High rollers and rock 'n' rollers seemed to come from different worlds back in the days when Elvis Presley first headlined Las Vegas in 1969.
Not so today, when a growing number of casinos here and across the country – many owned and operated by Indian tribes – are increasingly rolling the dice on big-name rock concerts to help draw patrons and boost profits.
JOHN GASTALDO / Union-Tribune
Bob Dylan's show Thursday at Pechanga casino sold out in 12 minutes, even though he plays Saturday at a much larger outdoor venue near Qualcomm Stadium.
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As the number of such shows at casinos grows, the historically cutthroat concert market has become even more competitive as casinos up the ante by offering big bucks to lure major musical attractions. These concerts are designed to draw fans whose casino spending may include more than just concert tickets, at a time when the national economy is tanking and California gaming facilities are seeing revenues start to flatten after bringing in $7.8 billion last year. An estimated $1.7 billion of that comes from San Diego County casinos, some of which have laid off personnel this year.
“There's a huge number of Indian gaming facilities that have become major players in promoting concerts, not just in California, but around the country,” said Gary Bongiovanni, the publisher of Pollstar, the concert industry's leading weekly publication.
“That's one reason you see such an explosion of talent playing tribal facilities. Entertainment has become a major part of what these gaming facilities do, and they're doing big acts.”
Acts like the iconic Bob Dylan, whose upcoming Thursday performance in Pechanga's 1,200-seat concert hall sold out in a record 12 minutes, despite ticket prices that ranged from $95 to $155 each.
In addition to Dylan, area casinos will host concerts here next month by such varied artists as Willie Nelson and Foghat (Sept. 7 at Harrah's Rincon and Sycuan, respectively), Jaguares (Sept. 12 at Viejas) and Kid Rock (Sept. 17 at Pala).
Dylan also performs here Saturday at the 13,000-capacity AEG Live Concerts on the Green in Mission Valley (for which unreserved seating tickets are $47.50 each, plus service charges). That venue, adjacent to Qualcomm Stadium, is not casino-affiliated. But AEG Live also books concerts at Valley View Casino (where Earth, Wind & Fire and Randy Travis have upcoming shows), as well as at Foxwoods in Connecticut (a casino-resort that covers 4.7 million square feet and draws 40,000-plus visitors per day).
Rival casinos have also signed booking deals with top national concert production companies, such as Nederlander (which books Viejas) and Live Nation (which books Pala). As a result, fans here have more concert options than ever at casinos, including shows next month by Al Green, Sister Hazel, Anita Baker and Flogging Molly.
California now has nearly two-dozen tribal casinos that present concerts, while a growing number of the country's more than 400 tribal casinos are relying on concerts to boost their bottom line.
“Music plays a critical role for us,” said James Orr, Pechanga's director of marketing.
Multiple amenities
Pechanga bills itself as California's largest casino. It has a 188,000-square-foot gaming area, a 517-room hotel, nine restaurants and a golf course. Its upcoming concerts include comedian George Lopez, country singer Miranda Lambert and the rock band Journey.
Like other casinos here and nationally, Pechanga regards its live music as part of an overall entertainment package.
“We hope those people who come to our concerts will have dinner, spend time on the (gambling) floor and stay in our hotel,” Orr said. “Do we expect everyone who comes to a show to spend hours on our floor? No. But we think a good percentage of our customers take advantage of our multiple amenities and it keeps them here longer.”
Longer, but not too long, at least when it comes to the length of some casino concerts.
“In general, casinos only want an artist to play a maximum of 90 minutes, because the longer people are at a show, the longer they're not trying their hand at a blackjack table,” said Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, whose band performed here Aug. 14 at Harrah's Rincon.
“But the Indian-owned casinos are pretty good venues, for the most part. I wouldn't want to play in a building owned by Donald Trump or a Las Vegas kind of cartel.”
Three of the 11 shows on Jethro Tull's U.S. tour this month were at casinos. Ex-Beatle Ringo Starr recently concluded a 30-date North American tour. Of those, 14 were at casinos, including one here last month at Pala in North County and another in San Diego at Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay.
In the past, major musical acts would typically play a Los Angeles concert and a San Diego concert, sometimes with an Orange County date in between. The fact that Starr's show here at Humphrey's quickly show sold out, despite taking place only two days before his Pala concert (and five before he played Los Angeles), reflects his popularity and the fact many North County casinos target customers from across the region.
“We look at ourselves as a resort destination in North County that gives people a chance to get out of Los Angeles, Riverside County and the Inland Empire – as well as being a hop and a skip from San Diego – to hear some high-level musical acts,” said Marcus Higgins, the vice president of marketing for Harrah's Rincon in Valley Center.
Big entertainment
Getting those high-level musical acts doesn't come cheap. But casinos have more leeway to increase fees to draw artists away from other venues, since they don't rely solely (or even primarily) on ticket sales to be profitable.
“I think most casinos would tell you their concert series are produced as a means to reward their current guests and to increase their gaming play with new guests,” said national concert veteran Steve Redfearn, who this year became vice president for the San Diego division of AEG Live. He currently oversees the new casino concert series at Valley View, which has drawn sellout crowds to hear Bonnie Raitt, Duran Duran and other artists.
Redfearn also oversees talent bookings for Humphrey's, which competes with area casinos for artists, and books concerts for AEG at the San Diego Sports Arena and other area venues. Together with talent booker John Wojas, he was instrumental in putting San Diego on the map for casino concerts.
In 2000, when Pechanga was the only area casino with major musical acts, Viejas hired Redfearn and national powerhouse House of Blues to launch its Concerts in the Park series in Alpine.
“Valley View has never done big entertainment before this year and we've had a series of sellouts,” Redfearn said. “When we started booking concerts for Viejas, it was difficult because there was no baseline and (talent) agents weren't familiar with the venue.”
Viejas has grown larger and more popular each year. Its first season featured such previous Humphrey's favorites as Lyle Lovett, Kenny G and Bill Cosby. Viejas, which is now booked by Nederlander, paid Cosby $150,000 for two shows in 2000 – $50,000 more than he had received for two previous Humphrey's shows.
“That's true,” said Guy Richard, the vice president of adult music in Los Angeles for the William Morris Agency, which represents Cosby, who performs Friday at Valley View.
“Casinos still offer big guarantees. But it's not always money-driven, although most of the time it is. It all depends on what the artist wants to do.”
Richard, who represents such perennial casino acts as Willie Nelson and Foreigner, books his artists into all of California's Indian casinos, as well as into casinos in Arizona and New Mexico. He estimates that 30 percent of his business now stems from casino concerts.
The increased demand by casinos for high-quality musical performers is ultimately good and bad for fans, who have more concert choices but need more money to pay for them.
“The booking agents love it because the casinos provide so many more booking options,” said Pollstar publisher Bongiovanni. “The downside is for a competing venue like Humphrey's, which faces a lot of competition from casinos. If you're buying talent for a casino, it's with the casino's money.”
That's a fact of life for Richard Bartell, the general partner of Bartell Hotels, which owns the Humphrey's concert series and the adjacent Humphrey's restaurant and Half Moon Inn & Suites.
“Bill Cosby has never returned to Humphrey's, because we will not pay him what he's currently receiving from Viejas,” Bartell said.
“We've always competed against the other venues, and this year is no exception, which results in a bidding war for many of the top bands that are playing the San Diego market.”
Given the success of casino-produced concerts, casinos are starting to view concerts as an activity that can stand on its own. Harrah's Rincon marketing executive Higgins is optimistic that concerts don't need to be underwritten by gambling.
“In years past in Las Vegas, concerts were used as a loss-leader, just to get people in the casinos,” said Rincon's Higgins. “Now, we're building state-of-the-art concert venues that can drive retail as well. Our concerts have become a primary attraction, rather than a secondary amenity.”
