Following the Blue Rodeo concert at Affinity Place in January, there were two recurring comments from the crowd.
They took to social media to say it was a great show. Blue Rodeo put on a great show and the opening act was entertaining.
But the people who were there were disappointed with the crowd size.
The financial numbers are in for the concert, and they aren’t good. The concert posted a loss of about $38,000, and since the City of Estevan brought the show in, as opposed to having the performers rent the facility, the taxpayers are on the hook for the deficit.
It would be great to have rentals for all special attractions, including concerts, at Affinity Place. The rentals have been met with mixed results. Hedley’s second appearance in 2014, and the two visits by the Harlem Globetrotters, were situations in which Affinity Place was rented.
It means the city won’t make piles of money from a concert, but it means they won’t lose money, either.
But if the city is dependent on rentals for concerts, it means we can likely look forward to having one concert per year.
The city will have to assume the financial risk for most concerts.
We’ll go on record as saying there hasn’t been a bad concert at Affinity Place since the venue opened in 2011. There might have been some acts that didn’t resonate with the public, but that doesn’t mean it was a bad show.
You might not be a fan of pop-punk music, but that doesn’t mean that Simple Plan’s concert in 2012 was lackluster or boring. Celtic Thunder isn’t necessarily the type of music traditionally associated with Estevan, but their concert in 2013 showcased their tremendous talents.
Hopefully, the city will continue to bring quality entertainment to Affinity Place. Yes, there is a risk. And sometimes they will misjudge what the community wants to see.
But when Affinity Place opened in 2011, we urged the city to make sure the events centre would be used to its full potential. We stand by that statement.
It can be argued the novelty of the concerts at our events centre has worn off. But that doesn’t mean we should pull the plug on the concerts.
We’re very fortunate to have a venue like Affinity Place. It’s a really good venue for concerts. And we’ve had some great acts, including Hedley, the Tragically Hip, Burton Cummings, Motley Crue, Johnny Reid, Tom Cochrane, Kim Mitchell and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Ideally, we’d be looking at four special attractions per year. That goes beyond community events like Savour the Southeast and the Rotary Lobsterfest, and multi-day events like the Saskatchewan Summer Games or the SaskTel Mobility Tankard men’s curling provincials.
Those special attractions don’t need to be concerts, either, although concerts are the best bet.
The city can’t be skittish about having concerts just because the last one tanked, or because the public isn’t excited about them like they used to be. After all, Affinity Place is an events centre, and it needs to host great events.
