Les Schwab Amphitheater has announced that beginning with Sunday’s Michael Franti concert, that they will be restricting access to the East bank of the Deschutes (across from the venue) from the footbridge across the river on the south to Hot Pond Loop on the north. The area has been a popular place to poach concerts playing at the Amphitheater for over a decade.
It seems that the Amphitheater has gained a reputation for being insecure when crowds across the river sometimes total half of the paying ticketed crowd in the venue.
In July, the Source questioned the consequences of the abundance of free music in Bend and the effects of the saturation of nightly free concerts (read the article here). The closure—while sure to be unpopular with Bendites used to lounging river front within earshot of the show—is one example of how a stigma of free music is effecting ticketed concerts and venues.
Stay tuned to the Source for updates on the effectiveness and enforcement of the closure.
This article appears in Aug 8-14, 2013.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
People are gonna bitch. The part that could get tricky: Will eateries in the Old Mill be soundproofed and their windows boarded over come concert nights? Will there be uniformed people “policing” the freeloaders? This could get nasty. Here’s an idea…patrol INSIDE the grounds and send out the people that just want to talk through the whole friggin’ show, and swap ’em with someone outside the confines who is willing to “shut up and listen.” Peace out.
They will just find another place to go. What’s Les Schwab gonna do? Put up a sound proof dome so no one can hear any of the concerts? Give me a break. It’s an OUTDOOR facility and trying to prevent people from sitting here or there is just going to piss people off. Seriously Les Schwab, get over yourself. I could understand this better if we had headline music play there, but we don’t,
Here is a brochure that describes the rights to access the river. So I guess I will bring my hip waders and fly rod.
http://www.oregon.gov/OSMB/access/docs/nav…
This news is very disheartening. One of Bends many attributes is that people of all socioeconomic means have access to the beauty and events that surround us. Listening to music on the rivers edge is a social gathering, more so than free music, as anyone can tell you. The music quality is in no way the same as attending the event nor is the ability to see the performers.
Taking this option away from visitors and those of us who live here is very sad. I’ve purchased many tickets in the LSA–Michael Franti last year for one, and couldn’t justify it this year as I would have to miss a majority of the show due to work-and will continue to do so but this action leaves a sick feeling in my gut. Please get your opinion out to those that matter.
Yeah, This may be the beginning of the end for the Amphitheater. They
are building a large Hotel right behind it!! You don’t think that
property is worth more than the grass and concrete they have invested.
Get Real. This is the PR Stunt they have started to start winding down
the concerts so eventually they can sell/lease the land to someone else.
Using artists as Scapegoats is LOW!! They should be having twice as
many shows/events there as it is. They do not want to be concert
promoters, they want easy money and this is work. Think about it people!
Give them the Boot! They are going to end up creating ill will in the community, spending more money on putting up and taking down fences and signs and patrolling the area than they are going to make selling extra tickets due to this action.