Sands Bethlehem Event Center's first acts: Beach Boys reunion, blink 182, Incubus and Alan Jackson

FROM THE MORNING CALL

The Beach Boys'50th anniversary reunion tour, pop-punkers blink 182 and country megastar Alan Jackson lead a hefty lineup of acts that will play the new Sands Bethlehem Event Center in its first months.

They're names that officials think will draw big enough crowds to help put the center in the Top 10 venues its size in the world.

Representatives from builders Vision Entertainment, the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem and promoter Live Nation announced the lineups at a news conference Friday, then offered media tours of the construction.

Incubus, one of the most popular alternative rock bands of the 2000s, will perform the arena's first concert on May 16.


The band will be followed by Jackson on May 19, Celtic punk rockers Flogging Molly on May 24 and iconic crooner Paul Anka on May 27. Tickets go on sale Friday. Details on the Beach Boys and blink 182 shows will be announced next week.

All are big names for a South Side arena that will seat 2,250 people, or have room for 3,500 standing.

Live Nation, the country's largest concert promoter, has promised to bring acts that often play bigger venues. Incubus, for example, in May headlines a show at the 5,000-capacity outdoor Festival Pier in Philadelphia. Jackson is now playing arenas such as the 8,000-capacity Pensacola Civic Center in Florida.

"I believe we're going to bring a new level of entertainment the Lehigh Valley hasn't seen, especially in an intimate venue like this," said Live Nation Mid-Atlantic President Geoff Gordon. "This is a very exciting time as we begin a new era of live music in the Lehigh Valley."

The announcements, Gordon said, represent only a cross section of full programming he expects for the venue. Officials hope to offer 185 events a year at the center on the old Bethlehem Steel site.

Websites already list country star Gretchen Wilson with Randy Houser on Aug. 11 at the arena. And there will be non-musical acts such as Cirque du Soleil and comedians, said the event center's Jeffrey Trainer.

Gordon acknowledged the first acts are big for a smaller arena. But he said they typify who will play there. Bigger acts are attracted to the arena's size because "everybody wants to see acts in a comfortable setting," he said.

Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan said the center's partners have "built something that has never been seen here as far as quality." He noted it will bring hundreds of jobs to the area.

"The budget has grown because they want to build an absolutely world-class facility," Callahan said.

Trainer acknowledged center builders "ended up spending a lot more money than we envisioned" — he didn't give a total cost — but said, "I'm from the Lehigh Valley, and I'm proud this is something our area was able to get done."

Callahan and Vision Entertainment partner Thomas Schantz said the center could rank among the Top 10 worldwide for attendance. To do that, according to industry magazine Pollstar, it would have had to draw 144,842 people in 2011.

The highest-ranking venue last year in Lehigh and Northampton counties was Allentown's Crocodile Rock Café. It was No. 60 with 50,294, according to Pollstar.

A media tour of the arena, where the center's concrete interior still is raw and construction still hums, showed a cavernous space with a flat floor — designed that way because the center also will be used for trade shows and conventions, Vision Entertainment co-founder Jerry Deifer said. He said removable seats will be aligned on the floor.

In front of the center is an 80-foot-wide stage that's elevated just four feet off the floor. No seats are more than 137 feet from the stage. At the back are seven luxury suites, the highest 22 feet off the floor, that seat 20-25 people. The suites will offer catering, private restrooms and wet bars.

Although paid capacity will be 3,500, there is room for 3,800, with seats at tables on the wings of the stage for casino VIPs and others, Trainer said.

Everything is designed to provide the fans with the best live music sound and experience," Deifer said. "Every seat in the house is a good seat."

A separate upscale, eye-shaped nightclub, Vision Bar, is being built at the front of the event center. It will have a grand opening May 12 and then be open every day to concert-goers, casino patrons and hotel guests.

The club will serve as a place for patrons to spend time before concerts, and offer them top disc jockeys to "continue the party" after the show, Trainer said. He said there also will be a 5,000-square-foot beer garden outside on colored concrete that will be able to be covered and heated in winter.

Here are more details on the first acts:


• Incubus has had six Top 5 albums since 2001 and its latest disc, July's "If Not Now, When," went to No. 2. It also has had 14 Top 10 Alternative hits, including No. 1s "Drive," "Meglomaniac," "Anna-Molly" and "Love Hurts."

• The Beach Boys reunion will start with a performance at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, and span 50 dates. Songwriter Brian Wilson returns to the group for the first time in 27 years and Al Jardine for the first time in 13 years. Other dates on the tour have not been announced.

• Blink 182, a seminal band in the pop-punk genre with hits such as "All the Small Things," had its own reunion in 2009 after a 41/2-year hiatus. It has played outdoor tours the past two summers at much larger arenas, such as Camden, N.J.'s 25,000 capacity Susquehanna Bank Center.

• Alan Jackson has released 25 albums, 18 of which went gold or platinum, 12 of which hit No. 1 and 22 of which made the Top 10. From 2000 to 2008, six of his studio albums in a row went to No. 1. He has had 49 Top 10 singles, 24 of which went to No. 1.

• Paul Anka has performed for more than 50 years, had 22 Top 20 hits and sold 15 million copies of his 125 albums. He also wrote songs for others, including Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Frank Sinatra. He played at the Sands' two Musik at the Sands concert series, selling out the 2,000-seat tent in May.

• Flogging Molly broke into the Top 10 independent albums with 2002's "Drunkin Lullabies," and topped that chart with 2004's "Within a Mile of Home." Its 2008 release, "Float," climbed to No. 4 on Billboard's album chart. Its May album "Speed of Darkness" peaked at No. 9.


http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/music/mc-sands-bethlehem-events-concerts-20120210,0,3724048.story