Oilguy said:
Exactly, Edmonton has enjoyed a competitive advantage due to the saddle dome roof structure. It has brought in tourism and lots of dollars but that’s about to evaporate and OEG is going to need to compete very hard to overcome the geographical disadvantage we face over Calgary. It’s a Real risk to our market that we will be driving south for concerts vs the current situation.
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Could be. The other line of thinking might be that with Calgary becoming a viable concert venue, some more tours might come through here as they now have 2 dates in cities of 1.5M rather than just one in Edmonton. I hope it's not "either CGY or EDM" and rather that they just stop in both. Money talks, after all!
 
Oilguy said:
Exactly, Edmonton has enjoyed a competitive advantage due to the saddle dome roof structure. It has brought in tourism and lots of dollars but that’s about to evaporate and OEG is going to need to compete very hard to overcome the geographical disadvantage we face over Calgary. It’s a Real risk to our market that we will be driving south for concerts vs the current situation.
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Nope......so you're saying the concert circuit will "bypass" YEG now in favor of YYC's new gigantic fireplace? I disagree, I think that they'll add YYC back to the circuit AND KEEP Rogers at the same time.
 
MacLac said:
Nope......so you're saying the concert circuit will "bypass" YEG now in favor of YYC's new gigantic fireplace? I disagree, I think that they'll add YYC back to the circuit AND KEEP Rogers at the same time.
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I’m not saying it will happen, but I can’t dismiss it as easily as you are. We often get multiple nights here and I know of many, many people who travel here from Calgary. Great situation for the promoter and performer, setup once and let the crowd come to you. They will now be faced with options - come to YEG only, park for a few nights. Come to YYC and park for a few nights. Come to YYC park for a night, tear down, setup in YEG for a night.

So I will go back to the original thought which is OEG is going to need to be on their game because we know the flames group is going to be super aggressive and they won’t want to share if they don’t have to. The market will change as acts didn’t have a choice to pick YYC, they will now.

The outdoor concert thing though is a lock for us as long as we don’t do something stupid like build a new small facility and tear commonwealth down.
 
^ Major tour dates are never that close together where the tear-down in one place would immediately impel the set-up in the next venue.
 
Calgary having a suitable arena for large arena tours will probably bring more to Edmonton. The money and costs in touring the last few years has been tough on the business and Alberta is getting passed over on way more north american tours than its getting because Alberta as a whole is super isolated from other major stops and its not worth going to Edmonton for a night if you have to plan an off day and a 12+ hour drive on the day before and after the show. Having 2 stops that are only 2.5 hours apart would be at least a bit more appealing to acts planning their tours.
 
Calgary may syphon off a couple of concert dates from Edmonton but a Calgary stop might also encourage more acts to take a swing into Alberta. Vancouver has always had a better concert scene than Edmonton partly to a larger population but also due to its proximity to Seattle. Overall though, the new Saddledome probably won't have much effect as Edmonton has a long and strong history of headbangers supporting its concerts. Still remember standing in line for a couple hours to get tickets for when the Who played the Coliseum back in the 70's. Still have the guitar pick that BB King gave me after a dinner show at the hotel on 105st in the 80's. David Bowie at Commonwealth in the 80's and several times after. The Stones at Commonwealth. Tragically Hip and Midnight Oil at Clarke Stadium. The list goes and on. Not sure if the Kinsmen Field House (probably not) and Myer Horowitz Theatre still host shows but Edmonton has always had a strong concert scene and that's unlikely to change.
 
Out of Towner said:
Calgary may syphon off a couple of concert dates from Edmonton but a Calgary stop might also encourage more acts to take a swing into Alberta. Vancouver has always had a better concert scene than Edmonton partly to a larger population but also due to its proximity to Seattle. Overall though, the new Saddledome probably won't have much effect as Edmonton has a long and strong history of headbangers supporting its concerts. Still remember standing in line for a couple hours to get tickets for when the Who played the Coliseum back in the 70's. Still have the guitar pick that BB King gave me after a dinner show at the hotel on 105st in the 80's. David Bowie at Commonwealth in the 80's and several times after. The Stones at Commonwealth. Tragically Hip and Midnight Oil at Clarke Stadium. The list goes and on. Not sure if the Kinsmen Field House (probably not) and Myer Horowitz Theatre still host shows but Edmonton has always had a strong concert scene and that's unlikely to change.
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Good point about Commonwealth, although it is more limited to the spring to fall season, it does seem to regularly get some very nice concerts too and there is no similar facility elsewhere in Alberta.
 
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