Anyone Else Going To Rocklahoma?

[Double A]

quote:Originally posted by recyclemichael

There were people downtown.

The car show had decent crowds, the new Jazz Hall of Fame had their first public event, and the Tulsa PAC had five almost sold out shows of "Spamalot".

I wonder how much sales taxes were   generated from those events downtown? I guess we'll find out when Tulsa, Jenks, and Pryor publish their sales tax reports for that period. Sorry if I think the citzens should start seeing a return on the investment of all the taxpayer money that has gone downtown. If we are reliant on sales taxes to fund this city, is it in our best interest to continue to throw money at an area that fails to produce enough increased sales taxes to see any real return or even enough increased sales taxes generated to pay back the amount of the investment made? For every penny spent downtown how many pennies from sales tax collections are we getting in return? Are we even getting any return back, just breaking even, or worse? I'm not telling you, I'm asking you. Roscoe always says the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Roscoe also says nobody listens to Roscoe, but I've listened and I've learned to ask questions and question the answers.

bickering removed

[RecycleMichael]

So all public investments should generate sales tax or we shouldn't do them?

[cannon_fodder]

Double A:

How is a major concert, a car show, a jazz show, and a theater performance going on at the same time in Tulsa a bad thing?  Certainly you had to admit that more revenue was generate WITH these events than without them.  Together they brought tens of thousands of people to Tulsa and surrounding communities.

Certainly they spent money while here that will support both local business and generate local sales tax.  Not to mention a dollar in the economy goes around a few times before leaving.

How, for the love of god, is this a negative development?

[AngieB]

Rolling Stone review:
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/07/16/rocklahoma-report-four-days-of-80s-hair-metal-mania/

[rwarn17588]

I might have gone for a day if the festival had one band -- Cinderella. That was a pretty great group during its prime.

Too bad Motorhead wasn't there, either.

But, hey, it still was an impressive lineup. It goes to show what a festival can do when it:

1) exploits a long-neglected genre
2) gathers nearly all the bands from that genre into one place.

I betcha there's going to be a Rocklahoma II, and it's going to be even bigger.

[cannon_fodder]

I saw Motorhead with Black Sabath and ... this was in 1998.  They were horrible.  *shudders*

Good all around show though:
Black Sabath
Tool
Megadeth
Limp Bizkit (remember when they were in?)
Soulfly
Sevendust
Coal Chamber
Motorhead
System of a Down
Melvins
Incubus
Snot
Life of Agony
Kilgore
Ultraspank
Monster Voodoo Machine
Deftones
Cherry Popin' Daddies
Rancid
NOFX
Frenzal Rhomb
Slip Knot

Ahh, the days when I used to travel around the country to concerts.

[sgrizzle]

quote:Originally posted by rwarn17588

I might have gone for a day if the festival had one band -- Cinderella. That was a pretty great group during its prime.

Too bad Motorhead wasn't there, either.

But, hey, it still was an impressive lineup. It goes to show what a festival can do when it:

1) exploits a long-neglected genre
2) gathers nearly all the bands from that genre into one place.

I betcha there's going to be a Rocklahoma II, and it's going to be even bigger.

They're already selling tickets. Talking about the event being even longer.

[Breadburner]

Have you heard anything about Raplahoma?

[Double A]

quote:Originally posted by cannon_fodder

Double A:

How is a major concert, a car show, a jazz show, and a theater performance going on at the same time in Tulsa a bad thing?  Certainly you had to admit that more revenue was generate WITH these events than without them.  Together they brought tens of thousands of people to Tulsa and surrounding communities.

Certainly they spent money while here that will support both local business and generate local sales tax.  Not to mention a dollar in the economy goes around a few times before leaving.

How, for the love of god, is this a negative development?

My point is that Jenks and Pryor have become musical meccas and they didn't have to build a 200 million dollar icon and hire SMG at a premium. I think it would have been better to have festivals like this going on in downtown. We used to be known as a festival city, but cronyism, nepotism and the good ole' boy network have pretty much killed that. I guess that what happens when you have powerful downtown interests that want a monolpoly for their bland handpicked festival and view any other festivals downtown as competition.

[Conan71]

My stepson is a local musician.  We were talking about D-Fest last night, he said most people are expecting in the neighborhood of 20K to 30K people a day for that event.  That sounds like numbers close to what they got for Rocklahoma.

I don't recall hearing much about music festivals out at Mohawk anymore, but I have to say, Riverwalk Crossing is more inviting than a muddy field up in NoTul.  As well an event like that adds money to the Tulsa County tax base which does benefit people in the Tulsa City limits to an extent.  

Some things which have grown aren't thought of as festivals, like St. Patrick's day down in the Blue Dome.

I don't think we are losing events to other areas so much as our events are evolving.

[iplaw]

Just read the rolling stone article, and had to laugh at the comments, especially this one:

"I cant believe they actually got all of these incredibly in-demand bands to come together in one place. State fairs across the mid-west were probably hurting for musical acts. rocklahoma sounds like the most shi*tastic idea ever."

I was disappointed that I couldn't go, as 20 years ago, I would have killed to see all these bands, but after finding out that very few original members were going to be attending, I decided to skip...not to mention the fact that I was going to be on vacation.

[cannon_fodder]

IN all honesty IP, there were MOSTLY original members but few complete bands.

[iplaw]

I suppose that's what I really meant.  It's not fair to call Skid Row "Skid Row" without Sebastian Bach...

I think Poison was all original, which would have been a good show.

[Double A]

quote:Originally posted by recyclemichael

So all public investments should generate sales tax or we shouldn't do them?

If they are done in the unholy name of economic development, then yes. They always sell these things as sales tax generators that will increase sales tax collections. I'd like to see some proof of the progress as promised in that regard before any more of my tax dollars are spent on economic development, especially downtown. Downtown economic development should be earning it's keep in Tulsa by starting to see a return on our investment in the form of increased sales tax collections downtown by now. Has it? I would like to know.

[Porky]

Rocklahoma huge but tame
Sommer Woodward
Staff Reporter

Despite the large crowd at Rocklahoma, the event went off without a hitch for organizers, businesses and law enforcement.

Rob Miller, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, said there was some concern about the type of crowd a rock concert would draw when the event was first announced and he is pleased those concerns were laid to rest.

Miller said there were relatively no problems from fans during the four-day event.

He said Rock Fever brought in over 100,000 people during four days.

The event brought in approximately 30,000 more people than Country Fever this year.

The crowd was the largest ever on Saturday with approximately 35,000 people attending the show, with Friday a close second at 30,000 and Sunday with 28,000.

"It was, really, all about the party," Miller said.

Mayes County Sheriff Frank Cantey said everything went fine over the weekend. Law enforcement arrested 12 people for everything from assault and battery to public intoxication.

"The crowd was basically a pretty well-mannered crowd," said Cantey. "We just had an idiot every now and then."

The event staff found people selling T-shirts with the Rocklahoma logo in the parking lots and confiscated the merchandise. Cantey said the sheriff's office did take possession of the shirts at the request of the event staff, but no one was arrested.

Cantey said overall, the weekend went well.

He said what amazed him was the large number of campers parked on the grounds. He estimated there were 10 times as many campers parked on the grounds as during Country Fever.

With the large number of people at the festival, local businesses saw an increase as well.

Local restaurants saw an increase in sales over the weekend. Employees at Taco Bell and Pizza Hut said business was up during Rocklahoma. A manager at McDonalds said she could definitely see an increase over the weekend, especially overnight business.

Wal-Mart Manager Mike Nichols said the store saw a nine to 10 percent increase in sales in the sporting goods department. He said items like tents and camping chairs sold real well over the weekend.

http://www.pryordailytimes.com/local/local_story_199085203.html