free market will prevail.
Mike Love is a joke. This isn’t the Beach Boys, it’s a lame cover band. I will never see them again unless Brian Wilson is with them, and even then, the Mike Love cover songs (yes, they actually cover other bands’ songs!) is a waste of time.
Why is everyone talking about the beach boys and not about how this board keeps wasting OUR money??
Jesus christ the comments are the most depressing part. No one is raging at how this board keeps wasting our goddamn money, while tusd is one of the worst school districts in the nation
Actually could have convinced the Foo Fighters to come here for around the same amount. They did it in Richmond, VA. The ultra-conservative rantings of Mike Love and company are far from the Beach Boys origins and they’re probably one of the worst bands touring today.
My guess is that government has left us powerless to change anything. The confiscation and abuse of our tax dollars has become an every day occurrence.
Meanwhile the 99%ers have been convinced to persecute the 1% that are successful.
How crazy is that?
How about a band that has like…. had a hit in the last 45 years?
God, do you want to sell a ticket or what?
This is just as bad as the first Rio no-wayo employees (maybe) stealing all the computers the first time around. Your tax dollar at work.
Love it! When can I get tickets?
The fact is that a “Beach Boys” show gets us “non hipster” folks excited. (even this lineup) They have a cross generational/cross cultural appeal that a regional Mexican act or current hard rock act simply does not have. I will be bringing four generations of excited people to this show-1) my 76 year old mother (into Beach Boys since early 60’s) , 2) my 13 year old son (part Latino and obsessed with 60’s to 80’s pop and rock), 3) my 47 year old uncool classic rock self, and 4) my millennial 31 year old fiancé who also very much into classic rock/pop from 60’s. So I want to thank the Rio Nuevo board and Fletcher McCusker and I will be buying tickets as soon as they go on sale.
Someone needs a HUGE LESSON in NEGOTIATING from the Fox, Rialto, Congress….
So are tickets going to be $150-$200-$300. each? And people complain when tickets are $35!!
I have to agree that maybe taking a pass on ANY Beach Boys act, be it Mike’s band or Brian’s band (Brian is pretty damn depressing to watch himself and sings horribly, other than his band sounds okay), would be a wise course. Try to find someone more relevant, like Micky Dolenz or Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits. Or maybe the two-thirds, Chuck Negron-less Three Dog Night. Now, you’re talkin’ major white boy entertainment.
I wouldn’t pay ten cents to see Mike Love’s Not The Beach Boys, he’s a disgrace and one of the most manipulative, devious, backstabbing, ego-maddened, credit-claiming, nasal-blasting, repulsive creeps in the business.
Mike Love is a better man than you’ll ever be, Doe! Go back to Smiley Smile with all the other Brianistas and stop talking guff about Mike Love. He does more shows a year than you’ve had hot dinners and still puts on a great live act.
Just need to point out that…
1 – the “Andrew G. Doe” who posted at 11.51pm on the 19th isn’t me, and…
2 – Old Surfer Dude posting immediately thereafter isn’t him either.
Someone’s trying to be funny, and failing by a wide margin.
When Cal Productions booked all of those acts the prices were reasonable. Can someone please find Brad and get him back PRONTO!!! MY GOD!