<p>Here’s the schedule for the Coca-Cola Concert Series at the Amp this summer and fall so far</p>
<p>June 16 - Daughtry
June 28 - Counting Crows with Gold Old War, Foreign Fields and Filligar
July 3 - Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band
July 11 - Crosby, Stills & Nash
July 21 - Ttown’s Blues and Brews Music Festival
July 28 - The Dukes of September: Donald Fagen, Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs
August 11 - Merle Haggard and Jamey Johnson
August 25 - B.B. King and the Tedeschi Trucks Band
August 31 - Chicago with Kool & the Gang
September 11 - Train with MAT KEARNEY & ANDY GRAMMER
September 14 - Kelly Clarkson and The Fray
September 28 - Corey Smith
October 4 - Gotye with Missy Higgins and Jonti</p>
<p>D has tix for Kelly Clarkson & the Fray. She was really stoked when they announced the show. </p>
<p>I think the amphitheater is such a great addition to Tuscaloosa. But I wonder why there aren’t any concerts on campus? Even back in my day, at a state directional college, we had a few national acts stop by each year (I was on the executive board of the organization that ran those.) There seem to be a couple of acts each year that make the rounds of college campuses; UA has the # of students to support the events. Is it a campus venue issue?</p>
<p>It’s a money issue last I heard (2006ish). The campus organization that is in charge of the situation didn’t have the budget necessary to book more than one big-name act a year (like Daughtly in 07).</p>
<p>^^^Really? That’s amazing. Utica can make it happen but not UA? In all the shows we put on, we had a charge to have a zero based budget: we weren’t supposed to lose money but it wasn’t a money making venture either. In 3 years we only lost money on 1 show.</p>
<p>Way back in the past, UA had Elvis at Foster Auditorium, Olivia Newton John in her “Physical” heyday performed in Coleman (formerly Memorial Coliseum) back in the 80s, and other luminaries. So not sure what happened.</p>
<p>I might be wrong (it is hard for me to remember back that far) but in the early 80’s I don’t think most of the concerts at Coleman were free. I saw the Olivia Newton John concert, Lionel Ritchie, Kool and the Gang, Charlie Daniels, Beach Boys, X, and many others and had to buy tickets. They might have had lower prices for students. They also did lots of concerts in Foster Aud in the 80s because Coleman was closed to remove asbestos. </p>
<p>They did have a few free concerts on the Quad. The ones I remember are Hotel and Pure Prairie League and I remember Radio Free Tuscaloosa which was at the old amphitheater (or what we called an amphitheater at the time:)).</p>
<p>Back then, Union Programs planned most of the concert events on campus. It was a student run organization. They selected the bands, handled hospitality, and provided the stage crew and security. My ex was the head of the stage crew for Union Programs and worked on many shows like REM, Ten thousand Maniacs, Tommy Shaw, Go Gos, Stevie Nicks, Cheap Trick, etc. A great perk was that I got to hang out backstage at all of those shows. </p>
<p>It seems like the number of concerts got less and less during the 90s. I think it was hard for them to get shows that would fill up Coleman and make money. We saw Taking Back Sunday at Coleman a couple of years ago and it was pretty empty. That was not long before the amphitheater opened. The amphitheater would have been a much better fit for TBS. </p>
<p>There have also been some good shows in the last couple of years at the Bama Theater including Need to Breathe and Drive-by Truckers.</p>
<p>Stevie Wonder and Elvis Presley…Rolling Stones…The Who…Beach Boys…Santana (without Carlos Santana)…Elton John…Allman Brothers in Foster Auditorium, or at a fraternity party…early versions of Lynyrd Skynyrd at fraternity parties…the early 1970s was a wonderful time for rock concerts at UA. But now artists can draw bigger crowds at Birmingham’s Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center or the amphitheater (although I’m not sure it’s operating this year). UA lost that battle to Birmingham years ago.</p>
<p>Yes, it is a shame the acts are going to Birmingham. With the large student population at Bama, I wish they would have acts ON CAMPUS for ALL STUDENTS. I’ll sometimes look at a band’s schedule and see they’re playing at a fraternity party, or that they’re in Birmingham. I think it’s great that acts are coming to the amphitheatre, but students without cars are SOL on that. Perhaps a campus shuttle to the events? </p>
<p>Back in the 70s, H and I got to see great concerts on our campuses, at both the larger venues and the smaller ones. Back then, drinking age was 18, so students could go into a bar to drink and hear live music. Or we could go out to our version of the quad to see an up and coming act. The more popular acts required admission at our version of the coliseum or auditorium. </p>
<p>As for cost, if students are willing to pay a hefty sum to go to a football game, I’m sure they’d be willing to pay 20 bucks to see a concert. Looking at Bama, there’s a lot of money there. It’s hard to believe that cost is a factor in scheduling concerts on campus, and Lord knows, there’s an awful lot of places on that big campus where concerts could be held.</p>
<p>Family Weekend 2009 had a concert featuring Taking Back Sunday that was not well-attended and lost lots of money. Like him or not, the previous year’s concert featured Hank Williams Jr., who is a huge UA fan, which many people attended. The Family Weekend pool party replaced the concert. Hank Jr. played at the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater this past spring.</p>
<p>I went to the Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top concert at the Amphitheater this past fall and regret not buying tickets to Alabama’s first concert in 10 years, which raised a lot of money for tornado relief. </p>
<p>For those so inclined, many of the fraternities will host well-known musical acts during the fall and spring.</p>
<p>Overall, the more popular acts will be in Birmingham, Atlanta, Nashville, or one of the annual music festivals.</p>
<p>Montegut, 348-Ride will not take students to the Amphitheater. I was told to either take the Riverwalk and cut through some construction areas or wait 20+ minutes for a van to take me to the downtown transit hub and walk over half a mile to the Amphitheater. </p>
<p>The problem with booking acts on campus would be to get a lineup that lots of students like and would be profitable. Last year’s Greekfest had that problem.</p>
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