Published: August 05, 2008 09:03 pm      

NORTH TONAWANDA: Hornsby concert moved to Buffalo

Bruce Hornsby’s scheduled appearance this Saturday in North Tonawanda has been moved to Buffalo.

Three days after the state Liquor Authority pulled the liquor permit for event promoter Concerts Plus of WNY for selling beer to minors, the talent scout for the concerts said the show will go on — only it will be at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo, and at a cost of $20 per ticket.

According to Chris Ring of Metropolitan Talent, the booking agent working with promoters for the Labatt Blue Light Canal Concert Series, the money lost by promoter Concerts Plus of WNY by not selling alcohol was too much of a hurdle to clear for the show to remain in its free-admission format in North Tonawanda.

The concerts are paid for largely by alcohol sales. Ring said Concerts Plus owner Vinnie Lesh Sr. stood to lose between $50,000 and $60,000 on the Hornsby show if it went on as scheduled.

Ring also said that if the liquor permit issue is not settled, the two remaining shows on the calendar will also be moved, barring new corporate sponsorship to make up the difference.

“There will not be a show in NT, if Concerts Plus of WNY or another local entity cannot serve beer at the grounds, unless a sponsor steps up and offers the cost,” Ring said.

Offers have been made to have another vendor apply for a liquor permit for the venue, but Ring said it was clear no such arrangement would be in place this week, which prompted the decision Tuesday to move Hornsby’s performance to Buffalo. Other venues, including the Riveria Theatre in North Tonawanda, were considered — and will be if new locations are required for the two remaining shows — but that Town Ballroom represented the most “cost effective” solution, Ring said.

Promoters for the Labatt Blue Light Canal Concert Series had their temporary liquor permit pulled by the New York State Liquor Authority during the midway point of last Saturday’s Dark Star Orchestra concert after the state received word that North Tonawanda police had cited two workers there for selling beer to minors the previous week.

A state Liquor Authority spokesman, Michael Smith, said Tuesday that the SLA is “sympathetic” with groups like the North Tonawanda concert series, but that their primary concern is still public welfare.

“In general, we work with people like this,” Smith said. “We’re sympathetic. But the sale to minors is a major violation of SLA regulations.”

Two calls to Lesh, the event promoter, were not returned Tuesday.

North Tonawanda Mayor Larry Soos was surprised to hear the news, saying he’d heard that the concert was likely to move to the Riveria, which has a liquor license, if the issues at Gateway Harbor couldn’t be resolved.

Frank Cannata, executive director at the Riveria Theatre, said his venue was available Saturday, but Ring made a “dollars and cents decision” that the Town Ballroom would offer the best chance of recouping the money already spent bringing Hornsby to town.

“I just think the booking agent felt they would be able to make more money at Town Ballroom than the Riv to recoup their loss,” Cannata said. “I don’t know they’ll even be able to break even (on the Hornsby show).”

He added that the theater would be willing to help keep the shows in North Tonawanda.

“We would like to see the series continue (in Gateway Harbor) and if it can’t, assist in continuing them in NT,” he said.

There is no concert scheduled Aug. 16, which Ring said gives organizers some breathing room on the calendar — nearly three weeks time — to get a new arrangement in place.

The most likely scenario, he said, would be getting a new vendor, someone not affiliated with Concerts Plus, to apply for a liquor permit. He said SLA officials aren’t against serving beer at the canalside venue, but that a new applicant would be needed.

“Four or five businesses have offered,” Ring said, though he could offer no insight as to how likely it is that a new vendor can be found and a permit obtained in time for either of the last two shows.

A lasting impact?

After being forced to move a once-free show less than a week before the event — and charge $20 per ticket — Ring, whose company was not at fault and had no role in overseeing vendor beer sales at the concerts, was left to ponder the long-term impact that this will have.

“It can hurt in years to come if you’re talking the same promoters,” Ring said.

Concerts Plus and Metro Talent have a three-year contract with the City of North Tonawanda, and Ring said all intentions are to stand by that agreement for the next two years.

Though he admitted, the thought had occurred to him that these concerts might be more trouble than they’re worth. He called the situation “extremely frustrating.”

“Obviously it’s crossed your mind,” Ring said. “You’re not getting rich off these. Plus all the political stuff you’re dealing with. At what point do you throw in the towel?”

He also said that, with the advent of the Internet, musicians and their managers are much more likely to know about problems with particular venues, which can lead to a certain place getting a bad reputation.

This is the second controversy surrounding the NT concerts this summer. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts were scheduled to appear two weeks ago, but after dueling contracts with Concerts Plus in North Tonawanda and a separate deal with the Seneca Niagara Casino could not be rectified, Jett canceled her North Tonawanda show. Local band Jackdaw took her place that week.

City and state reaction

Soos said his assistant, Jeffrey Mis, has been in close contact with Ring. Mis was directing them to a lawyer that would help advise them of their best course of action, Soos said.

When asked what role the city was playing in trying to help get a liquor permit restored for the event, Soos said: “We’re trying to let Chris do that because he’s the guy that already has the bands booked.”

Soos said promoters and the city were still waiting to receive the original letter sent by the Liquor Authority to the permit holder, describing what happened and why the permit was revoked.

The state spokesman also answered charges made Monday by those affiliated with the concerts that the Liquor Authority shouldn’t have waited until midway through the concert to halt alcohol sales.

Representatives from the Liquor Authority arrived about 8:30 p.m. Saturday — three hours after doors opened and well after acts had begun performing — to seize the permit and halt beer sales. Promoters argued this could have sparked upset among concertgoers, though most people in attendance took it in stride, they said.

“Best case scenario, we should have taken the permit at the beginning of the event,” Smith, the spokesman said, adding they “had an opportunity” to seize the license while the concert was ongoing and took it.

Smith also declined to say how long it might take to get a new permit issued if a new applicant comes forward.

“We can’t give a timetable,” Smith said. “If there’s a qualified applicant that comes in, we’re going to work with that community and that applicant.”

Addressing another concern expressed by the show’s promoters, Smith declined to speculate that the temporary nature of a liquor permit, as opposed to a permanent license, was the reason it was pulled upon the first offense.

He would only say, “The (Liquor Authority’s) major concern is public health and safety.”

Saturday’s show in Buffalo will take place at the Town Ballroom, 681 Main St. Bruce Hornsby and the Noise Makers will headline a previously planned benefit show for the Buffalo City Mission. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door and can be purchased at Tops Markets or online at www.tickets.com.

The decision to move the Saturday show has no effect on the concerts run on Wednesday and Friday nights, where acts will go on as normal and liquor sales remain unaffected.