Concerts in Autzen may be possible
By MICHAEL KESTEN
Of the Emerald
There has been an unwritten
policy in the athletic department
lor the last four years of holding no
rock concerts at Autzen Stadium,
according to Steve McBride,
events director. That policy may
be changing soon but it is not clear
exactly when the first big show will
take place.
"I would guess there’s been talk
of maybe five different shows that
people have recently proposed
putting on in Autzen,” said
McBride.
"The athletic director (John
Caine) came from San Jose State.
Its athletic department did spon
sor some popular concerts. Caine
is interested in exploring the pos
sibilities."
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Mike Brundage, assistant athle
tic director, also indicated the
possibility of future concerts at Au
tzen. "We re going to take a one
year moratorium to gain some
knowledge of producing concerts
and then we would probably em
bark on something,” said Brun
dage.
As a state facility, Autzen
Stadium cannot be rented to a pri
vate party for private gain. It must
be handled in much the same way
Mac Court shows are produced by
the Cultural Forum. A University
group would have to sponsor the
event, hire a promoter and pay the
promoter a percentage.
“The Cultural Forum is not in
terested in Autzen Stadium," said
McBride. “They don't think any
thing could happen there and the
primary draw still be students, in
the summer, when these concerts
would be held, most students are
not on campus."
McBride continued, "We would
have to designate some staff
member to go out and learn about
putting on concerts Right now we
just don't have the staff to spare. *
Ned Shafer, program advisor
for the Cultural Forum, confirmed
that the CF is not interested in Au
tzen. "The primary focus of the
Cultural Forum is University stu
dents. An Autzen Stadium con
cert, in order to be a success,
would not be primarily for Univer
sity students. It would be a
region-wide event,” he said.
Shafer talked about the awe
some task of putting on a concert
in huge arena. "That's an incredi
ble undertaking," he said. "You’ve
got to think of ways to protect the
turf, of options in case of rain...”
But Shafer said the forum’s dis
interest in Autzen should not be a
deterrent to concerts taking place.
He said any "registered or recog
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nized” University group could
sponsor a concert in the stadium.
Local promoter Scott Smithrud,
of Powell, Thorwald, and Hares
nape Advertising Inc., is one of the
five parties that has recently ap
proached the AD. He is optimistic
of his chances for putting on a
concert at Autzen.
of the gross for a show,at Autzen.
If a concert drew 20,000 people
and each person paid five dollars
for a ticket, the gross would be
$100,000. The AD would make
$12,000 just for providing the facil
ity,” he said.
He added, "Any University
group can contract with a promo
Smithrud went on to talk about
other considerations. “EJD En
terprises is the best security com
pany in the Northwest in my opin
ion. I’m totally confident they could
handle anything any promoter
could throw at them,” he said.
There is rain insurance, similar
to that for golf tournaments, in
"From the contact I've had with
Caine, I'd say he's fully aware of
the opportunity to create revenue
for his department as well as en
tertainment for the surrounding
community," said Smithrud.
Smithrud was unwilling to dis
cuss specific dates or names for
any upcoming shows but he did
shed some light on the money in
volved. "The AD gets 12 per cent
ter to do a fund-raising perfor
mance. The law simply requires
that a University group rent the
facility.”
The apprehensions of the Cul
tural Forum and the AD do not
bother Smithrud. "There’s various
covers to protect the turf. You pay
for it but like everything you do it's
the cost of doing business,” he
said.
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case of bad weather, said Smith
rud. He also1 said that his com
pany would guarantee the Univer
sity against any losses incurred by
producing a show.
“I like them (the AD), I under
stand their position and I think
we re making progress, ’ said
Smith rud.
Smithrud said he'd be in
terested in scheduling the con
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