Eugene weekly., June 05, 2003, Page 21, Image 21

Steve Earle, Jackson Browne, Keb Mo’
If your chairs don’t conform to size,
you’ll be told right away, before you haul
them all the way to the gate (6-inch legs or
shorter). You’ll be asked then and there to
return your videocamera to your car. (No
recording equipment allowed.) You’ll be
directed where to go for the box office and
entrance gates.
That box office has been moved much
closer to most of the parking areas. Before,
according to Loigman, it was “lost in the
crowd,” but it will now be “within the line
of sight where folks walk over from the
Autzen area.”
Next, a huge change: Instead of two
entrance gates, there will be eight. The
process of moving through security will be
four times as fast, as well as more fun.
“One of the issues we discovered last
year was that folks wanted our security staff
to be friendlier,” says Loigman. This year,
they’ve been trained to “ask nicely” to
inspect bags for alcohol and weapons.
“Things will be very mellow,” says
Loigman. “We expect a terrific crowd.”
Cuthbert has a few strikes against it from a
promoter’s perspective. In the late ’90s,
promoters Double T and Showman both
pulled out, leaving Eugeneans with a dearth
of outdoor acts.
The promoters pointed to three prob-
lems. First, the venue is small, holding only
4,500 people. Multiply that by what can be
reasonably charged per ticket, and it’s not
enough to pay many bands’ fees. Second,
Eugene audiences are notoriously weird
about buying concert tickets. While shows
such as Santana (now too big to play the
venue) were consistent sellouts, others
couldn’t break even. Third, because the
Hult/Cuthbert stageworkers are union
(I.A.T.S.E.), they dare to earn a living
wage, which makes the cost of using the
venue prohibitive to some promoters.
Those were the reasons given back in
1997, and “all of those things are still true,”
says Hagedorn. But this year, thanks to
House of Blues’s Tim McGrath, who
booked five of the seven shows currently
Putting on a Show
Of course, there wouldn’t be any expec-
tation of crowds if there was nothing worth
seeing, as has been the case before.
While it’s a beautiful setting for shows
from the audience’s perspective, the
Tori Amos
The Legend of the Millrace Mermaid
A
lright, so — you’re all set: You’ve got your shows to see, your gear and your
tickets. But wait, what will the new and improved Cuthbert mean to those
floating freeloaders who raft in backstage?
You can still launch your own dingy, putting in anywhere along the Millrace
and setting out toward Cuthbert’s hindquarters. Mark Loigman, who heads up
Cuthbert operations, says, “We’re not going to wade in and yank anybody out,”
but security guards are in position and a fence has been installed to keep fans
from entering the backstage area.
Outside the Cuthbert proper, police will patrol the park to watch out for illegal
activities, such as drinking alcohol and smoking anything other than cigarettes.
“We’re not concerned with what happens outside,” says Loigman, “But people
really do need to be respectful and mellow and not get into trouble with the
police — that’s not under our control. If they do illegal things, that’s their trip.”
He adds that Cuthbert staff will “do what we need to do to protect the safety
of our patrons and paying people.” And, he points out, while there will always be
a few people who want to see things for free, “there are plenty of good reasons
to pay.” Like supporting the Cuthbert, the city, the promoter and the artists.
But another good reason to pay for a ticket to enter the venue may be the
Millrace Mermaid, who was sighted during last summer’s Moody Blues concert.
According to one eyewitness who had actually hoped to be named, the backstage
raft area was pretty cool for most of the show, until one woman became filled
with the spirit.
She’d been listening and enjoying the show — and most likely drinking or
something — with friends, when she suddenly jumped to her feet, arched her
body into perfect Olympic form and dove into the Millrace, swimming under
water until she reached the small island in the middle of the water.
Crosby, Stills & Nash
committed to perform, the lineup exceeds
anything in recent memory: Moody Blues,
Crosby, Stills and Nash, Jackson Browne,
Keb Mo’ and Steve Earle, Tori Amos and
James Taylor (sold out).
In addition, OFAM will present Sunny
Side of the Street with Rita Moreno, and the
Hult produces the affordable Drummers of
West Africa.
The reason more acts are booked at the
’Bert this year is because the House of
Bluesmeister is also working with another
venue in Seattle, the Concerts at Marymoor
Park, and that combined with the Cuthbert
gives the bands two play dates instead of
one, making their deal more attractive.
But another hopeful glimmer, says
McGrath, is that there “seems to be a
robustness in the Northwest market this
summer.” As for Eugene, McGrath calls it
“a viable market” and says “business is
strong.” Case in point: James Taylor sold
out in two days. “We all kind of looked at
each other” when that happened, he says.
As for the traditional reasons of promot-
ers not booking at Cuthbert, McGrath
waves them aside. “If we had any real
issues with anything, we wouldn’t be work-
ing with them.” He adds, “I intend to work
with them next year, too. We love doing
shows there.”
o
The Season
June 12
House of Blues presents
Moody Blues
July 21
House of Blues presents
Crosby, Stills and Nash
July 22
House of Blues presents
Jackson Browne,
Keb Mo’, Steve Earle
July 27
House of Blues presents
Tori Amos
Aug. 16
OFAM presents
Sunny Side of the Street
with Rita Moreno
Sept. 24
Hult Center presents
Drummers of West Africa
Sept 30
House of Blues presents
James Taylor
(sold out)
The Rules
No glass, no weapons, no alcohol.
No chairs with taller than 6-inch legs,
no camera or recording equipment. No cans.
Our Esther Williams then crawled onto the island, threw her arms back into
glorious supplication to the free music gods and flung off her top. Still in her cut-
offs, she then dove back into the water, and tried to reach the backstage bank.
Each time she emerged, a security guard would gently walk toward her, forcing
her back into the water to try another avenue for backstage hopping.
“All the security guards were just laughing,” says the eyewitness.
Mermaid Esther dove back into the water and remained submerged for some
time, causing Eyewitness to become concerned about her welfare. But he got
over it and concentrated instead on his chicken sandwich. Just then she emerged
right next to him, popping up out of the water like a slimy green sea monster,
spewing Millrace water out of her mouth into the air now like a whale.
Eyewitness was “freaked out” but not as much as he would be next. During the
show, a raft bearing “six drunken yahoos with lots of cheap beer and a large
Weber grill” floated up to the anchor area. One doused the coals with lighter fluid
and a conflagration filled the air with heat and fumes. They then untied large
plastic garbage bags filled with chicken and began barbecuing.
Attracted by either the food, the fire or the malt liquor, the sea monster swam
through the water and tried to board their boat. The guest was unwelcome. One
of the yahoos fisted up and socked her in the kisser.
Eyewitness, stunned by the violence, reached down, gently untied his canoe,
and broke away.
“The show had gone on for 20 minutes and was a little wild, but there were six
drunken yahoos with lots more cheap beer in the driftboat next to me, there I was
in my canoe with my mellow hippie friends, and when one of those yahoos
punched her, I thought it was totally out of control.” The mellow canoe hippies
drifted back to Alton Baker Park and disembarked.
Green-slime-covered Nessie apparently felt no pain and casually waded away.
Her whereabouts to this day are unknown. Will Nessie be back this year? Only the
freeloaders will know. Those who pay just might be a little safer. — Aria Seligmann
JUNE 5, 2003 21