WILMINGTON — With construction slated to begin early next year, there are still questions – for better and worse – about Live Nation’s concert venue in the North Riverfront Park.
Community Services Director Amy Beatty recently confirmed that the park’s final design has been broken down into sections to speed up construction, with current plans calling for advertising for construction companies at the end of this year, and construction beginning in early 2019.
The park’s layout allows part of it to be sectioned off for ticketed events, leaving other areas – including the Riverwalk, a water-feature area, and a cafe and beer garden area open to the public.
When there are no events, the venue area will be open as part of the park.
Aside from the question of parking, a wide range of other questions have been asked: What kind of acts will the new venue bring to Wilmington? How much will tickets cost? Will festivals – like the recently retired Warped Tour – come to the venue?
And, since plans for the park call for a café area – and possibly a beer garden – that Live Nation will oversee, the region’s craft beer fans have asked: will the venue and park serve local beer?
Who’s coming to Wilmington?
According to Live Nation Carolinas President Grant Lyman, the North Riverfront venue will in many ways be similar to the Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh and the Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville, Tennessee. Lyman said those comparisons are a good way to get a sense of what kind of acts could make their way to Wilmington.
“We are very excited about the proposed capacity falling in the 6,000 to 7,000 (range), because it gives us flexibility to bring some very big talent to the market,” Lyman said, adding that Live Nation is planning to program the venue with “all genres of music.”
This summer, Red Hat Amphitheater hosted hip-hop (Lauryn Hill, Nas, Kid Cudi), hard rock and metal (Primus and Mastodon, on a double bill), reggae-rock (The Dirty Heads), and folk (Fleet Foxes).
It’s also a fair way to get a sense of ticket prices, which – while they vary based on the band – should be comparable between venues like Ascend, Red Hat, and Wilmington’s new downtown venue. Tickets for Live Nation shows at Riverfront venue will be sold through Ticketmaster (the two companies merged in 2010), which charges a $10.25 per-ticket service fee, and a $4.00 service fee per online transaction. It is not yet known how what local box-office options will be available for concert-goers.
As for festivals, Lyman said, “due to the park’s footprint downtown, we likely won’t see many multi-stage events like Warped Tour.”
He added, “We do plan to host multi-band festival-style events from time to time.”
Wilmington beer on draft?
So, will concert-goers be able to enjoy one of Wilmington’s many craft beers at shows and festivals?
Lyman said that was in the works.
“Live Nation will be working with a food and beverage concessionaire at the venue for our concert operations. We are still early in the process to know exactly how the food and beverage plan will be laid out, but certainly plan to incorporate local and regional beer into our plans,” Lyman said.
Send comments and tips to Benjamin Schachtman at ben@localvoicemedia.com, @pcdben on Twitter, and (910) 538-2001.
