UPtown UPdates 8/5/09

The Economics Behind The Show

With recent talk locally of the economics of concerts I thought it might be timely to share the economics of our shows. We don't call ourselves "not for profit" but we basically are.

All of our acts are "National Acts" and very few live anywhere near us. We could never afford to bring someone here just for a show. In order to make the economics of a show work. we must try and find artists traveling near or through LaSalle-Peru. Up until now most of our shows have been on weeknights, which are generally less expensive. Recently we have been able to book several shows on Fridays. Many of the artists have told us it is because the entertainment market and the economy are so bad. Almost all of our 50 or so shows were booked with a guaranteed minimum payout versus a percentage of the door whichever is higher. If a show sells out completely we get to keep 20% of the door. Most shows we cover the minimum, but do not sell out. We also have to supply hotel rooms, food and drink. As I am sure it is no suprise, some of these artists can really eat and drink. After these expenses, we are almost always in the hole.
It takes about 6 to 8 man-hours to set up and teardown the shows. We provide a door person and merchandise seller for the evening which also adds an expense. This does not cover any of the investment we have in equipment which is considerable. Without having volunteers like Bernie Victor, Tom Ptak and a host of others we simply could not do it. With this I hope you can see how almost every show operates in the red.

concert group

So why do we do it? Number one, I think it creates goodwill towards the Uptown in the community. Number two, I love live music. Number 3, it's my favorite hobby and I love meeting these artists.

I remember following Pieta Brown around 7 or 8 years ago. Tom and Bernie and I would see her in a small place in Iowa or Chicago. They would say to me "if they can do these shows I think we could too". This is when the light bulb went off that it might be economically feasible. We don't make any money on the shows but we do see an obvious increase in bar and food sales which helps to offset our other expenses. Your purchases throughout the restaurant, the bar, and artist's merchandise all help to make it successful.

We felt the most important thing in getting good acts was to treat them right, give them a good sound and appreciative, attentive audience. Thanks for your part in this. In all my concert travels I would think to myself "what makes a great place to see a show?" I came up with three things. Intimacy; being close enough to see, hear, and feel the artist. Comfort; being able sit down, be waited on, have a good drink selection and even get a snack . Selection; having a variety of types of music, artists that are in different stages of their careers and musicians that are truly part of the fabric of American music.

This is my favorite "hobby", bringing this art to the Illinois Valley, and I hope that we can keep doing it for many years to come, even without a profit. - Thank You - Ray