Enhanced Concord Pavilion promises
expanded summer season acts in 2014

Things are looking up for concertgoers and artists alike as the Concord Pavilion begins a new era. Not only is it reaching back to its past for a name, it’s looking to the future with $3.7 million in renovations that will impact both the public and artist experience at the venue on Kirker Pass Road that opened in 1975.

So far, 13 concerts have been scheduled, a number that hasn’t been exceeded in the past five Pavilion seasons. Among the attractions announced are legends such as Gladys Knight, James Taylor, Steely Dan, KISS, Lionel Richie and Journey, plus contemporary acts Fall Out Boy, Luke Bryan, One Republic and Linkin Park.

Promoter Live Nation recently signed a new 10-year contract to operate the venue and has a mandate to produce a minimum of 75 concerts in the next five years (averaging 15 concerts a year, a number which appears to be exceeded this season). Another key aspect of the new agreement with the city of Concord requires Live Nation to make $3.7 million in capital investments before the end of next year.

Chief operating office Matt Prieshoff of Live Nation California says his firm is on an aggressive schedule to get the improvements completed prior to the scheduled season opener May 25 with the KBLX Stone Soul Concert. The public will see a redesigned main entrance, major plaza upgrades including restroom renovations, landscaping and extra seating, large lit trees above the lawn seating and a new concession layout with California-centric menu options.

The most apparent change for the public, however, will be the lower seating area where the 2,200 seats that were installed with the 1996 Pavilion remodeling have been removed. Prieshoff explains that removing the fixed seats allows the facility the flexibility to have all general admission seating for artists such as Bryan, Linkin Park and Fall Out Boy to create a “close, intimate feel” between audience and artist. He says those three acts would not have been booked without this structural change.

“We learned a lot from the America’s Cup Pavilion in San Francisco last summer with many acts requiring flexibility,” Prieshoff explained. When Taylor, Richie, Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees and similar acts are playing the Pavilion there will be new cushioned seating in a reserved seat configuration in the lower section.

Further making the Pavilion attractive to touring artists, who have many more venue choices than dates to fill, will be major upgrades backstage and to the dressing rooms.

Concord Director of Community and Recreation Services Joan Carrico says Live Nation is on an “ambitious timeline” to get all the projects through the city planning and permitting process and completed before May 25. Live Nation is paying for all the improvements and is responsible for all construction on the city-owned property.

“We’re going back to our roots with the name Concord Pavilion,” Carrico says. The venue naming rights contract with Sleep Train ended at the end of last season and negotiations on a new operator’s contract included the city’s insistence on returning to the original Concord Pavilion name. Carrico says in future years it’s possible a title sponsor will be found by Live Nation.

Concord residents ticket program

Another part of the new contract is a Concord resident ticket presale program which allows residents to purchase tickets to Pavilion shows the day before they go on sale to the general public. A special resident hotline at 925-363-5701 has information about presale dates. To participate, Concord residents must bring a current utility bill and photo I.D. with matching address to the Pavilion box office on the day before tickets go on sale. Service charges are waived for Concord residents during the presale.

All concertgoers can buy tickets with no service charge at the box office on Saturdays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. for any show at the Pavilion. “We are seeing strong box office activity on Saturdays,” Prieshoff says. The Pavilion box office is located at the entrance to the facility at 2000 Kirker Pass Rd.

Live Nation will be holding a Job Fair at the Pavilion on Saturday, April 26, from 11 a.m.–3 p.m. for a variety of jobs including security, concessions, maintenance, parking, ushers and stagehands. Applicants must be 16 years and older.