BANGOR, Maine — Waterfront Concerts has added a franchise.
The town of Scarborough, once a possible destination for Waterfront Concerts should the Bangor-based summer concert series decide to move, has now joined up to host shows.
Waterfront Concerts promoter Alex Gray confirmed Friday afternoon that his business has reached an agreement with owners of Scarborough Downs and town officials to hold as many as five concerts there this summer.
“Our success in Bangor has pushed us to grow and made expansion a necessary reality,” Gray said. “It’s a good play for both Bangor and southern Maine because it puts us in position to better and more consistently service the agents and provide a more reliable destination, which should lead to even more [shows] for us down the road.”
Gray said he met with Scarborough town councilors Wednesday night, when he received unanimous council approval to put on one to five shows.
“If there are conflicts or issues that make certain days unavailable on certain days in Bangor, we can put the shows on at Scarborough Downs,” Gray explained. “Scarborough has become available as a backup, so this positions us to have more flexibility.”
For instance, if an agent proposes a certain tour date, but that date is either already reserved for another show, or conflicts with other Bangor Waterfront events such as The American Folk Festival or the KahBang music festival, Scarborough could be used to host it.
The tentative list of performers and dates for Scarborough’s “Music at the Track” shows are Jason Mraz in late July, Miranda Lambert on Friday, July 27; the WCYY Oxxfest rock show on Friday, Aug. 10; Train, Matt Carney and Demi Lovato on Friday, Aug. 24 or Sunday, Aug. 26; and the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Tour on Saturday, Sept. 1.
Gray said the Scarborough Downs deal won’t take away from Bangor. He emphasized that it strengthens Bangor’s position among booking agents and promoters.
“The more of the market — meaning Maine — that we control, the better it makes things for Waterfront Concerts and Live Nation,” said Gray, referring to his business and the live entertainment company he works with to book acts. “One of our competitors tried to strike a deal with Scarborough to compete against us, so this helps us preclude developments like that while also maintaining and enhancing our presence in Maine.”
Last year, Scarborough Downs hosted its first major concert in years as Brad Paisley drew about 8,500 to the facility, which has a capacity of approximately 11,000 fans.
Gray said the secondary facility is also ideal to host music artists who tour regularly.
“A lot of agents whose groups have success and/or like it here [in Bangor] want them to keep playing here, but it doesn’t make sense to have the same groups play the same venues over and over,” he said. “So maybe we can host a band here one year and there the next.”
Tracy Willette, who oversees maintenance and infrastructure support for Waterfront Concerts as the director of the Bangor Parks and Recreation Department, said he has no concerns about the expansion.
“I don’t think it changes anything really and I certainly don’t see this as any sort of detriment,” said Willette.
Willette said he doesn’t anticipate the Scarborough deal being seen as a sign that Waterfront Concerts is looking for greener pastures.
“It shouldn’t be,” Willette said. “As you see, it seems to be getting stronger, which this latest move shows.”
Scarborough Downs officials are elated to be hosting more concerts.
“We are over the moon. Mr. Gray has a proven track record with Waterfront Concerts and we could not have had a better partnership,” said Susan Higgins, Scarborough Downs’ marketing director. “We used to have multiple concerts here in the 1970s and we’re absolutely thrilled to have them coming back.”
Higgins said last year’s Brad Paisley show went well with just “a few noise complaints.”
Scarborough Downs would hold concerts on days when no harness races are scheduled. Currently the track runs races at 4 p.m. Saturdays and 1 p.m. Sundays. It will add racing at 4 p.m. Fridays on April 20 and 4 p.m. Thursdays on June 7.
I knew this waterfront concert deal was too good to be true for Bangor. Now all the goods acts can play in southern Maine and Gray still gets his coin – good deal for him.
I think you have it backwards. This ensures a growing company the chance to send excess concerts to the south as well without refusing a show. It’s not easy to get every date booked because of blackout dates and repeat shows. Why would WFC have Jason Mraz twice in Bangor too soon when he can give the southern market a show as well? Miranda Lambert, Eric Church, etc. I think they have done a great job to keep it fresh in Bangor. Face it folks, successful businesses expand. That means they are being… successful. Okay, I would rather see OxxFest stay in Bangor but it will anyway, because it will be called BangFest. It is just a name. Bangor will see the same Fests. There will be nothing playing in the south that won’t be playing here at some point as well if it has not already. Also, year round concerts will be happening very soon in Bangor. The city has become it’s own promoter because of the work WFC has done. It is already considered a valuable must play venue. With Global Spectrum and Hollywood Casino as the backdrop, things will grow as we promote. The American Folk Festival and KahBang create a challenge for a growing company who has to provide dates for the agents who want to do business. If Miranda Lambert wants to come back every year, would we put her on the same stage? I’m sure that is not how it works. The 2012 season in Bangor is already epic in size and it’s only going to get better… Breathe deep…
There was an RS story last year about acts being signed for larger arenas,then having to be moved due to ticket sales.Flexibility isn’t a bad thing.
Waterfront Concerts promoter Alex Gray confirmed Friday afternoon that his business has reached an agreement with owners of Scarborough Downs and town officials to hold as many as five concerts there this summer. Its not his Business Bangor daily, he runs it for a company
So Waterfront Concerts expanding to Scarborough gets Rockstar Uproar tour & Oxxfest and Bangor gets Godsmack again and more 60’s, 70’s and 80’s nostalgia acts?
Scarborough isn’t that far away.. and there are other promoters if Alex decides to move south.
Actually I think he mentioned that another competitor was going to set up shop in the south anyway to compete with Bangor. Wouldn’t it be crazy not to get the southern deal first to prevent that?
Yeah.. because monopolies are such a good thing…. *rolls eyes*
You think that Alex Gray and Live Nation should corner the entertainment market?
Do you see any others stepping forward? WFC is good for Bangor and the state of Maine. Bangor being the mothership is not a bad thing.
There was a huge call for Godsmack to return, but this deal will allow even more variety for Bangor. The GodSmack/Staind show will be an incredible evening, you should attend. Among the 60s, 70’s, 80’s acts, there is and will be the current hottest tours in several genres. This is called variety. Variety is a good thing. :)
Godsmack YES!Thank you for coming back! It was amazing last time!
Yeah be nice to get those up here for sure, but the way I look at it is Scarborough is a lot closer than driving to Boston/Manchester/Hartford etc etc.
Yeah, I will take the 12-20 shows over the 1 to 5 shows. Variety my friend.
This is why Bangor should offer one year contracts… If he tied up the Bangor waterfront just to prevent competition in the future it wouldn’t be good for Bangor… One year contracts with a minium of concerts in the contract. Thats all
any chance we can have carrie ?
Why do I have a feeling we up here will get the 2nd rate acts. They will get Kenny Chesney and we will get Slim Whitman
If Scarborough prevents acts like the Beach Boys and Micky Dolenz from making it to Bangor, I won’t be heart broken. So far, Blues Traveler is the only thing coming to Bangor that has my attention.
Yay BT and Alex!Maine was underserved for years except Portland and even then it was still Boston or bust.Now for Gov’t Mule!
I’m with you on that one. I’ll buy the first 4 tickets.
shades of gray…believe it
14 Shades of Grey, to be exact. May 28th, is it?
I suspect that won’t disturb the residents in the Third & Main Neighborhood
Ahh
Bangor WF capacity 8,000+, Downs Capacity 12,000+;
Bangor Metro population 100,000, Portland Metro 280,000;
Old Orchard Beach normal population 10,000, OOB Summer daily Population
100,000;
Bangor Proximity to Boston 4 hours, Scarborough 1 1/2 (auto), 2 (train)
Gray had a great idea in Bangor, he is protecting that success by coming to
Scarborough. Any further questions?
Thomas- The market is already here in Bangor. That won’t change. I believe Bangor WF capacity is larger than you think. 15,000 capacity is reality. Also, if you add seats for arena the total number of seats to sell in Bangor is 23,000 with multiple shows. Things are good.
If you want to complain about some of these acts not coming to Bangor, look at the Bangor city Council for locking out Waterfront Concerts during the Folk Festival and Kahbang. WFC is not allowed to schedule concerts during those dates… meaning they need to find an alternative venue (like Scarborough Downs) or miss out on those shows. Can you blame them??
Scarborough Downs is only a backup. The main venue will always be Bangor because the market is already there. Downs also has some blackout dates because of the racing schedule. Breathe deeper…
“The main venue will always be Bangor because the market is already there”. Please explain how Bangor has a market that southern Maine does not have when the summer population of York & Cumberland counties exceeds 1,000,000 people? Southern Maine has a far bigger market than Bangor but it is untapped. A concept of “main venue” in this discussion is irrelevant. Gray will provide acts at the venue where he can make the most profit; to do otherwise would make no business sense. Also do not underestimate the effect the State Theater’s recent entry into the ‘summer’ large concert market had on Gray’s business plan. Gray’s move was clearly to lockup the Down’s before the State group took it…if you are not aware of what the State Theater has been producing for the last two years, you have no understanding of the Southern Maine market. Gray’s move is going to do to Portland exactly what it did for Bangor but on a much larger scale. As for racing bumping concerts? Scarborough Downs has over 400 acres of land, or to put it in racing jargon, they have so much land they can ‘simulcast’ …..run the races on the upper 100 and the concert on the lower 300.
The southern market is untapped? Hmmm, I thought that was what was going on up here in recent years. The south is not untapped they have just recently had competition and actually had their (censored) handed to them. If you think for one moment that the southern market has been strong over the nothern market, where have you been the last few years? Boston? :) Yes, the State Theater has become a much more vibrant venue, but I doubt it will bring in 8,000 to 10,000 tickets. It will attract lower attracting acts however. If that makes cents! Scarborough Downs will benefit from the shows, but I hope they realize they are a backup venue for Bangor. That is the true reality of where the southern market is now compared to the north. Will things change? Well, you don’t know us do you? :) How do I compare the north population to the south? I don’t. Common sense says the southern market has to compete with many others plus us. Who or what do we have to compete with? (smiling).
Man what nerve did I hit? There is and never will be a concert rivalry between Portland and Bangor except in the minds of people like you that see some need to pound your chests in triumph over a non existent competitor.
However you did state in your bluster: “but I doubt it will bring in 8,000 to 10,000 tickets”.
Well here you go: “One of today’s hottest folk rock bands has agreed to play on the Eastern Promenade this summer in what’s expected to be Portland’s largest outdoor concert – other than July 4th celebrations – in years. The State Theatre, which is promoting the event scheduled Aug. 4, anticipates that more than 12,000 people will attend the “Gentlemen of the Road” concert featuring the British band Mumford & Sons”.
Gray knew of the State Theatre group’s move to expand by booking outdoor concerts like Mumford and his response was to compete. That’s business man. He is not doing it to protect Bangor’s concerts, he’s doing it to make money. What’s with your attitude man? What makes you think anyone living in Cumberland or York county cares to travel to Bangor for any purpose? Maybe some grey hairs to play slots but anyone in southern Maine with blood circulating in their veins is traveling south for entertainment. Gray’s competition hopefully will give southern Mainers a chance to stay a little closer to home to get their concert entertainment. By the way, I live in Bangor
Sorry, thought you were another southern “we are kings” type. The point I’m trying to make is we don’t need the southern market and they don’t need us. That established, in no way will the southern market steal anything from the north when the north doesn’t need the south. There is two markets divided in Maine. And yes, they can rotate the acts in the event of blackouts. That’s my point. Glad you choose a better city. :)
Terence, I understand that, I think it’s great actually. I was replying to the people who were complaining that these acts weren’t brought to Bangor. Based on the available dates, they would not have been able to go to the Waterfront, thus Scarborough was a natural backup choice. I support Live Nation in selecting a backup location for concerts that fell on the dates that they were unable to get acts for at WFC in Bangor due to scheduling conflicts.
Still crappy acts, no loss to Bangor.
Actually Miranda Lambert is a pretty hot tour. And OxxFest and RockStar will be just as popular, but yes… no loss to Bangor. Great shows already on those dates.
Hey Alex and Waterfront Concerts: Bangor wants MEATLOAF!
Here’s a list of shows at the two venues going head to head on the same dates thus far: http://www.bangorbytes.com/2012/04/waterfront-concerts-scarborough-downs.html
hey I got a question, will the insider pass also work for the Scarborough concerts?
We need this outfit to come to Belfast and help us too.