City Beat: Entertainment is the same as it ever was

Barry Courter

As 2017 comes to a close, it's time to take a quick look back and quicker look ahead.

In some ways, it feels like the entertainment scene this year was pretty similar to the one before. We seem to have maintained much of the positive momentum as far as the quantity and quality of shows that came to town. That's a good thing.

But, this time last year it seemed like we were about to turn a big corner and I'm not sure that happened. Maybe it was naive to think so. After all, all of the professionals in the business have said from the beginning it would take time.

Looking at the big picture, the Tivoli Theatre and Memorial Auditorium presented some great shows from folks like Bob Dylan and Brian Wilson. We lost Track 29, though owners Monica and Adam Kinsey hope to reopen it in a new location, but gained a recently updated Walker Theatre inside Memorial Auditorium.

It seats about 850, and with the additional renovation work that added light and sound systems, it will become more active.

One interesting thing to have witnessed was the major shift in activity from the downtown riverfront and Jack's Alley area to the Southside. It's interesting because it suggests that while we are growing, we are still not big enough to support multiple clubs, restaurants, venues or entertainment districts.

The Choo Choo has been very aggressive in bringing in new businesses and the opening of Station Street should continue to make that a go-to place for entertainment.

The Signal on Chestnut Street will open in February and will likely book many of the same type of shows that Track 29 brought to town. What we are still very much missing is a space bigger than JJ's Bohemia, but smaller than The Signal (1,300) or Revelry Room (500). There really isn't a place for a full-on, local, rock 'n' roll band to play regularly. Nor does there seem to be the demand for it from fans.

Riverbend proved it could attract more than oldies acts and fans via successful shows by Ludacris and the Flaming Lips. While a lot of people saw those as major changes from the folks who book the festival's talent, it really wasn't. They've tried to book such acts for several years. It just worked out in 2017.

Hopefully, it will continue. One thing for sure, Riverbend will continue to change as audience tastes change, but also as it continues to run out of real estate.

As always, we'll see what happens in the coming year.

Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.