Reba and Kelly coming to the Ralph
According to pollstar.com, country superstar Reba McEntire and the original American Idol Kelly Clarkson will bring their "2 Worlds 2 Voices" joint concert tour to Grand Forks this fall. The two will perform at the Ralph Engelstad Arena on October 23.
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Pop country by a 53 year-old and a 20-something who doesn't even write her own songs.
No thanks.
...and I thought Nickelback was the bottom of the barrel
Tony Bennett or Michael Buble. Now there would be a ticket! :o)
I know its cool to be negative but really. Sounds like a pretty good concert.
Yeah, I've tended to turn my nose up at the contrivances of American Idol and its contemporaries. However, I read an article about Clarkson's most recent album and how she insisted on writing many of the songs herself, straying from the accepted pop formula in the process. For that, I grant her a little more respect.
Awww, I love Reba...I grew up about 20 miles from her hometown of Kiowa, Oklahoma. I wouldn't mind going to that concert, though I'm not a huge Kelly Clarkson fan...
You people. You have to be negative about ANYTHING! Reba Mcintyre and Kelly Clarkson are big names for a market such as GFK. You negative people KILL ME! GET A LIFE!
Wait, am I being counted as one of the "negative people?"
CMT "Crossroads" is one of the best performance shows on television. This tour spun off of it.
I know people on this site have complained about the Alerus losing money before, but how much business does the Ralph steal from them? They are obviously competition and this is another concert that very well would have gone to the Alerus.
I definitely won't be going to this concert. In fact, I'd rather vomit in some tin foil and eat it. Gross, I know, but seriously.. it's much more appealing than Kelly Clarkson's "music."
Out of curiosity, I went online to see how much their tickets were going for - at ticketsnow.com, they start at $150. B#^*%'s are crazy.
I agree Dale. I would love to see a few more shows that offer a veriety of entertainment such as Fargo does. I think a show like this is trying to hard; a) Sweeping across all age groups from the Gen Y'ers to the Babyboomers and younger. (Kelly Clarkson is one step up from Hannah Montana :P) "Gee Ma, wanna go see a country show with me?" b) Do people truly believe that country music is really that popular in this state? (little secret here: IT'S NOT!!) I would think that GF would be a perfect spot for many artists to pass thru from west to east, south to north and vice versa. I see/hear about more small local bands in town playing at bars and small name/big talent artists pass thru then largly funded artists like Reba and Kelly. The BIG problem I see in that is the under 21 age group who misses out on all this. Instead they get to go to '20 Below' once a year and listen to a DJ play all night. There is nothing like seeing it live to make you appreciate music. I stick to my beliefs is saying Grand Forks does a poor @$$ job of caring about its impressionable youth from 14-20, or least they could do much much better.
The thing I hate most about concerts like this is how so many people go away from it thinking that they actually just heard some impressive art...You don't get to hear a variety of music around here, so when almost anything comes around people are so blown away. ("OMG, NICKELBACK WAS AWESOME! THEY ARE SOOOO GOOD"/BON JOVI KICKS ASS...SO TALENTED!!! Syndrome)
I'm all for more music in GF and I'm sure this concert will be good for local revenue and all, but I wish there was more opportunity to hear some more non-comercialized pop music from all over the country/world.
By the way, when Kelly Clarkston says she "wrote" a song it's really more she embellished some of the stuff the song writers came up with. I guess it sells more when some people are tricked into thinking it was made for the purpose of creating art rather then making album and ticket revenues. Another good example of this is whenever Jessica Simpson claims to write a song...for Christ's sake that girl had to be told how to un-kink a garden hose and thought Chicken of the Sea was actual chicken...yet, she's a song writer. Uh huh.
Soooo...what would you guys LIKE to see in GF?
Dale,
You should just move to Bozeman. Great college town, similar population to GF, and it's music scene is great. They get a lot of great groups that you are probably fans of. Too bad the town has been overrun by Californians over the past decade and the cost of living there is insane...that is why I had to leave there...
I'd disagree with whoever said country music isn't that popular in North Dakota. I'm not a fan of it, but it sure gets annoying when I drive out west and can't find anything but country or oldies stations for 100 mile stretches.
My dream concert would be a Weezer/The Killers double billing, much like the Weezer/Foo Fighters tour was three years ago. Neither band would come close to filling a venue in Grand Forks on their own (well, Weezer might, based solely on little kids who liked "Beverly Hills" and have no clue what else Weezer performs), but together, they might get a respectable crowd at the Alerus or the Ralph.
Of course, I'll be long gone from Grand Forks before any of this happens, or before Reba and Kelly show up, so this is wishful thinking in the most futile sense for me....
I have yet to attend a show in Grand Forks... still driving to Fargo and Winnipeg. In the past year or so this has included Modest Mouse, Built to Spill, and Plants and Animals. Sadly, I missed shows by !!! and a few others.
Dale's list looks pretty good to me... I know Mars Volta either just played or is playing in Minneapolis soon. Wish I could of gone.
Dale, nice list. However you can't fault the Al or Ralph for not bringing in these acts. I personally haven't been to a show in either venue since OAR. The fact of the matter is that most shows of this genre would sell in numbers fitting the Chester Fritz, but I believe the CF's target crowd is 50+.
Dale-True that it could be said what does The Ralph steal from the Alerus, but if I remember right the Alerus was voted on to be built before we knew the Ralph was coming. I'm just thinking that it makes it more difficult if an act is going to come to Grand Forks and you are competing with another venue in town. Albeit, an unplanned venue that was not taken into account when the numbers were drawn up for the voters. It's just a thought of mine that I've never seen explored when there has been discussion in regards to the Alerus losing money.
Kind of a nice balance, though, y'gotta admit: Alerus and The Ralph for the younger crowd, The Fritz for those over 50.
Something for everyone. Not bad for a city the size of Grand Forks/East Grand Forks.
And if one notices the arts section in today's Herald, there's a whole lot more entertaining events coming up this summer!
I hope the music at the ND Art Museum on UND's campus continues this summer; something most enjoyable about kicking back, listening to some talented musicians (a plug for Matt...and why not? He's earned it!), sharing conversation and a relaxing drink with a burger---and all for five bucks.
I was talking with John Behling the other night and he's lined up at least one show for us at the museum this summer. Thanks for the plug Nick, and you're right - that's a concert series worth supporting for the atmosphere alone. I love outdoor shows as long as the weather and mosquitoes cooperate.
Unfortunately, this town empties out on weekends after UND is done. A lot of places have to cut back on booking during the summer, which is unfortunate.
If you all crave something to do and bemoan the lack of it, but don't go out and support, it'll end up being a self-fulfilling prophecy. Even if it's not necessarily your bag, if you're there even for a little bit, then the venue can develop and pull in artists that you may end up enjoying. And most of the time there is no cover, so there really isn't much of an excuse.
I agree that a lot of people leave town on the weekends, but I also believe it's a chicken-egg thing. If more high-quality small-venue events were planned, I think there'd be more incentive for people to stay in town. Maybe with high gas prices, more people will hang around this summer.
I loved the Hearald reviewer who said Brad Paisely was "too loud" and played his guitar too long.
GIVE ME A BREAK! No wonder this town is lame most of the time.
It's a concert and they are supposed to be LOUD!!!
Holy s**t. "Fritz for those over 50?" I'm only 32 and have been drawn to more events at the CFA than either Alerus or Ralph combined. A few highlights are Gaelic Storm, Weird Al, Ani diFranco, and Beatlemania Now! (which I skipped Hillary to see).
As for who target audiences are, I agree with enough of the suggestions here wholeheartedly (Modest Mouse, Built to Spill, Weezer, Radiohead, Porcupine Tree (a la 1996 Signify), Coldplay, Tom Petty, Foo Fighters) that it seems we have a substantial demographic, assuming we are a random enough sampling.
The problem is perception. Perception of the venue managements, perception of the marketers, and perception of the touring industry. I can understand why they might see us as purely a country fair market, which tends to exclude many of the alternative or obscure acts.
The solution is marketing ourselves as something else. Fargo has gained a better reputation, culturally. We have to be vigilant against the appearance of the poor country cousin. I'm not in the industry, but I imagine there are things band managers pay attention to when scouting acceptable destinations. we've got to identify and promote those things for ourselves, which, I know, is easier said than done.
To say The Fritz is an older demo venue is totally naive. It's very simple, it is a theater for acts expected to draw around 2000people. The Al and Ralph are arenas for acts expected to draw much larger crowds. Of course, they can be configured for smaller events, also.
As for The Alerus overall, nobody with a clue ever expected Grand Forks to ever be a major destination for arena size concerts, this was just propaganda perpetuated in the campaign stages by a bank that wanted a big billboard right off I-29 and someone else to pay for it.
I love shows at the Fritz because it's actually designed to have good acoustics, the acoustics in most stadium type venues (Alerus, Ralph, Target Center, Metrodome) are simply terrible.
..and I thought I was the only person around here to listen to Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater or Opeth. Dale and Eluc get a high five for having some damn good ears.
It's now summer but come fall don't forget about some of the UND groups. The wind ensemble is probably the best large group in the city (and one of the best in the midwest), Prof. Mike Blake and his Steel-Pan Band have been turning heads in the national steel-pan scene, and there's two great jazz bands, one of which has had 2 main-stage performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival.
And if you don't like any of that...there's opera, a few choral groups, a percussion ensemble and lots of recitals that would be worth your time.
My wife and I went to see Dane Cook at the Fritz when we were 27. We felt like we were the oldest people in the place BY FAR.
Anon @ 10:51 is right - the acoustics at the other venues pale in comparison. And from a performance standpoint, I've played at the Fritz five times and it is always the best room in town both acoustically and audience-wise - the crowd at the Don Williams concert was GREAT.
I think the acoustics and sight lines at the Fritz are great and can't believe how underutilized the venue is.
Atmosphere was the last show I saw at the Alerus... and it was by far under-advertised. There was a couple hundred or so attending, and the tickets were only $25 if I remember right. Awesome show, there was 3 acts opening. I enjoyed the show immensely, but I'm a big fan.
So yes, the Alerus is capable of attracting quality artists (in this case - rappers), they just don't publicize the ones that aren't on the KICK country top 20.
Weezer is SO 1995.
nice to see the resident food snob is now enlightening us all about music........wow
"nice to see the resident food snob is now enlightening us all about music........wow"
I guess some of us just have more to contribute to adult conversation than others.
My husband and I went to the Martina McBride show and I took my teen son to Nickelback...I really enjoyed them both very much and Nickelback came back for an encore performance...left early during Martina's show so don't know if she got an encore or not. I wish there were more concerts and events here - there seems to be a very diverse population here and evertime I've gone to something there seems to be a good crowd.
Why aren't there any rodeos here?
Good question!!!
John Mellencamp...Fleetwood Mac...each seemed to have drawn a 'small' crowd, from what I've read. But there was nothing small about either performance; they were most enjoyable. The Alerus proved to be an excellent venue.
for anonymous 9:36 on May 19:
As for The Alerus overall, nobody with a clue ever expected Grand Forks to ever be a major destination for arena size concerts, this was just propaganda perpetuated in the campaign stages by a bank that wanted a big billboard right off I-29 and someone else to pay for it.
Just to recap...Alerus bought the naming rights to the building for 20 or 25 years AFTER the town had a vote to name it the Aurora events center. Way back in 1997, 1998 or 1999, the City Council voted and pushed for this building to be built...NOT TO MAKE MONEY, but to bring events into town so other businesses i.e. hotels, restaurants, gas stations etc could prosper from the events brought in. If the Alerus actually makes a ton of money, then they are doing something wrong as far as not paying enough in bid fees to bring a concert here.
Why bands don't come here:
Despite even being a college town, only large acts can come here because its hard to get a band such as The Hives to come here when all they could really sell out or play would be The Hub in Fargo.
Fargo, however, is also more attractive as it has more venues, more people (thus easier to sell tickets (unless your Kanye West unfortunately)), and bands aren't going to want to drive north an hour to play here if they've already played in Fargo (or even want to drive the hour out of the way to come up here if they are already driving along I94. It's why a number of acts will hit up Dallas and not Houston; we just don't want to make the detour out of the way.
Sad, but true.
3:16 anon,
Alerus Financial planned all along to gain the naming rates of the arena/convention center. The announcement that they made a deal to obtain the namimg rights was completely contrived from the get-go. It was all just a P.R. campaign yanking the chain of the public's trust.
I have yet to see a concert at the Alerus Main floor.
They have had great concerts in the ballroom that I've gone to see.
New Found Glory, Reggie and the Full effect with Eisley opening for them.
Dashboard Confessional, Thrice and I think Motion City Soudtrack back in the day also.
I go down to fargo more often to see shows on weekends than I ever thought i would. Because the only thing coming into Grand Forks is Jam Bands, and Cover bands. Nothing wrong with them, as thats what the promoters want to bring in. But for some good R&R or something to jump too. Or something that I can sit and vibe to. Something that moves me to get on the dance floor. I want to be enveloped in a sound that I haven't heard before, I want my musical past be suprised of a new tangent it has found. That is something you can't find in Grand Forks.
I went down last September for Atreyu at Playmakers, and Ginger Jake at the Broken Axe, Both awesome shows. I went back down in November for McKinley Place at the windbreak. I'm going back down in July for Motion City Soundtrack again at Playmakers.
I wish there was someplace like the Hub up here that can house the small club tours that come through, as Grand Forks is a great connecting point from Winnipeg to Minneapolis/someplace farther south. Heck look at Lawrence Kansas, College town that's make a huge music scene.
Yeah, Grand Forks really needs a Hub (Playmmakers) type place here.
I remember when we voted for the Alerus, they promised us such bands as Nine Inch Nails, Green Day, and others. It was obviously just a big lie by the city counsil to get younger people to vote for it. NIN is in Minneapolis again August 2, why not try to get them up here on the first or third?
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